Dictionary of Saints

[eschator83]

I am remiss in not having acknowledged that I am frequently using the Saint of the Day book by Fr Leonard Foley OFM, but often adding concepts from John Delaney.  Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration, and I was slow to notice Foley's explanation of changes in this edition (1990) and related remarks.  He said he added Roman Calendar Solemnities which have no specific Sunday or other Holy Day, but I need to bring an older edition to camp to understand which ones he refers to.
Next he comments the Solemnity is the highest category of Liturgical Celebration, citing seven, two each for our Lord Jesus and Holy Mother Mary, but not specified, and three more, for Ss Joseph, John the Baptist, and Peter and Paul (6/29).
Foley comments that Feasts ate the next highest Celebration, followed by Obligatory Memorials (about 1/3 of Saints Days), and Optional Memorials.  Until today I did not realize that my reference to the Feast day of a Saint was inappropriate, and I regret it.  I don't mean to seem "legalistic," I just believe in trying to keep our terminology precise and consistent.
Lord Jesus, Ss Peter, John, James, and John please pray for us, and help us imagine the Glory, Majesty, Splendor, and Beauty of our Lord Jesus.

[eschator83]

As a long-ago BA major in English Lit, I have harbored for a long time a deep concern that many forces, particularly in the US, seem to conspire to render our English language virtually meaningless because so many words are used with a great many different meanings, and our academic powers seem to value poetic license, creative logic, and original expression more highly than truth, reason, and Revelation.
I appreciate and support freedom of speech in many aspects, but I deplore spin, deceit, and error, and so I admire almost every (mostly historic) Catholic effort to identify and correct those manifestations in the works of authors whether Catholic or otherwise.
Although I deeply enjoy reading almost every day one of my Dictionaries or Lives of the Saints, I struggle when I find discrepancies and other problems, which seem to me to undermine the faith of many, whether these problems occur in Scripture or other religious writings.  I'd like to see Imprimaturs require a much higher standard of accuracy.  I would be grateful to here what you think, and I wonder if you would be disturbed by comment on errors, omissions, etc in this thread.

[eschator83]

Since year-end, I've been struggling about which Dictionary of Saints to follow in 2022.  I've read through both of my Foley editions, and several others, and have been inconsistently reading Oxford, Butler, Lodi's Saints of the Roman Calendar, Library of Catholic Devotion, and a couple others.  I still want to read a Saint Life each morning, and I very much enjoy looking at the posts here, even though it's hard sometimes to find one of the Saints of the day.  I'm fascinated that our Saints-works calendar seems to name a Saint each day but doesn't connect to details of the Saint's life.  I wonder if it might be possible to connect links or add text to the calendar.
I've decided to use the Catholic Devotion Lives, even though it's old (1958), because the lives are written concisely and most days offer just one Saint, which reduces my dilemma trying to decide which Saint to select for comment.
Needless to say, I still can't decide where to post my entries. 

[CyrilSebastian]

eschator83, How about posting in Saints' & Spiritual Life General Discussion?

[eschator83]

Thank you very much for your interest and encouragement.  I am struggling with priorities, I suppose.  Early every day I read the Saint of the day in one of my Saint books, after my morning prayer and my Word of the Lord card (see separate post).  Then I come to Works, read Shin's quotes, and all other posts.  Next my goal is a post or two here, and then to move on to my reading, writing, and a couple other websites. Eventually, of course, chores and errands.
I search in Works for prior entries on a Saint of the day, and if I find any, I'd like to link to them, or if copy them.  When I can't find saint here, I go to Butler or Delaney or Oxford or sometimes to a Saint of the day website.  Yesterday for the first time I found our Works Calendar that lists a Saint but doesn't seem to provide any biography.  I'm thinking about posting that Saint if there is no prior info in Works.  I am now off to find info about St Polycarp.

[Shin]

I remember back when the calendar was started I wished to link it to some mini hagiographies.

I also considered linking it to the Martyrology. That latter project is a possibility, it would be easier to achieve.

As for hagiographies, it is a more complex and time consuming project, as there is no single compilation of hagiographies in English that could be used due to various issues with some of the material. So it's a big project of sifting through multiple old public domain sources. If people post extracts from old public domain sources sufficiently to the forum, ones that are good and pious and the individual articles not tainted with a tendency towards disbelief in historically recorded miracles, eventually the posted material might be able to be gathered into webpages linked off the calendar to help people with daily devotions.

[eschator83]

I'd like to be a volunteer, and I've read through the procedures for submitting prayers, but am intimidated by the complexity as well as not having much background to suggest edits, translations or interpretations.  Almost always I prefer a book to a computer file, but for lives of Saints I usually come first to Saints-works because I am intrigued how Cyril and others have added on to each other's comments.

[Shin]

Well, I'd welcome you occassionally posting little mini hagiographies from older works out of copyright -- anything published before the year of Our Lord 1923 is out of copyright. Later works are sometimes as well, or within copyright but permitted to be used sometimes with restrictions, but you have to look at the details, so that broad rule before that year is the one that works. It's a fine little devotional for whenever you or other folks feel like contributing to it. People will benefit from reading them here on the forums and possibly linked off the calendar in the future.

Just mention whatever book you're sourcing from when you post.

If you feel like doing this, please do and feel free whenever you wish.

God willing, I'll look into adding them to the calendar when there's enough material. My energy for expanding on the websites has not been there for awhile, my apologies, I am often only able to do a bare minimum, but I'll likely be able to do something like this if there's enough material provided through volunteer work. 

