Chaim Topol
Art Neuendorffer
http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/VERE.htm
.
Margaret De VERE (B. Beaumont)
Died: 15 Jun 1398
.
Notes: The Complete Peerage vol.X,p.223-4,note n.
.
Father: John De VERE (7° E. Oxford)
.
Mother: Maud De BADLESMERE (C. Oxford)
.
Married 1: Henry BEAUMONT (3° B. Beaumont) (b. 1340 - d. 17 Jun 1369)
(son of John De Beaumont and Eleanor Plantagenet) BEF 1370
.
Children:
.
1. John BEAUMONT (4° B. Beaumont) (b. 1361)
.
2. Eleanor BEAUMONT
.
Married 2: Nicholas De LOVAIN (Sir) ABT 1370
.
Children:
.
3. Margaret De LOVAIN
.
Married 3: John DEVEREUX (Sir Knight) ABT 1355/1380, Hereford, England
.
Children:
.
4. William DEVEREUX (Sir)
.
5. Joan DEVEREUX
----------------------------------------------------------
September 9, 1396, John Beaumont 4th Lord BEAUMONT dies
. (son of 4th Lord BEAUMONT & Margaret DE VERE)
-----------------------------------------------------------
. September 9 precedes 113 days
. April 23 is preceded by 113 days
----------------------------------------------------------------
Psalms 113:7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,
. and lifteth the needy out of the DUNGHILL;
. That he may set him with princes,
. even with the princes of his people.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday September 9, 2003, Lorenzo's 60th birthday.
Tuesday September 9, 1746, JOHN WARD plays Othello in Stratford.
Tuesday September 9, 1634, Lt. Hammond (Ham.Lt.) visits Stratford.
.
Friday September 9, 1603, George Carey dies from mercury poisoning!
Friday September 9, 1608, Shakespeare's mother, Mary, buried
.
Friday September 9, 1513, The third Duke of Norfolk defeats the Scots
. & Sidney's grandpere knighted at Flodden Field
. September 9, 1566, 12 yr. old Philip Sidney visits Stratford
. September 9, 1543, 9 mo. old Mary Queen of Scots crowned
----------------------------------------------------------------
<<John Singleton Copley was born on July 3, 1738, in Boston to Irish
immigrant parents Mary Singleton & Richard Copley. He began to paint
in
about 1753. Among his many works were portraits of John Hancock,
Samuel
Adams, & John Adams. In 1769 John Copley married Susanna Clarke, the
daughter of a Boston tea merchant. They would have six children. Her
family's politics, however, and his desire to expand his art led to
their departure from America. The Copleys traveled to Europe in 1774
& settled in London. There in 1778 Copley painted his first major
work,
[WAT]son and the Shark, depicting a real-life event that occurred in
Havana harbor. The painting portrays Brook [WAT]son, a friend of the
painter, who, as a boy, lost his leg to a shark while his friends
struggled to rescue him in the water. Copley's powerful paintings
brought him fame, but much to his disappointment, not great monetary
rewards. After 1790 his health, productivity, and reputation began
to decline. On August 11, 1815, John Singleton Copley suffered a
stroke during dinner & died four weeks later on *September 9, 1815*
.
http://www.nga.gov/feature/watson/watsonhome.shtm
----------------------------------------
http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/book/sep9.html
.
At *Flodden Field* the Scots came in,
[W]hich made our English men faine;
[A]t Bramstone Greene this battaile was seene,
[T]here was King Jamie slaine.
.
His bodie never could be found,
[W]hen he was over throwne,
[A]nd he that wore faire Scotland?s crowne
[T]hat day could not be knowne.
Old English ballad
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday September 9, 1513, King James IV dies at *Flodden Field*
Friday September 9, 1603, George Carey dies from Mercury poisoning!
Friday September 9, 1608, Shakespeare's Mother, Mary, buried
------------------------------------------------------------------
. September 9 precedes 113 days
. April 23 is preceded by 113 days
.
. Shakespeare & Cervantes die on St. George's day, 1616
----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.masoncode.com/Great%20Seal%20Sonnets.htm
<<The geometry of the sacred vesica piscis joins both symbols.
A vesica with a width of 65 (wing feathers) will have a height of
113 & a perimeter of 273 (value of 'Hiram Abif' & 'The stone which
the builders rejected' in Hebrew - ChVRM ABIV & ABN MASV HBVNIM).
The vesica was originally emblematic of the Eye of Horus.>>
----------------------------------------------------------------
. Sonnet 113
.
. SInce I left you,mine eye is in my minde,
. And that which gouernes me to goe about,
. Doth part his function,and is partly blind,
. Seemes seeing,but effectually is out:
. For it no forme deliuers to the heart
. Of bird,of flowre,or shape which it doth lack,
. Of his quick obiects hath the minde no part,
. Nor his owne vision houlds what it doth catch:
. For if it see the rud'st or gentlest sight,
. The most sweet-fauor or deformedst creature,
. The mountaine,or the sea,the day,or night:
. The Croe,or Doue,it shapes them to your feature.
. Incapable of more repleat,with you,
. My most true minde thus maketh mine vntrue.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
<<The grounds of Cecil House were probably acres in extent, though
they
were to be dwarfed by those of the great mansion of Theobalds. Built
of
brick trimmed with stone Theobalds (pronounced Tibbals) was approached
by a mile-long avenue of CEDARS. While nothing remains of it today
but a few stones, full plans survive. It was built about two principal
quadrangles, respectively 86 and 110 feet on a side, and among its
many apartments was *a gallery 113 feet long*
"wainscoted with oak and paintings oVER the same
of DIVERs cities, rarely painted & SET FORTH.">>
-----------------------------------------------------------
Psalms 113:7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,
. and lifteth the needy out of the DUNGHILL;
. That he may set him with princes,
. even with the princes of his people.
---------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday September 9, 1746, John Ward plays Othello in Stratford
_____________ - 112
______ ---------------
Tuesday September 9, 1634, Lt. Hammond (Ham.Lt.) visits Stratford
.
. September 9, 1566, 12 yr.old Philip Sidney visits Stratford
---------------------------------------------------------------------
September 9, 1583: Sir Humphrey Gilbert and the rest on board
. the frigate Squirrel drowned when she sank off the Azores.
----------------------------------------------------
September 9, 1087: Death of King William I of England
('The Conqueror'; born c. 1027). William was succeeded
by his favourite son, William II
(who died on August 2, 1100, while hunting in the New
Forest & might have been a pagan Lammas sacrifice).
.
