Saint of the day and Feast days - Part 2

[odhiambo]

Saint Moses of Rome
Martyr
Moses is thought to have been a Jew. He lived in the mid 3rd century. He became a priest in Rome. He opposed Novatian and his heresy. He was also the leader of a group of clergy that corresponded with Saint Cyprian at the beginning of the persecutions of Decius. He was arrested , and imprisoned for almost one year before being executed for the faith.
Said to have been executed in Rome on 1 January 251.
According to SQPN, however, he died in prison.
Saint Moses of Rome
Pray for us!
References:
1: Our Sunday Visitor Encyclopedia Of Saints.
By Matthew Bunson, Stephen Bunson, Margaret Bunson:
2: SQPN
3: Dictionary of Saints by John J. Delaney

[odhiambo]

November 26
Today is the Memorial of
Saint Conrad of Constance
Among many other Saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint Conrad of Constance
Bishop
Conrad, or Konrad of Konstanz
as he is also known, was the second son of Count Heinrich of Altdorf and a member of the then famous Guelf family. He was educated and ordained at the Cathedral school of Constance in Switzerland. He was made provost of the cathedral. In 934, Conrad was elected Bishop of Constance. He gave the share of his inheritance to the Church and to the poor. He built and renovated many churches in his see. In 962, Conrad accompanied Emperor Otto I to Italy and he also made three pilgrimages to the Holy Land. He reportedly concentrated only on matters ecclesiastical during his 42 years as bishop, avoiding all secular affairs.
He died in 975.
He was canonized in 1123 by Pope Callistus II.
Saint Conrad,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

November 27
Today is the Memorial of
Saint Seachnall
Among many other Saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint Seachnall
Also known as Sechnall as well as Secundinus, was sent from Gaul in 439, together with Auxilius and Iserninus, to assist Saint Patrick in Ireland. He was named to be the first bishop of Dunsaugli in Meath.( Dunslaughlin in Meath), and then auxiliary bishop of Armagh. He wrote several hymns, notably Audites omnes amantes Deum, the first Latin poem of the Irish Church which he composed in honor of Saint Patrick; and another, Sancti, venite, Christi corpus sumite.
He died in 457.
Canonization was Pre-Congregation.
Saint Seachnall,
Pray for us!

[Shin]

Here's St. Seachnall's Latin poem in honor of St. Patrick, translated into the literal English.

Hear ye all, lovers of God, the | holy merits
Of the man blessed in Christ, Pa - | trick the bishop,
How for his good ways he is likened to the an - | gels,
And because of his perfect life is deemed equal to | the Apostles.

Christ's holy precepts he keeps | in all things,
His works shine | bright among men,
And they follow his holy and wondrous exam - | ple,
And thus magnify God the Father | in the heavens.

Constant in the fear of God and steadfast | in his faith,
Upon whom the Church is built | as on Peter;
And his Apostleship has he received from | God --
The gates of Hell will not pre - | vail against him.

The Lord has chosen him to teach the barbar - | ian tribes,
To fish with the nets | of his teaching,
And to draw from the world unto grace the believ - | ers,
Men who would follow the Lord to His | heavenly seat.

He sells the choice talents of | Christ's Gospel
And collects them among the Irish hea - | thens with usury;
As a reward for the great labor of his voy - | age,
He will come into possession of joy with Christ in the
hea - | venly kingdom.

God's faithful minister and His distinguished am - | bassador,
He gives the good an Apostolic ex - | ample and model,
Preaching as he does to God's people in words as well as in |
deeds,
So that him whom he converts not with words he inspires |
with good conduct.

Glory has he with Christ, honor | in the world,
He who is venerated by all as an | angel of God.
God has sent him, as He sent Paul, an Apostle to the gen - | tiles,
To offer men guidance to the | kingdom of God.

Humble is he of mind and body because of his | fear of God;
The Lord abides upon him because | of his good deeds;
In his righteous flesh he bears the stigmata of | Christ;
In His Cross alone, his sole comfort, | he glor - ies.

Untiringly he feeds the faithful from the heaven - | ly banquet,
Lest those who are with Christ | faint on the way;
Like bread he gives to them the words of the Gos - | pel,
Which are multiplied like manna | in his hands.