[eschator83]

Many thanks for your encouragement and support.  I don't want to create work or stress for you; I'm very thankful you can be as consistent as you are with quotes for day and night, which I very much enjoy.  Sometimes I'm tempted to comment or ask a question about them, as members used to do occasionally in the past, but it seems it would be risking difficulty for you.  Please be healthy.

[Shin]

You're welcone. It's fine to ask questions, I cannot guarantee answers, especially immediately, but it's fine, feel free.

[eschator83]

Our several conversations about calendars of Lives of Saints have led, motivated, and inspired me to many happy hours of comparing and web searching Calendars, the Divine Office, and Mass Missals.  It's one of those amazing and humbling times that I must realize and admit how little I know.
First, the Roman Calendar must have been enormously changed after Vat II; I haven't found either specific details or an explanation of the changes in Saints listed, but I have an adaptation of Enzo Lodi's Roman Calendar of 1992, which has only three Saints in February which correspond to my Catholic Devotion Library (1959) and similarly to our Works Calendar, which I thus presume is also pre-Vat II.
This led me to my to-be-read pile and my 2005 Catholic Book Publishing Co Lives of the Saints, which I now think I will follow for this year because it lists a Saint for most days, compared to only 13 (for February) in the Roman Calendar.  By contrast Delany lists seven Saints for today alone, and Butler lists eleven.  I wonder what the source was for our Works calendar (and the flowers) and if that source has a 2022 calendar?   

[Shin]

The Flores Ecclesiae calendar is sourced from an old book called Flores Ecclesiae, which is very short and simple with only a calendar, an introduction reproduced in the 'About' section of the website, and the moveable feasts' flowers noted at the end of the calendar.

'This little work is put forth with the view of restoring, in some degree at least, that ancient feeling by which Catholics of old used in every thing to find some sacred memento or symbol of their holy religion.

The Monastic Orders were well acquainted with the study of botany, upwards of 300 medicinal plants being known to and made use by them; such as, Cross-flower, S. John's Wort, &c., which are to be found in our modern medicinal works under new, and in many cases far less appropriate, names, e.g. Milkwort, Tutsan, &c.

Flowers were dedicated in honour of the Mysteries of the Faith and of the Saints of the Church: it will frequently be found that their appropriate flowers blossom around the time of their Festivals; e.g. the Snowdrop (anciently known by the name of Fair Maid) is dedicated in honour of the Purification, and the Marygold, and Our Lady's Smock, in honour of the Annunciation of Our Lady, &c.; so that in those times a garden was considered to be replete with holy thoughts, and Christians loved to discover in each opening bud some holy symbol of their Lord or His Saints, as in the Passion-flower are portrayed the various instruments of that most adorable Mystery.

In conclusion, the author desires to express his thanks for the assistance of several friends, whether by the loan of works on the subject, or by their direct personal assistance; and he earnestly hopes that this publication may tend to the revival of that deep piety to Christ and His Saints, which is one of the distinctive characteristics of the ages of faith.

W.H.J.W.'

Feast of the Purification of the B.V.M. 1849

I worked with some open source calendar software and programmed in some of the moveable feasts, but did not put in all I wished, I would liked to have included Octaves and Ember days, and had the moveable feasts appear on the daily calendar as well as the monthly. It is purely a devotional calendar for particular saints for particular days with the flowers that tend to bloom on their feast days, though this too depends on the seasons where you might live. It's really a supplemental devotional calendar and not meant to be anyone's sole calendar as it is.

In addition to the devotional calendar I'll refer to the Martyrology, or at times Butler's (it is online but I decided not to provide it) and I am using a proper Catholic calendar hung on my wall at home with Octaves and Ember Days, etc.

[eschator83]

For 2023, I quite randomly selected the book of Lives of Saints published in 1955 by Catholic Book Publishing for my daily reading on Saints.  I'm embarrassed to write that it took about two weeks for me to realize that during 2022 I read the 2005 edition of this same book, apparently the 5th edition.  This is a fascinating lesson in how things have changed in the world.  The 1995 edition says printed in USA, 2005 says printed in China.
I've been struggling to imagine why the Saints have changed so much and perhaps I'll comment later on some of the differences.  In both books, today (2/2) is called feast of Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple, also feast of Purification of the Blessed Virgin, and also feast of Candlemas Day.  By contrast our parish calendar shows Presentation of the Lord, World Day for Consecrated Life, and Ground Hog Day.

[eschator83]

Today, my 1955 and 2005 editions agree on the feast of St Eucherius of Orleans, whereas our Parish calendar shows only Geo Washington birthday, Presidents' Day (in some states) and World Day of Social Justice, which seems sad, although my 1992 Roman Calendar by Enzo Lodi, apparently revised extensively by Jordan Aumann, OP lists no saints between the seven Servite Founders on Feb 17 and St Peter Damian on Feb 21.  On the other hand, for Feb 20 Delaney lists (as the Roman Calendar) Tyrannio, Zenobius and companions, Sadoth, Eleutherius of Tournal, and Wulfric, as well as Eucherius.  In 714 Eucherius joined Benedictines at Abbey of Jumiege near Rouen with the intent of abandoning the world, but his uncle was Bishop of Orleans and at his death in 721 the people elected Eucherius as his successor.  At this point my sources diverge, but perhaps that's better left for another day.