William was sojourning in Normandy, planning to win back from France's
King Philip I, a piece of territory that Philip had taken from him
some years before. He was also undergoing a medical regimen for
his corpulence ' he was a fat guy. Philip joked, 'It is a long
lying-in; there will doubtless be a ceremonious churching'.
(Churching was a ceremony performed after a woman gave birth.)
.
William, hearing this, swore that he would hold his 'churching' in the
centre of Paris, at Notre Dame, with ten thousand lances for candles.
He led an expedition into French territory; while so engaged, his
horse,
stepping into some concealed burning timber, stumbled & fell, causing
a
rupture in the large belly of the king. At the age of sixty, after
some
weeks of illness, he died at the Convent of St Gervais, near Rouen,
from injuries received when he fell off a horse at the Siege of
Mantes.
.
His servants and officers thought only of their own interests, for
William had been feared but never loved. He was left nearly naked on
the floor, and was buried unceremoniously by monks. There being no
coffin, his large body was squeezed into a grave, whereupon it burst.
Incense and perfume failed to dispel the stench that rose up,
and the people left the church in disgust.
.
William is buried at St Stephen's, Caen, Normandy, now in France.
--------------------------------------------------
1513 King James IV of Scotland died at the Battle of Flodden Field,
his troops defeated by the English, whereupon James's son the
Duke of Rothesay became James V, King of Scots (1512 - 1542).
.
James IV (b. 1473), as well as about 30 of his nobles & 10,000 troops,
suffered one of Scotland's greatest calamities. Scotland had agreed
with the French to attack England to divert English troops from their
campaign against the French king Louis XII in the Italian Wars.
.
The English army under Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk & 1st Earl
of Surrey (1443 - 1524), defeated James. The battle actually took
place
near the village of Branxton in the county of Northumberland, rather
than at Flodden ' hence the alternative name of Battle of Branxton.
The Scots had previously been stationed at Flodden, near to Branxton.
.
Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field, by Walter Scott
.
At Flodden Field the Scots came in,
. Which made our English men faine;
At Bramstone Greene this battaile was seene,
. There was King Jamie slaine.
.
His bodie never could be found,
. When he was over throwne,
And he that wore faire Scotland's crowne
. That day could not be knowne.
- Old English ballad
---------------------------------------
. September 9th births
.
214 CE The emperor Aurelian was born in Moesia
.
337 Constans, the son of Constantine, became emperor of Rome.
.
1585 Cardinal Armand-Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu (d. 1642),
. French statesman, chief minister to King Louis XII
.
1737 Luigi Galvani (d. 1798), Italian physician & physicist
.
1754 William Bligh (d. 1817), British naval officer,
. best known for the mutiny on his ship HMS Bounty
.
1824 Anton Bruckner (d. 1896), Austrian musician
.
1887 Alf Landon (d. 1987), American politician
.
1890 Colonel Harland Sanders (d. 1980), KFC
.
1894 Arthur Freed (d. 1973), songwriter & film producer
......................................................
<<The finale of The Pirate (1947), with a score by Cole Porter, is a
number performed by Gene Kelly and Judy Garland called "Be a Clown."
In Singin' in the Rain (1952) Donald O'Connor does a famous routine
to a song called "Make 'Em Laugh," whose music is identical to that
of the earlier song and its lyric nearly so. Its authors, however,
are listed as Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, who wrote the rest
of the movie's score. Both movies were produced by Arthur Freed,
which may mean something. --Elizabeth B., Chicago
.
Dear Elizabeth:
.
Arthur Freed, the producer responsible for most of the MGM musicals of
the 40s and 50s, began his career as a songwriter. "Singin' in the
Rain"
was part of Brown and Freed's score for MGM's first "all talking, all
singing, all dancing" musical, The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (the song
has since been used in five other films, counting A Clockwork Orange).
.
In 1952, Freed decided to use his songbook as the basis for an
original
musical, as he had done with Jerome Kern's songs in 1946 (Till the
Clouds Roll By) and George Gershwin's in 1951 (An American in Paris).
Freed assigned Betty Comden and Adolph Green to build a screenplay
around the available material, with Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly to
direct. When the time came to shoot, Donen decided that Donald
O'Connor
needed a solo number, and couldn't find anything that worked in the
Freed catalog. Donen suggested that Brown and Freed write a new song,
pointing to Porter's "Be a Clown" as the sort of thing he thought
would
fit in at that point in the script. Brown and Freed obliged--maybe too
well--with "Make 'Em Laugh." Donen called it "100 percent plagiarism,"
but Freed was the boss and the song went into the film. Cole Porter
never sued, although he obviously had grounds enough. Apparently
he was still grateful to Freed for giving him the assignment for
The Pirate at a time when Porter's career was suffering from
two consecutive Broadway flops (Mexican Hayride and
Around the World in Eighty Days). --CECIL ADAMS
..............................................
1899 Billy Rose, (d. 1966) composer
.
1905 Joseph Levine, film producer
.
1925 Cliff Robertson (Oscar: Charly)
.
1935 Chaim Topol, Israeli actor
.
1941 Otis Redding
.
1943 Lorenzo
.
1951 Michael Keaton, Beetlejuice, Batman
.
1960 Hugh Grant
.
1966 Adam Sandler
------------------------------------------
1000 Battle of Swold. Death of Olaf I of Norway.
.
1488 Death of Francis II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1433),
. from a fall from a horse.
.
1739 Stono Rebellion, the largest slave uprising in the British
mainland
colonies prior to the American Revolution, erupted near Charleston.
.
1776 The Continental Congress officially names the United States.
.
1835 Bear-baiting was banned in England.
.
1839 John Herschel (1792 - 1871) took the first glass plate
photograph.
.
1850 California was admitted as 31st US state.
.
1901 Death of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (b. 1864).
.
1911 Britain's first airmail system began, between HENdon & Windsor.
.
1926 The National Broadcasting Company formed.
.
1945 Admiral Grace Hopper discovered first computer bug ' a moth.
.
1948 The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was created.
-------------------------------------------
Feast day of St Alexander
.
Feast day of St Bettelin (Beccelin), hermit and confessor
This saint is patron of Stafford, England, where his relics
were kept. He lived as an anchoret (hermit) in the forest nearby.
.
Feast day of Blessed Fr?d?ric Ozanam
Born in Lyons, France, in 1813; died 1853; beatified in 1997 by Pope
John Paul II. of Founder of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul.
.
Feast day of St Gaudridus
.
Feast day of St George Douglas
.
Feast day of Ss Gorgonius (Goroon), Dorotheus (Dorothea), & Peter.
.
Feast day of St Hyacinth
.