He preserves his body chaste for love | of the Lord;
This body he has prepared as a temple for the | Holy Spirit,
And he keeps it such by purity in all his act - | ions;
He offers it as a living sacrifice, acceptable | to the Lord.

Enflaming light of the world, great one | of the Gospel,
Lifted up on a candlestick, shining un - | to all the age -
The fortified city of the King, founded upon a moun - | tain,
Wherein there is great abundance | of the Lord.

Greatest indeed will be called in the kingdom | of heaven
The man who fulfills with good deeds the holy | words he teaches,
Who by his good example is a leader and model to the faith -| ful,
Who in purity of heart has con - | fidence in God.

Boldly he proclaims the Name of the Lord to | the heathens,
And gives them eternal grace in the bath | of salvation.
He prays to God daily for their | sins,
For them he offers sacrifices, worthy in | the eyes of God.

For the sake of God's law he despises all | worldly glory;
Compared to His table he considers all | else as trifling;
He is not moved by the violence of this | world,
But, suffering for Christ, he rejoices in | adversity.

A good and faithful shepherd of the flock won for | the Gospel,
God has chosen him to watch o - | ver God's people
And to feed with divine teaching His | folk,
For whom, following Christ's example, he | gives forth his soul.

Who for his merits the Savior has raised him to the dignity of a |
pontifex,
In heavenly things he instructs the army | of the clergy,
Providing them with heavenly rations, besides vest - | ments -
The rations of divine | and sacred texts.

He is the King's herald, inviting the faithful | to the wedding.
He is richly clad in a | wedding garment,
He drinks heavenly wine from heavenly | cups
And gives God's people the spiritual | cup to drink.

He finds a holy treasure in the Sa - | cred Volume
And perceives the Savior's divinity | in His flesh.
It is a treasure he purchases with holy and perfect | works.
ISRAEL his soul is called -- | "see - ing God."

A faithful witness of the Lord in the Ca - | tholic Law,
His speech is spiced with divine | revelations,
That human flesh may not decay, eaten by | worms,
But be salted with heavenly savor | for sacrifice.

A true and renowned tiller of the | Gospel field,
His seeds | are Christ's Gospels.
These he sows from his God-inspired mouth into the ears of the |
wise,
And cultivates their hearts and minds with the | Holy Spirit.

Christ chose him to be His vi - | car on earth.
He frees captives from a two-fold | ser - vitude:
The great numbers whom he liberates from bondage to | men,
These countless ones he frees from the yoke | of the devil.

Hymns, and the Apocalypse, and the Psalms of | God he sings,
And explains them for the edification | of God's people.
He believes the law in the Trinity of the holy | Name,
And he teaches one Substance | in Three Persons.

Girt with the Lord's girdle | day and night,
He prays unceasingly | to God the Lord.
He will receive the reward for his immense la - | bor -
With the Apostles will he reign, holy, over | Is - rael.

May Bishop Patrick pray for | all of us,
That the sins which we have committed be blotted out | immediately,
May we ever sing Patrick's prais - | es,
That we may ever | live with him.

[Shin]

Now, here is more of the story of St. Seachnall's hymn to St. Patrick.

Seachnall, who was Bishop of Dunshaughlin in Meath, asked the Apostle's permission to write a hymn in honor of a bishop who was yet alive. St. Patrick answered if he had made up his mind to perform such a duty, that he had need to make his will, as his dissolution was nigh, and that he of all the bishops then in Ireland, would die first.

Wherefore he, without delay, wrote the hymn, and according to Patrick's prediction, his pure soul, having left the body, mounted up to heaven to possess the unfading crown of glory, for which he so zealously fought the good fight.

And so we know that the writing of this hymn is dated to St. Seachnall's death.

The hymn, having been finished, the author asked St. Patrick's leave to read it for him. Our Saint replied, "that he would willingly hear the Lord praised in the works of his servants, or what He has wrought through them."

Secundinus, apprehending that he might incur the displeasure of Patrick, who disliked human praise, omitted the first stanza in which our Saint's name occured, and he began on the second. Having proceeded on until he came to the words -- "Maximus in regno caetorum," St. Patrick interrupted him by saying, "how can it be said of a man, that he is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?" Seachnall replied -- "the superlative degree is used for the positive." The classical scholar is well aware that such a practice is very usual with Latin writers.

