May 2nd – St. Ultan

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May 2nd – St. Ultan

ST. ULTAN (or Ultain) and his more celebrated brothers, St. Fursey and St. Foillan, were Irish monks who crossed over to East Anglia, where they founded the abbey of Burgh Castle, near Yarmouth, on territory bestowed upon them by King Sigebert or Sigebert I. In consequence of raids by the Mercians, St. Fursey went to France, where he died. When St. Foillan and St. Ultan visited their brother’s tomb at Péronne on their way back from a pilgrimage to Rome, they were warmly welcomed by Bl. Itta and St. Gertrude at Nivelles, who offered them land at Fosses on which to build a monastery and a hospice for strangers. Ultan became the abbot of Fosses. We are told that by supernatural revelation he knew of the death of St. Foillan, who was murdered by robbers in the forest of Seneffe, and he foretold to St. Gertrude, at her request, the day of her own death. He said that St. Patrick was preparing to welcome her, and in point of fact she died on March 17. St. Ultan later became abbot of, and died at, Péronne, but his relics were subsequently translated to Fosses.

What we know of St. Ultan is mainly gleaned from the life of St. Fursey and from that of St. Gertrude of Nivelles. These texts have been edited by Bruno Krusch in the second and the fourth volume of MGH., Scriptores Merov. See also Gougaud, Christianity in Celtic Lands, pp. 147-148, Les saints irlandais hors d’Irlande, and Gaelic Pioneers, pp. 128- 131; and cf. J. F. Kenney, The Sources for the Early History of Ireland, vol. i, pp. 502-505.

Another Version:
May 2nd – St. Ultan of Péronne, OSB Abbot B (AC)
(Also known as Ultan of Fosse)

Died at Péronne, c. 686. Ultan, an Irish monk like his brothers Saints Fursey and Foillan, went with them on a missionary journey to East Anglia. There, with Fursey, he founded a monastery in Burgh Castle, a Roman fort near Yarmouth, but later migrated to France after a pilgrimage to Rome. There he administered the Abbey of Saint-Quentin, which had been built for Fursey. Then he escaped the raiding Mercians by moving into Belgium. His brother Foillan built and became abbot of Fosses Monastery on land given to him by Blessed Itta and her daughter Saint Gertrude of Nivelles. During this time Ultan was chaplain to Gertrude's convent and taught them liturgy, Scripture, and chant. Ultan later succeeded his brother Fursey in ministering to pilgrims as abbot of Fosses.

He inherited Foillan's abbacy at Péronne, where he died. Foillan's official feast day is the date of Ultan's vision of his martyrdom, although his relics were not recovered for about two months thereafter. Ultan is mentioned in the vita of Saint Amatus, who had been unjustly banished by Theodoric: "Amatus found refuge in Fursey's monastery at Péronne of which Ultan was abbot at the time and rejoiced in the tranquility of his retirement."

Ultan was buried in Fosses Abbey, which became a celebrated Irish monastery, as did Péronne. A chapel dedicated to Saint Brigid of Kildare overlooks the town of Fosses (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson, D'Arcy, Daniel-Rops, Delaney, Fitzpatrick, Gougaud, Montague, Tommasini).


Quote:
For you should have kept before your eyes the warnings which Our predecessors have constantly given, namely, that, if the sacred books are permitted everywhere without discrimination in the vulgar tongue, more damage will arise from this than advantage.... Since in vernacular speech we notice very frequent interchanges, varieties, and changes, surely by an unrestrained license of Biblical versions that changelessness which is proper to the divine testimony would be utterly destroyed, and faith itself would waver, when, especially, from the meaning of one syllable sometimes an understanding about the truth of a dogma is formed.
--Pope Pius VII (1800-1823)

Bible Quote:
But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the giving of Christ. 8 Wherefore he saith: Ascending on high, he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men. (Ephesians 4:7-8)


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The Fellowship of the Unashamed
(Romans 1:16) The Fellowship of the Unashamed

I am a part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed" The die
has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has
been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back,
let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed,
my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am
finished and done with low living, sight-walking, small
planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions,
mundane talking, chintzy giving and dwarfed goals!

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,
promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don't have to be right,
first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now
live by presence, lean by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer
and labor by power.

My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is
narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide
reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised,
deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted or delayed. I will
not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of
adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the
pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, back up, let up or shut up until I've preached
up, prayed up, paid up, stored up and stayed up for the cause
of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until He returns,
give until I drop, preach until all know and work until He
comes.

And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem
recognizing me. My banner will be clear, I am part of the