Feast day of St Isaac the Great
.
Feast day of Blessed Jacques Laval (Father Laval Day, Mauritius)
"Slavery had only recently been outlawed in Mauritius, and many of
Jacques' potential parishioners were freed slaves, poor, uneducated,
often unemployed, and always treated as second class citizens. Jacques
lived with them, learned their language, fasted when supplies were
short, slept in a packing crate, used his medical training to heal
them, and explained that to God there were no unimportant people,
that no one was second class."
.
"Every September 9, Mauritians of all faiths walk or drive towards
the tomb of the Blessed Jacques D?sir? Laval, the 'Apostle of the
Black People' at Ste-Croix, Port-Louis. The belief in P?re Laval,
to whom powers of healing are attributed, reminds us of the
Lourdes Pilgrimage in France."
.
Feast day of St Joseph of Volokolamsk
.
Feast day of St Kieran the Younger (Ceran; Ciaran; Ciaran of
Conmacnoise; Kieran of Clonmacnoise; Kyran; Kiaran; Kierian; Queran;
Queranus; one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland), abbot in Ireland
Founder of the Conmacnois abbey in West Meath (known for centuries
as a centre of Irish scholarship), and served as its first abbot.
.
Feast day of St Maria Eutimia
.
Feast day of St Mary de la Cabeza
.
Feast day of St Omer (Audomarus) of Th?rouanne, bishop and
confessor(Canadian golden rod, Solidago Canadensis
is today's plant, dedicated to this saint)
.
Feast day of St Osmanna (Osmana) virgin, of Ireland
.
Feast day of St Peter Claver
.
Feast day of St Pierre Bonhomme
.
Feast day of St Seraphina Sforza
.
Feast day of St Severian
.
Feast day of St Tiburtius
.
Feast day of St Wilfrida
.
Feast day of St Wulfhilda
------------------------------------------
I have not earned what I have already enjoyed.
Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), US philosopher, author,
naturalist;
letter, September 9, 1857, to Daniel Ricketson, in The Writings
of Henry David Thoreau, vol. 6, p. 313, Houghton Mifflin, 1906
------------------------------------
If there never had been a war, I would have been a very good
architect.
Ahmed Shah Masoud, Afghan freedom fighter, killed by Al Qaeda on
September 9, 2001; The Times, London, 1999
.
Massoud is the greatest of Afghan war heroes. He was a magnificent
fighter and not a butcher. He was a devout Muslim and not a fanatic.
He not only survived the Soviets, he beat them.
Robert Oakley, former US Ambassador to Pakistan
------------------------------------
As a lonely stranger in the strange land,
Every holiday the homesickness amplifies.
Knowing that my brothers have reached the peak,
All but one is present at the planting of ZhuYu.
Wang Wei (Tang Dynasty); 'Double Ninth,
Missing My Shantong Brothers'; today is Double Nine Day
-------------------------------------------
September in Australia:
.
Magpies are now nesting, swooping innocent passers-by.
.
An Australian remedy for the attack of the highly territorial
nesting magpies is to wear a helmet with false eyes attached
to the back, as the birds often attack the face.
.
Craig Whiteford, manager of flora and fauna with the Department of
Sustainability and Environment in the south west region of Victoria,
advised that during breeding season the birds might feel threatened
and act aggressively.
.
The Australian birds have become naturalised in New Zealand, where
they were first released by acclimatisation societies in 1864 to
combat
pasture insects. In the ?Shaky Isles? they are often seen as a pest
and they continue the swooping behaviour for which
they are well known in their home country.
.
?Formerly ?maggot-pie?, maggot representing Margaret
(cf Robin redbreast, Tom-tit, and the old Phyllyp-sparrow,
and pie being pied, in allusion to its white and black plumage.
.
The magpie has generally been regarded as an uncanny bird;
in Sweden it is connected with witchcraft;
in Devonshire it was a custom to spit three times
to avert ill luck when the bird was sighted;
in Scotland magpies flying near the windows of a house foretold death.
.
The old rhyme about magpies seen in the course of a walk says:
.
One?s sorrow, two?s mirth.
Three?s a wedding, four?s a birth?
Five?s a christening, six a dearth,
Seven?s heaven, eight is hell?
And nine?s the devil his ane sel?.
Ivor H Evans, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,
Cassell, London, 1988
---------------------------------------------
In a Chinese legend, a witch warned Sun Go to go to a mountaintop
refuge
to escape a disaster that would happen on the 9th day of the 9th moon
(the date of commemoration has been adjusted to conform with the
Gregorian calendar). Today people go to high places, where there is
kite
flying (kites take misfortune to the skies), offerings to ancestral
spirits; family dinners. This ritual is called the 'festival of High
Places' in China. Go was a Chinese villager with a small farm. A witch
looked at his face and saw the circulation of his blood, then warned
him
that on 9/9 there would be death on his farm. He fled with his whole
family and returned from the mountain to find all his animals and
fowls
were dead. People go to high places today, to repair graves
of ancestors and prune away dead branches from trees.
.
The Double Ninth Festival, dated on the ninth day of the ninth month
in
Chinese calendar, is a traditional Chinese holiday, mentioned in
writing
since before the East Han period. According to the I Ching, nine is a
yang number, ninth day of the ninth lunar month or double nine, has
too
much yang and is thus a potentially dangerous date. Hence, the day is
also called 'Double Yang Festival'. To protect against the danger, it
is
customary to climb a high mountain, drink chrysanthemum wine, and wear
a
plant named zhuyu. Both chrysanthemum and zhuyu are considered to have
cleansing qualities and are used to air out houses and cure illnesses.
Double Ninth may have started out as a day to drive away danger, but,
like the Chinese New Year, over time it became a day of celebration.
Today it is an occasion for hiking and chrysanthemum appreciation.
Stores sell rice cakes inserted with mini colourful flags to represent
zhuyu. Most people drink chrysanthemum tea, a few old schools drink
homemade chrysanthemum wine. School children learn poems about
chrysanthemum, and many cities will host a chrysanthemum exhibit.
Mountain climbing races are also popular, winners get to wear
a wreath made of zhuyu.
.
'The festival is based on the theory of Yin and Yang, the two opposing
principles in nature. Yin is feminine, negative principle, while Yang
is
masculine and positive. The ancients believed that all natural
phenomena
could be esplained by this theory. Numbers are related to this theory.