When the reading of the hymn had ended, Secundinus hinted, that it was indited in honor of St. Patrick himself, from whom he expected a fixed reward.

Patrick, though despising human applause, yet not wishing to censure the devout zeal of his discipline, answered: "that Seanchall might expect from the clemency of his Saviour the reward -- that whoever morning and evening would devoutly recite the hymn, would obtain a happy death and the reward of glory." St. Evin adds, that Patrick announced: "that the person reciting the hymn would obtain a happy death, if he were penitent and contrite."

St. Evin and others have written largely on the wonderful efficacy of the hymn.

Jocelyn says, that the Irish were in the habit of reciting it, and that they experienced its ordinary efficacy, that many reciting this hymn passed unobserved through the enemy's ranks, though thirsting for their blood.

- [O. Antiquities]

[Shin]

Saint Seachnall
Also known as Sechnall as well as Secundinus, was sent from Gaul in 439, together with Auxilius and Iserninus, to assist Saint Patrick in Ireland. He was named to be the first bishop of Dunsaugli in Meath.( Dunslaughlin in Meath), and then auxiliary bishop of Armagh. He wrote several hymns, notably Audites omnes amantes Deum, the first Latin poem of the Irish Church which he composed in honor of Saint Patrick; and another, Sancti, venite, Christi corpus sumite.
He died in 457.
Canonization was Pre-Congregation.
Saint Seachnall,
Pray for us!

This is what I found when I looked up 'Audites omnes amantes Deum'! Thank you odhiambo! Deo gratias!

[odhiambo]

This is what I found when I looked up 'Audites omnes amantes Deum'! Thank you odhiambo! Deo gratias!

He must have been inspired. It is a looong one

[odhiambo]

November 28
Today is the Memorial of
Saint Stephen the Younger
Among many other Saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Stephen the Younger
Or Saint Stephen and Companions
Stephen was born in 714 at Constantinople. At the age of fifteen, he became a monk and was sent to the monastery of Mount Saint Auxentius. When his father died, he distributed all his share of the inheritance to the poor. He was elected abbot of his monastery when he was thirty. He however resigned several years later to seek greater solitude and prayer as a hermit. This was the time when the iconoclast movement was active in the area and Stephen was a determined opponent of the Iconoclastic policies of Emperor Constantine Copronynus V. When he refused to support the Emperor's iconoclasm, the monastery was burned down, the monks dispersed and Stephen was banished to the island of Proconnesus.
Two years later he was brought before the Emperor and commanded to embrace iconoclast policies. Again Stephen refused. This time he was scourged, stoned and dragged through the streets of Constantinople
Before he was executed with a group of other opponents of Iconoclasm.The group included Saint Basil, Saint Andrew, and Saint Peter. Only these four names have survived but there were reportedly as many as three hundred other monks executed with them. The year of their execution was 764.
Saint Stephen and Companions,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

November 29
Today is the Memorial of
Saint Cuthbert Mayne
Among many other Saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Cuthbert Mayne
one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
Remembered as a group on 25 October
Saint Cuthbert was born in 1544 in Youlston, Devonshire, England. He was raised a Protestant by his uncle, a schimastic priest. When he was about nineteen, he was ordained a minister. He studied at Saint John's College, Oxford where he received his M.A. While there, he met Edmund Campion, through his influence, he converted to Catholicism in 1570. He was forced to flee England when his letters from Campion were intercepted. He went to Douai, France, to study for the priesthood. He was ordained in 1575 and sent back to England the following year with Saint John Payne to minister covertly to the Catholics in Cornwall. His cover was that of estate steward of Francis Tregian at Golden, Cornwall. He was arrested the following year. When he refused to accept the supremacy of the Queen in ecclesiastical matters, he was found guilty of treason for being a Catholic Priest. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered on 25 November 1577 at Launceton.
He was reportedly the first Englishman trained for the priesthood in Douai to be martyred.
His relics at the Carmelite convent, Lanherne, Cornwall, England. He was canonized on 25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.
Saint Cuthbert Mayne,
Pray for us!

[Shin]

To be a monk at the age of fifteen. I would have liked to have done that, if that had been possible!

