January 1st - St. Peter of Atroa, Visionary
Waldtraud
Born near Ephesus, Asia Minor, 773; died at Atroa on January 1, 837. Saint
Peter, the eldest of three children, was christened Theophylact. Not
unexpectedly, he became a monk when he was 18. He said that the Blessed
Virgin
directed him to join Saint Paul the Hesychast, who named him Peter at
Crypta,
Phrygia. On the day he was ordained several years later at Zygos and at the
door
of the very church, he cured a man possessed of an unclean spirit. Almost
immediately thereafter, Peter set out with Paul on a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem,
but instead God directed them in a vision to go to Mount Olympus in
Bithynia,
where Paul was to found a monastery at the chapel of Saint Zachary near
Atroa.
This they did.
When Paul died in 805, he named the 32-year-old Peter to succeed him as
abbot.
The monastery flourished but after ten years Peter decided to close the
monastery because of the iconoclastic persecution under Emperor Leo the
Armenian. Peter went back to Ephesus and on to Crete (or Cyprus), and when
he
returned found he was a wanted man. He escaped the imperial troops seeking
him
by miraculous means (by making himself invisible), and wandered with a
companion
named Brother John from place to place. He visited his own home where his
brother Christopher and widowed mother received monastic habits from his
hands.
Eventually, Peter settled for several years at Kalonaros near the
Hellespont.
Unfortunately, his fame as a wonder-worker and reader of souls was so great
that
he was never left in peace for long. He made several journeys to various
points
in western Asia Minor and each was punctuated with a miracle. At one point,
he
was accused of practicing magic and using the devil because of the miracles
he
performed, but he was completely cleared by Saint Theodore Studites.
Peter again resumed his eremitical life near Atroa, restored Saint Zachary
Monastery, and reorganized several other monasteries, but there was another
outbreak of iconoclasm. Because his own bishop was an iconoclast, he again
dispersed the monks and sent them into hiding, but stayed nearby for a time.
When the persecution became more violent, Peter retired to Saint Porphyry
Monastery on the Hellespont. But soon Peter decided to return to Olympus to
visit his friend Saint Joannicus at Balea, from where he returned to St.
Zachary's.
A few weeks later, Joannicus had a vision. In it he was talking with Peter
of
Atroa at the foot of a mountain whose crest reached to the heavenly courts.
As
they talked, two shining figures appeared and each grabbed one of Peter's
arms
in order to lift him upwards in a halo of glory. At that same moment, while
his
monks were singing the night office, Peter died at Atroa after lovingly
addressing his brethren one last time (Delaney, Walsh).
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In the traditional cycle today is the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord.
In
the Old Law, by rite of Circumcision, every male Jew became a member and
shared
in all the blessings and privileges of the chosen people of God. A Jew who
failed to be initiated by the ceremony was excluded. Our Lord is the Son of
God
by nature, and absolutely sinless, and therefore did not need adoption into
the
membership of God's children. Yet, he submitted to the Law. Today the
Church
also celebrates the Holy Name of Jesus, given at the rite of Circumcision.
In the new cycle, today is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Always
held in
faith amongst the laity and clergy, Mary was declared Mother of God, by
penalty
of anathema, for all Christendom at the Council of Ephesus in AD 431.
Saint Quote:
"For, since ye are subject to the bishop as to Jesus Christ, ye appear to me
to
live not after the manner of men, but according to Jesus Christ, who died
for
us, in order, by believing in His death, ye may escape from death. It is
therefore necessary that, as ye indeed do, so without the bishop ye should
do
nothing, but should also be subject to the presbytery, as to the apostle of
Jesus Christ, who is our hope, in whom, if we live, we shall be found. It is
fitting also that the deacons, as being the ministers of the mysteries of
Jesus
Christ, should in every respect be pleasing to all. For they are not
ministers
of meat and drink, but servants of the Church of God. They are bound,
therefore,
to avoid all grounds of accusation, as they would do fire."
-Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Trallians,2(A.D. 110)
Bible Quote
9 I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me: for he will speak peace
unto
his people: And unto his saints: and unto them that are converted to the
heart.
(Psalms 84:9)
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Reflection
Nothing so much scandalizes the very infidels, or shows the decay of piety
and
loss of all sense of religion among Christians, as their disrespectful
behavior
in the house of God and at the time of prayer. An awe filled, strict
silence,
the most profound exterior respect, and penetrating inward devotion of
heart,
must essentially accompany our homages when we present them before the
throne of
God, in whose presence the highest Seraphim annihilate themselves.
This silence we must observe not only with our tongues, but also with our
bodies
and all our limbs, both out of respect to the presence of God and his altar,
and
also not to give the least occasion of distraction to others. Prayer is an
action so sublime and supernatural that the church in her canonical hours
teaches us to begin it by a fervent petition of grace to perform it well.
What
an insolence and mockery is it to join with this petition an open disrespect
and
a neglect of all necessary precautions against distractions! We ought never
to
appear before God, to tender him our homages or supplications, without
trembling, and without delay to all creatures, and shutting all our senses
to
every object that can distract our minds from God.
Though St. Francis of Sales on the like occasions chose rather to forego or
defer his own private devotions, than not to be ready immediately to wait on
others, in order to give them all the spiritual advice they desired; at
prayer
at least he and all truly religious persons seemed in some degree to rival
the
heavenly spirits in their awe and reverence.
Silence at that holy time, or place, has always been esteemed a thing so
sacred,
that when the temple of Solomon was building, God commanded that there
should
not be heard so much as the sound of a hammer, or any other instrument. Even
when we come from conversing with God, we ought to appear all penetrated
with
the Divine presence, and rather as angels than men. Sanctity, modesty, and
the
marks of a heavenly spirit, ought to shine in our exterior, and to inspire
others by our very sight with religious awe and devotion.
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Act Of Charity for the Holy Souls
Eternal Heavenly Father,
Through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I offer Thee the most precious Body and Blood,
Soul and Divinity of Thine Only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ,
With the merits and prayers of all Thy Saints,
And my whole self as victim-soul and holocaust,
In union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
Offered throughout the world,
For all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,
And for the souls of all poor sinners on earth,
Especially bishops, priests, and religious,
And those within my home and family,
According to Thy most holy Will,
In Jesus' Name and in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God forever and ever.
Amen.
Mary, Mother of Jesus and my Mother, pray for us.
Holy Angels and Saints of the Living God, pray for us.