Even numbers belong to Yin and odd numbers to Yang. The ninth day of
the ninth lunar month is a day when the two Yang numbers meet. So it
is called Chongyang. Chong means double in Chinese. Chongyang has been
an important festival since ancient times.'The festival is held in the
golden season of autumn, at harvest -time. The brght clear weather
and the joy of bringing in the harvest make for a festive happy
atmosphere.The Double Ninth Festival is usually perfect for outdoor
activities. Many people go hiking and climbing in the country,
enjoying Mother Nature's final burst of color before she puts on
her dull winter CLOAK. Some will carry a spray of dogwood.
.
'It is hard to say when these customs were created. But there are many
stories which are closely related. The bookXu Qi Xie Ji ,written by Wu
Jun in the sixth century has one such story. In ancient times, there
lived a man named Huan Jing. He was learning the magic arts from Fei
Changfang, who had become an immortal after many years of practicing
Taoism. One day, the two were climbing a muntain. Fei Changfang
suddenly
stopped and looked very upset. He told Huan Jing, On the ninth day of
the ninth month, disaster will come to your hometown. You must go home
immediately. Remember to make a red bag for each one of your family
members and put a spray of dogwood in every one. Then you must all tie
your bags to your arms, leave home quickly and climb to the top of a
mountain. Most importantly, you must all drink some chrysanthemum
wine.
Only by doing so can your family avoid this disaster.
.
'On hearing this, Huan Jing rushed home and asked his family to do
exactly as his teacher said. The whole family climbed a nearby
mountain
and did not return until the evening. When they got back home, they
found all their animals dead, including chickens, sheep, dogs and even
the powerful ox. Later Huan Jing told his teacher, Fei Changfang,
about
this. Fei said the poultry and livestock died in place of Huan Jing's
family, who escaped disaster by following his instructions. And so
it happened that climbing a mountain, carring a spray of dogwood
and drinking chrysanthemum wine became the traditional activities
of the Chongyang Festival.
.
'The dogwood is a plant with a strong fragrance, and is often used as
a
Chinese herbal medicine. People in ancient times believed it could
drive
away evil spirits and prevent one from getting a chill in lalte
autumn.
So its history as a medicine goes back many centuries. But the custom
of
carrying a spray of dogwood during the Double Ninth Festival is slowly
dying out and many people, especially young people in the cities,
do not even know what a dogwood spray looks like.
.
'Even thouht the tradition of carrying a few sptigs of dogwood dies
out,
that of climbing mountains is reaching new heights.
.
'Early in the Western Han Dynasty, about 2,000 years ago, people used
to
climb a high platform outside the capital city of Chang'an on the
occasion of the Chongyang Festival. For many, it was the last outing
of
the year before the onset of winter. The custom evolved into its
present
form, when people go climbing to get some exercise as well as enjoy
the autumn scenery.
.
'But what about those people who live in flat regions far from any
mountain' The problem is solved by going for a picnic and eating
cakes.
The Chinese word for cake is Gao, a homonym of the Chinese word for
high. Mountains are high, so eating cake can, by a stretch of the
imagination, take the place of going for a climb.
-------------------------------------------------
Art Neuendorffer
-----------------------------------------------
September 9
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0909.shtml
-----------------------------------------------
Audomarus (Omer) of Th?rouanne, OSB B (RM)
Born in Coutances, France, c. 595; died September 9, c. 670. Saint
Omer
was the only son of wealthy and noble parents, Friulph and Domitilla,
whose only thoughts were for the benefit of their son-- both secular
and
spiritual. Upon the death of Domitilla, Friulph sold his estate, and
distributed the entire proceeds among the poor. Thereafter, Friulph
and
Omer were welcomed by Abbot Saint Eustasius to Luxeuil monastery near
Besan?on, where they were both professed.
.
Omer was distinguished by his humility, obedience, and devotion.
Within
a short time his reputation for sanctity became widely known. After
spending more than 20 years at Luxeuil, Saint Omer was nominated by
Bishop Saint Acharius of Noyon-Tournai and appointed by King Dagobert
to
be bishop of Th?rouanne, a diocese sadly in need of evangelization
than
then encompassed the Pas-de-Calais and Flanders. The choice was
applauded by the king, bishops, and nobility, but not by Saint Omer.
.
Upon receiving notification, he cried out: "How great is the
difference
between the secure harbor in which I now enjoy a sweet calm, and that
tempestuous ocean into which I am pushed, against my will, and
destitute
of experience!" Without listening to his humble objections, the
deputies
presented him to the bishops, who consecrated him at the end of 637.
.
Omer succeeded in making inroads with the Morini, where others before
him had failed or been stopped: Saints Fuscian, Victoricus, and
Gentian
as well as Quintinus had brought the Gospel to them but were
martyred;
Saint Victricius of Rouen had worked among them but lacked enough
pastors during the incursions of the barbarians to keep the people
from
falling back into heathenism; and in the 6th century, Saint Remigius
sent Antimund and Adelbert to evangelize them. The work of completing
the conversion of the Morini was left to Saint Omer.
.
He began this task as always--with prayer--and completed it by
dedicating himself totally to the mission. He destroyed pagan idols
and
temples and patiently instructed the people. His first priority was
to
bolster the faith of the few Christians that he found. His own zeal,
piety, and good works drew others to the faith, as did his eloquent
preaching that emphasized disinterested service and reconciliation.
He
also enlisted the service of other holy monks from Luxeuil, including
Saints Mommolinus, Bertrand, and Bertin. They literally covered the
district with abbeys that served as centers for their missionary
activities. Omer himself was the co-founder of Sithiu (Sithin),
around
which grew the town now known as Saint-Omer.
.
The author of his life recounts many miracles performed by Omer. In
his
old age he was blind (from at least 663), but that did not stop him
from
tending to his flock. When Bishop Saint Aubert of Arras-Cambrai
translated the relics of Saint Redact in 667 from the cathedral to
the
monastery which he had built in his honor, Saint Omer assisted and
recovered his sight for a short time on that occasion. His body was
buried by Saint Bertin at our Lady's church, which is now the
cathedral
.
In art, Saint Omer is portrayed by a stream in episcopal vestments
holding a bunch of grapes. At his feet, a man saved from drowning
and a casket of relics. He may also be shown with Saint Bertin.
--------------------------------------------------
Bertram (Bettelin) of Croyland, OSB Hermit (AC)
.
8th century. Saint Bertram, a disciple of Saint Guthlac, was a hermit
who practiced the most austere penances and lived a life of continual
prayer in the forest near Stafford, England. He received counsel from
his master on his deathbed and was present at his burial. After the
death of Guthlac, Bertram and his companions continued to live at
Croyland under Kenulphus, its first abbot.
.
There are unreliable legends about Bertram, including a later one
that
he had to overcome temptation to cut Guthlac's throat while shaving
him.