St. Stephen, St. Auxentius, pray for us! St. Basil, St. Andrew, St. Peter, all ye holy martyrs, pray for us!

Douai France, there's a famous place. There is no more faithful Bible in the English than the original Douai Bible, it's a great gift to give oneself or another. The original Douai -- not the far more common Challoner revision.

[odhiambo]

To be a monk at the age of fifteen. I would have liked to have done that, if that had been possible!

St. Stephen, St. Auxentius, pray for us! St. Basil, St. Andrew, St. Peter, all ye holy martyrs, pray for us!

Douai France, there's a famous place. There is no more faithful Bible in the English than the original Douai Bible, it's a great gift to give oneself or another. The original Douai -- not the far more common Challoner revision.

I have seen it mentioned a number of times at CAF. I hope one day I will get to read one, Is there an on line version Shin?
I do some Bible reading on line when I have the opportunity, like just about now 

[Shin]

It's the only bible now available for download from Saints' Books (in the references section).

That said, odhiambo, it is in older English. Perfectly readable after a couple of minutes of mental adjustment for most I would hope, but one has to be willing to and make the adjustment. You also have to learn a few different alphabet letters -- you don't have to look up what they mean, you can just pick them up by realizing what they're substituting for in the words, and that the words are spelled a little differently than now.

It used to be online in the form of a website too, but that website is now gone.

The version I normally use is an updated spelling copy, that is, it replaces the old English alphabet letters, with their modern equivalents. Makes it a little easier. One can also purchase it with the older spelling. The updated one is not the one we have available for download -- the man who did the updating work has it sold, in e-book or printed form.  

Theoretically some other folks could re-invent the wheel, and update the spelling too, and make it available that way for free -- I would like to see that, but it would take a lot of volunteer work.

One thing I'd like to do someday is something I've wanted to for awhile, that is put up a lot more older English poems and prayers on the Saints' Prayers websites. I keep meaning to do it and somehow it never happens. It has a more reverent and nostalgic feel for me to read the older language.

Haha! This old Bible may be a challenge of virtue for you odhiambo if you tackle it, I seem to recall your non-preference for thees and thous! Your English is absolutely perfect, I never notice a thing otherwise, but isn't it a second language for you? Or is it commonly spoken and taught in your area? How did you pick it up anyway? I have no clue!  

That said, frankly, the more I've read of the original Douai, the more it feels like a crime for me to go to elsewhere. One can get lesser meanings from other sources, and these are helpful -- but for the primary and most literal meanings, when I go to the original Douai, I am relieved to find it there, and it clears up and teaches Catholicism -much- more clearly and directly thus. And so it feels like 'The Bible' rather than some sort of interpretive book partially based on it. There's a lot that gets obscured going elsewhere, and these important things -- certainly more modern translations read more easily and being so you get a general idea of what is going on, like reading a story-book -- which beginners love, who haven't got a grasp of the generalities -- but when you start hunting for spiritual insights, moral rules, and laws -- if the word for a particular vice or virtue is not translated, but replaced by some ambiguous something else, you have no hope of learning the truth there.

So I keep going to the original Douai, and then to the Latin Vulgate root words at times and doing a search online for those root words to find what's directly being taught.

For example, just recently I was reading up on childhood discipline. It's an interesting subject. If you go to Ecclesiasticus 30:1

There's a passage that says in the original Douai:

HE that loveth his son, doth accustom him to stripes, that he may rejoice in his later end, and not grope after the doors of his neighbors.

Now 'stripes' is a direct word, meaning corporal discipline.

Go to the Challoner:

He that loveth his son, frequently chastiseth him, that he may rejoice in his latter end, and not grope after the doors of his neighbours.

Obscures it. Could be verbal. This is very important. What's the truth?

The Latin:

De filiis qui diligit filium suum adsiduat illi flagella ut laetetur in novissimo suo

Flagella means 'flagellation'. That's stripes alright.

Go to any other English translation and it gets even worse that the Challoner.

The 'grope after the doors of his neighbors' is very interesting to me as I do not entirely understand it. I have some idea of what it could mean, but I want to look up the expression. Now if the expression is not rendered clearly, then I cannot learn it, nor the particular deeper meanings attached to each word of it.