They also say that Bertram was the son of a local ruler who fell in
love
with a princess during a visit to Ireland. On their return to
England,
she died a terrible death. He left her in the forest when she was
overcome by labor pains, while he had gone in search of a midwife.
During his absence she was torn to pieces by ravenous wolves.
Thereafter, Bertram became a hermit. Another legends relates that
Saint Bertram left his hermitage to drive off invaders
with the help of an angel, before returning to his cell to die.
.
Some of his relics may have been translated to Stafford before the
plunder and burning of Croyland by the Danes. He is the patron of
Stafford, in which his relics were kept with great veneration.
---------------------------------------------------------
Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (the Younger, Cluain Mocca Nois), Abbot (AC)
(also known as Kieran, Kyran, Ceran, Queran)
.
Born in Connacht, Ireland, c. 516; died at Clonmacnoise, c. 556.
Saint
Ciaran is one of the 12 Apostles of Ireland. Born into a Meath family
of
pre-Celtic descent, Saint Ciaran was the son of the carpenter Beoit.
As
a boy he left home with a dun cow for company in order to be trained
for
the monastic life in Saint Finnian's monastery at Clonard. At Clonard
he
taught the daughter of the king of Cuala because he was considered
the
most learned monk in the abbey.
.
About 534, he migrated to Inishmore in the Aran Islands, where he
spent
seven years learning from Saint Enda and was ordained priest. He left
after having a vision that Enda interpreted for him. Ciaran travelled
slowly eastward, first Scattery Island where he learned from Saint
Senan, then to Isel in the center of Ireland. He was forced to leave
here because of his excessive charity and moved on to Inis Aingin
(Hare
Island).
.
He left there with eight companions and eventually settled at
Clonmacnoise on the Shannon River south of Athlone in the West Meath,
where he built Clonmacnoise monastery. He gave his monks an extremely
austere rule, known as the Law of Kieran. The saint is said to have
lived only seven months after founding the great school of
Clonmacnoise,
dying at the age of 34. Clonmacnoise may have been one of the most
famous in Ireland, attracting students from throughout the country.
When Pope John Paul II visited Ireland, it was the only school that
he
visited. The monastery survived many invasions and raids until 1552,
and there are still many notable ruins remaining from its early days.
Although Ciaran's shrine was plundered several times during
the medieval period, the Clonmacnoise crozier remains
in the National Museum in Dublin.
.
Various legends, some outlandish, are told of Ciaran. One relates that
a fox's whelp would carry his lessons to Ciaran's master until it was
old enough to eat the satchel containing the saint's writings.
Another
says that the other Irish saints were so jealous of him that they
fasted & prayed that he might die young--hardly to be given any
credit.
.
The following stories derive from the Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae as
translated by Plummer, which includes the moving account of his death:
.
The abbot Ciaran "was like a burning lamp, of charity so rare that
not
only did the fervor and devotion of his pitiful heart go out to the
relieving of the hunger of men, but he showed himself tireless in
caring
for the dumb beasts in their necessity. . . ."
.
Ciaran left Saint Senan to live for a time with his brethren Luchen,
abbot, and Odran, prior, at Isel Monastery, where he was appointed
almoner. One day "Ciaran was reading out of doors in the graveyard in
the sun, when he suddenly spied some weary travellers going into the
guest house; and hurriedly getting up, he forgot his book,
and it lay open out of doors until the morrow.
.
"Meantime, as he busied himself settling his guests in their quarters
and bathing their feet and eagerly tending them, the night fell. In
that
same night there fell great rains; but by God's will the open book
was
found dry and sound; not a drop of rain had fallen upon it, and all
the
ground round about it was damp. For which Saint Ciaran and his
brethren
gave Christ praise. . . . "One day, when Saint Ciaran was working in
the
field, there came to him a poor man asking for alms. At that very hour
a
chariot with two horses had been brought in offering to Saint Ciaran
by
a certain lord, the son of Crimthann, King of Connaught; and these
horses and chariot gave Ciaran to this poor man.
.
"Now Saint Ciaran's brothers could not endure the vastness of his
charity, for every day he divided their substance among the poor, and
so
they said to him, 'Brother, depart from us; for we cannot live in the
same place with thee and feed and keep our brethren for God, because
of
thy unbounded lavishness.' To whom Saint Ciaran made reply: 'If I had
remained in this place, it would not have been Isel (that is, the
low-lying): not low but high, but great and honorable.'
.
"And with that Saint Ciaran blessed his brothers, and taking his
wallet
with his books on his shoulder, he set out from thence. And when he
had
gone a little way from the place, there met him on the path a stag,
awaiting him in all gentleness; and Saint Ciaran set his wallet on
his
back, and wherever the stag went, the blessed Ciaran followed him.
And
the stag came to Lough Ree, which is in the east of Connaught, and
stood
over against Hare Island, which is in the lake.
.
"Then Saint Ciaran knew that God had called him to that island; and
blessing the stag, he sent him away, and went to that island and
dwelt
there. And the fame of his holiness spread abroad, and from far and
near
good men came together to him, and Saint Ciaran made them his
monks. . . .
"And one day as they rowed across, Saint Ciaran's gospel which a
brother
was holding carelessly fell into the lake, and for a great while it
lay
under the waters and was not found. But one summer day the cows came
into the lake, to cool themselves in the water from the great heat of
the sun; and when they were coming out from it, the leather wallet in
which the Gospel had been put had caught about the foot of one of the
cows, and so the cow dragged the wallet with her back to dry land;
and
inside the sodden leather the book of the Gospel was found, clean and
dry and shining white, with no trace of damp, as if it had been
hidden
in a library. For which Saint Ciaran rejoiced, and his brethren with
him. . . .
.
"And after these things came a man of Munster . . . Donnan by name,
to
Saint, Ciaran dwelling on Hare Island. And to him one day Saint
Ciaran
said, 'What seek you, my father, in these parts?' And Saint Donnan
replied, 'Master, I seek a place to abide in, where I may serve
Christ
in exile.'
.
"Then said Saint Ciaran, 'Abide, father, in this place; for I shall
go
to some other; I know that this is not the place of my resurrection.'
Then Saint Ciaran gave Hare Island with his household goods to Saint
Donnan, and came to a place called Ard Mantain on the River Shannon;
but
he would not dwell in that place, and said, 'I will not to dwell in
this
place, for here there will be a great plenty of the things of this
world, and worldly delight; and heard would it be for the souls of my
disciples to go to heaven, if I should live here, for the place
belongs
to the men of this world.'
.
"And thereafter Saint Ciaran left that place and came to the place
which
was called of old Ard Tiprat, but is now called Clonmacnoise. And
coming
to the place he said: 'Here shall I dwell; for many souls shall go
forth
from this place to the Kingdom of God; and in this place shall my
resurrection be.' So there the blessed Ciaran lived with his
disciples,
and began to found a great monastery there; and many found all sides
came to him, and his parish spread about him far; and the name of
Saint
Ciaran was famous throughout all Ireland. And a famous and holy city
rose in that place to the honor of Saint Ciaran, and its name was
Clonmacnoise . . . and in it whether they be kings or princes, the
chiefs of the sons of Niall and of Connaught are buried beside Saint
Ciaran there. . . .
.
"So for one year did our most holy patron Saint Ciaran dwell in his
city
of Clonmacnoise. And when he knew that the day of his death was
drawing
nigh, he prophesied, weeping, of the future evils that would fall
after
his day upon that place; and said that their life would be a poor
thing.
Then said the brethren: 'Father, what shall we do in the day of these
calamities? Shall we abide here beside thy relics? Or shall we seek
another place?'
.
"To whom Saint Ciaran said: 'Haste ye to some other place of peace,
and
leave my relics as it might be the dry bones of a stag on the
mountain.
Better for you that your life should be with my spirit in heaven,
than
that ye should abide dishonored beside my bones upon earth.'
.
"And when the hour of his departing drew nigh he bade them carry him
out
of doors from the house, and gazing up at the sky said, 'Steep is
that
road; and it must needs be.' The brethren said to him, 'Father, we
know
that nothing is hard for thee: but for us feeble folk, there is sore
dread in this hour.'
.
"And again brought back into the house he lifted up his hand and
blessed
his people and his clergy, and having received the sacrifice of the
Lord, on the ninth day of September he gave up the ghost, in the
thirty-third year of his age".
-----------------------------------------------
Dorotheus (Dorothea), Peter, and Gorgonius (Goroon) M (RM)
Died 303; feast day formerly March 12 on which day it is still
celebrated in the East. The martyrdom of Saints Dorotheus, Peter,
& Gorgonius was recorded by their contemporary Eusebius of Caesarea.
They were members of the imperial court- -favorite eunuchs of Emperor
Diocletian and officials of his body guard at Nicomedia. Dorotheus
was the *FIRST CHAMBERLAIN* ; the other two, under-chamberlains.
They sacrificed their fine place to remain faithful
to their baptismal promises.
.
When the palace at Nicomedia was set ablaze, perhaps at the
instigation
of Galerius, the Christians were unjustly blamed, including these
three
Christian men. They were cruelly tortured, and at length Gorgonius
and
Dorotheus were hanged. Peter, who had refused to sacrifice, was hung
up
naked in the air, and brutally whipped. When his flesh was so torn
that
the bones were exposed, the executioners poured salt and vinegar into
his wounds. Then he was broiled on a gridiron, but he remained
resolute,
and died while still being tortured. Diocletian had the bodies cast
into the sea, so that the Christians could not collect their relics.
-----------------------------------------------
Gorgonius M (RM)
Date unknown. This Saint Gorgonius is sometimes confused with the
martyr
of Nicomedia of the same name who is celebrated today with Saint
Dorotheus. He was a martyr buried on the Via Lavicana, who was
honored
with an office in the sacramentary of Pope Saint Gelasius. Several
reputable early historians record that Saint Chrodegang of Metz
obtained
his relics from Pope Paul to enrich his monastery at Gorze. Pope
Saint
Damasus, who died about 384, wrote an epitaph on Saint Gorgonius,
which
indicates that his cultus was extremely early (Farmer, Husenbeth).
-----------------------------------------------
Hyacinth, Alexander, and Tiburtus MM (RM)
Date unknown. This trio of saints are said to have been
martyred in the Sabine country, about 30 miles from Rome.
-----------------------------------------------
Isaac (Sahak) I the Great B (AC)
Born c. 350; died at Ashtishat, Armenia, c. 440. Saint Isaac,
descendent
of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, was the son of Patriarch
(Katholikos)
Saint Nerses the Great of Armenia. After studying in Constantinople,
he
married. Upon the death of his wife, he became a monk. In 390, he was
consecrated patriarch of Armenia. He secured metropolitan rights for
the
Armenian Church from Constantinople in order to end its long
dependence
upon the Church of Caesarea in Cappadocia. In all practical terms,
Isaac
was both the spiritual and civil ruler of the country. He ended the
practice of married bishops, enforced Byzantine canon law, fought
Persian paganism, built churches and schools, and encouraged the
growth
of monasticism. He supported Saint Mesrop in the creation of an
Armenian
orthographic system and helped him to translate a large portion of
the
Bible into Armenian. Isaac also supported the translation of the
Greek
and Syrian doctors into the vernacular and initiated the creation of
a
national liturgy. His efforts can be said to have launched Armenian
literature. Saint Isaac's opposition to Nestorianism and his contacts
with the imperial court at Constantinople led to his being forced
into
retirement in 428, when the Persians invaded part of his territory.
He returned to the cathedra at Ashtishat when he was very old.
Isaac is considered the founder of the Armenia Church .
-----------------------------------------------
Joseph of Volokolamsk
Born in Lithuania, c. 1439; died 1515; canonized by the Russian
Orthodox
Church in 1578. Joseph Sanin, a man of imposing personality and
intellectual ability, became abbot of Borovsk in 1477. Like many
reformers before and after him, he found his brothers less the
willing
to change. It became such an unbearable situation that Joseph left
them
and founded a new community near Volokolamsk. Joseph saw the role of
the monastery as that of supporting social work in the area, under
the direction of the local secular authorities. This was a totally
different concept than that of another saintly reformer, Nilus of
Sora.
During a church council in Moscow in 1503, Saint Joseph's vision
for monastic life won out over that of Saint Nilus, which was an
important step for the future of the Russian Church.
-----------------------------------------------
Osmanna (Argariarga) of Brieuc V (AC)
Died c. 650. Saint Osmanna was descended from an illustrious Irish
family. She migrated to Brittany in northern France to live as a
consecrated virgin and served God with fervor in solitude until her
death near Saint Brieuc. Until the Reformation, her relics were
enshrined in a chapel under her patronage in the abbatial church of
Saint Denys near Paris; but some of them were dispersed by the
Calvinists in 1567 (Benedictines, Husenbeth).
-----------------------------------------------
Peter Claver, SJ Priest (RM)
This entry is taken nearly verbatim from Lunn. Born 1581; died 1654.
.
"Jesus Christ, Son of God, you will be my father and my mother and
all
my good. I love you much. I am sorry for having sinned against you.
Lord, I love you much, much, much."
--Saint Peter Claver.
.
Saint Peter Claver was unable to abolish the slave trade, but he did
what he could to mitigate its horrors by bringing them the
consolations
of religion and ministering to their bodily wants. He landed in
Cartagena (Colombia) in 1610 and for forty years strove to alleviate
their lot, with true apostolic fervor, declaring himself
"the slave of the Negroes forever."
.
Cartagena, which was founded by Pedro de Heredia in 1533, owed its
great
commercial importance to its superb harbor. It is situated in the
Caribbean Sea near the most northerly point of South America, to the
east of the Isthmus of Panama. It is in the tropics, about 700 miles
north of the Equator.
.
When Peter Claver first set foot in Cartagena, he kissed the ground
which was to be the scene of his future labors. He had every reason
to
rejoice, for the climate of Cartagena was disagreeably hot and moist,
the country around was flat and marshy, the soil was barren, the
necessities of life had to be imported, and in the time of Peter
Claver
fresh vegetables were almost unknown. In the seventeenth century
Cartagena was the happy hunting ground of fever-bearing insects from
tropical swamps. These, the natural disadvantages of Cartagena, might
have been wasted on a robust saint, but Claver must have been
consoled
to feel that the fine edge of these discomforts would not be blunted
by
a naturally healthy constitution. He had, indeed, been warned that
his
delicate health might easily succumb to excessive heat.
.
Cartagena was the chief center for the slave trade. Slave-traders
picked
up slaves at four crowns a head on the coast of Guinea or Congo, and
sold them for 200 crowns or more at Cartagena. The voyage lasted two
months, slaves cannot live on air, even foul air, and the overheads
may
fairly be credited with 33 per cent or so of slaves who died en route.
.
Father Claver, whose life's work was to be the instruction, the
conversion and the care of the Negroes who landed in Cartagena, began
his ministry under the guidance of Father Alfonso de Sandoval.
.
Father Claver never experienced that momentary weakness which always
overcame the heroic Sandoval when a slave ship was announced. The
horror
with which Sandoval contemplated a return to these scenes of squalid
misery only serves to increase our admiration of the courage with
which
he conquered these very natural shrinking of the flesh.
.
Father Claver, on the other hand, was transported with joy when
messengers announced the arrival of a fresh cargo of Africans.
Indeed,
he bribed the officials of Cartagena with the promise to say Mass for
the intentions of whoever was first to bring him this joyful news.
But
there was no need for such bribes, for among the simple pleasures of
life must be counted the happiness of bringing good news to a
grateful
recipient. The Governor himself coveted this mission, for the
happiness
of watching the radiant dawn of joy on the saint's face. At the words
"Another slave ship" his eyes brightened, and color flooded back into
his pale, emaciated cheeks.
.
In the intervals between the arrival of slave ships, Father Claver
wandered round the town with a sack. He went from house to house,
begging for little comforts for the incoming cargo. Claver enjoyed
the
respect of the responsible officials of the Crown in Cartagena,
devout
Catholics who approved warmly the work of instruction which the good
Father carried on amongst the Negroes. They felt responsible for the
welfare of these exiles. Such opposition as Claver encountered
amongst
the Spaniards came from the traders and planters, who were often
inconvenienced by Claver's zeal on behalf of his black children.
.
The black cargo arrived in a condition of piteous terror. They were
convinced that they were to be bought by merchants who needed their
fat to grease the keels of ships, and their blood to dye the sails,
for this was one of the favorite bedtime stories with which they had
been regaled by friendly mariners during the two months' passage.
.
The first appearance of Father Claver was often greeted with screams
of
terror, but it was only a matter of moments to convince these frantic
creatures that Claver was no purchaser of slave fat and slave blood.
He scarcely needed the interpreters who accompanied him for this
purpose
for the language of love survived in the confusion of Babel, and
readily
translated itself into gesture. Cor ad cor loquitur ("heart speaks to
heart"). Long before the interpreters had finished explaining that
the
story that had so terrified them was the invention of the devil,
Father
Claver had already soothed and comforted them by his very presence.
And
not only by his presence, for Claver was a practical evangelist. The
biscuits, brandy, tobacco and lemons which he distributed were
practical
tokens of friendship. "We must," he said, "speak to them with our
hands,
before we try to speak to them with our lips."
.
After a brief talk to the Negroes on deck, Claver descended to the
sick
between decks. In this work he was often alone. Many of his African
interpreters were unable to endure the stench and fainted at the
first
contact with that appalling atmosphere. Claver, however, did not
recoil.
Indeed, he regarded this part of his work as of special importance.
Again and again he was able to impart to some poor dying wretch those
elements of Christian truth which justified him in administering
baptism.
.
It is recorded that the person of Father Claver was sometimes
illumined
with rays of glory as he passed through the hospital wards of
Cartagena.
It may well be that a radiance no less illuminating lit the dark
bowels
of the slave ship as Father Claver moved among the dying. There they
lay
in the slime, the stench and the gloom, their bodies still bleeding
from
the lash, their souls still suffering from insults and contempt.
There
they lay, and out of the depths called upon the tribal gods who had
deserted them, and called in vain. Then suddenly things changed. The
dying Africans saw a face bending over them, a face illumined with
love,
and a voice infinitely tender, and the deft movement of kind hands
easing their tortured bodies, and supreme miracle his lips meeting
their
filthy sores in a kiss. . . . A love so divine was an unconquerable
argument for the God in whom Father Claver believed.
.
When Father Claver returned next day he was welcomed
with ecstatic cries of child-like affection.
.
Two or three days usually passed before arrangements at the port
could
be completed to allow the disembarkation of a fresh cargo of slaves.
When the day of disembarkation arrived, Father Claver was always
present, waiting on shore with another stock of provisions and
delicacies. Sometimes he would carry the sick ashore in his own arms.
Again and again in the records of his mission, we find evidences of
his
strength, which seemed almost supernatural. His diet would have been
ridiculously inadequate for a normal man living a sedentary life. His
neglect of sleep would have killed a normal man within a few years,
but
in spite of his contempt for all ordinary rules of health, in spite of
a
constitution which was none too strong at the outset of his career,
he
proved himself capable of outworking and out-walking and out-nursing
all
his colleagues. He made every effort to secure for the sick special
carts, as otherwise they ran the risk of being driven forward under
the
lash. He did not leave them until he had seen them to their lodgings,
and men said that Father Claver escorting slaves back to Cartagena
reminded them of a conqueror entering Rome in triumph.
.
It was after the Negroes had been lodged in the magazines where they
awaited their sale and ultimate disposal that Claver's real work
began.
In the case of the dying, Claver was satisfied if he could awaken
some
dim sense of contrition of sin, and some faint glimmering of
understanding of the fundamental Christian belief. The healthy
slaves, however, had to qualify by a course of rigid instruction
for the privilege of baptism.
.
I have already referred to the crowded conditions of the compound in
which the Negroes were stocked on disembarkation, and on the squalor
and
misery which was the result of the infectious diseases from which
many
of them were suffering. The stink of sick Negroes, confined in a
limited
space, often proved insupportable to Father Claver's Negro
interpreters.
It was in this noxious and empoisoned air that Peter Claver's
greatest
work was achieved.
.
Before the day's work began, Father Claver prepared himself by
special
prayers before the Blessed Sacrament and by self-inflicted
austerities.
He then passed through the streets of Cartagena, accompanied by his
African interpreters, and bearing a staff crowned by a cross. On his
shoulder he carried a bag which contained his stole and surplice, the
necessities for the arrangement of an altar, and his little store of
comforts and delicacies. Heavily loaded though he was, his companions
found it difficult to keep up with this eager little man who dived
through the crowded streets with an enthusiasm which suggested
a lover hurrying to a trysting place.
.
On arrival, his first care was for the sick. He had a delicacy of
touch
in the cleansing and dressing of sores which was a true expression of
his personality. After he had made the sick comfortable on their
couches and given them a little wine and brandy and refreshed them
with scented water, he then proceeded to collect
the healthier Negroes into an open space.
.
In his work of instruction Claver relied freely on pictures. This
method
appealed effectively to the uneducated mind, and was, moreover, in
accordance with the teachings of his Order, for, as we have seen,
Saint Ignatius in his Spiritual Exercises was constant in urging the
exercitant to picture to himself sensibly the subject-matter of his
meditations. His favorite picture was in the form of a triptych, in
the
center Christ on the Cross, his precious blood flowing from each
wound
into a vase, below the Cross a priest collecting this blood to baptize
a faithful Negro. On the right side of the triptych a naively
dramatic
group of Negroes, glorious and splendidly arrayed; on the left side
the
wicked Negroes, hideous and deformed, surrounded by unlovely monsters.
.
Claver was particularly careful to make every possible arrangement
for
the comfort of his catechumens. He himself remained standing, even in
the heat of the day, and the slave-masters, who sometimes attended
these edifying ceremonies, often remonstrated with the slaves for
remaining seated while their instructor stood. But Father Claver
always
intervened, and explained with great earnestness to the slave-masters
that the slaves were the really important people at this particular
performance, and that he himself was a mere cipher who was there for
their convenience. Sometimes, if a Negro was so putrescent with sores
as
to be revolting to his neighbors, and worse still, to prevent them
from
concentrating their thoughts on Father Claver's instruction, he would
throw his cloak over him as a screen. Again, he would often use his
cloak as a cushion for the infirm. On such occasions the cloak was
often
withdrawn so infected and filthy as to require most drastic
cleansing.
Father Claver, however, was so engrossed in his work, that he would
have resumed his cloak immediately had not his interpreters forcibly
prevented him.
.
This cloak was to serve many purposes during his ministry: as a veil
to
disguise repulsive wounds, as a shield for leprous Negroes, as a pall
for those who had died, as a pillow for the sick. The cloak was soon
to
acquire a legendary fame. Its very touch cured the sick and revived
the
dying. Men fought to come into contact with it, to tear fragments
from
it as relics. Indeed, before long its edge was ragged with torn
shreds.
.
Claver's work was not confined to Cartagena. Cartagena was a slave
mart,
and very few slaves whom Father Claver baptized in Cartagena remained
there. Now, Father Claver was determined not to lose his converts,
and
it was therefore his practice to conduct a series of country missions
after Easter. He went from village to village, crossing mountain
ranges,
traversing swamps and bogs, making his way through forests. On
arriving
in a village he would plant a cross in the market place, and there he
would await the sunset and the return from the fields of the slaves
whom
he had first met it might be some weeks, it might be some years
before
in Cartagena. The ecstatic welcome which marked these scenes of
reunion
were a royal recompense for the hardships of the missionary journey.
.
Father Claver never lost his ascendancy over the men whom he had
baptized. On one occasion a mere message from him was sufficient to
arrest the flight of a panic-stricken Negro population retreating in
disorder from a volcano in eruption. Father Claver's messenger
stopped
the rout, and Father Claver's bodily presence next day transformed a
terror-infected mob into a calm and orderly procession which followed
him without fear round the very edge of the still active crater, on
the
crest of which Father Claver planted a triumphant cross.
.
Though Father Claver's activities were not confined to the Negroes,
the
"slave of the slaves" regarded himself as, above all, consecrated to
their service. Proud Spaniards who sought him out had to be content
with
such time as he could spare from the ministrations of the Negroes.
This
attitude did not meet with universal approval. Spanish ladies
complained
that the smell of the Negroes who had attended Father Claver's
daybreak
Mass clung tenaciously to the church, and rendered its interior
insupportable to sensitive nostrils for the remainder of the day.
How could they possibly be expected to confess to Father Claver in
a confessional used by Negroes and impregnated with their presence?
"I quite agree," replied Father Claver, with the disarming simplicity
of the saint. "I am not the proper confessor for fine ladies.
You should go to some other confessor. My confessional was never
meant for ladies of quality. It is too narrow for their gowns.
It is only suited to poor Negresses."
.
But were his Spanish ladies satisfied with this reply? Not a bit.
It was Father Claver to whom they wished to confess, and if the worst
had come to the worst, they were prepared to use the same
confessional
as the Negresses. "Very well, then," replied Father Claver, meekly,
"but
I am afraid you must wait until all my Negresses have been absolved."
.
In the sight of God the white man and the Negro may be equal, but
in the sight of Father Claver the Negro had precedence every time.
.
In art, Saint Peter Claver is a Jesuit with a Negro (Roeder).
He is the apostle of Cartagena and patron of missions
to non-European nations.
-----------------------------------------------
Blessed Seraphina Sforza, Poor Clare V (AC)
Born at Urbino, Italy, 1434; died in Pesaro, Italy, 1478; beatified
in 1754. Seraphina was the daughter of Count Guido of Urbino, lord
of Gubbio. In 1448, she married Duke Alexander Sforza of Pesaro,
who treated her with contempt and finally threw her out.
She took refuge in the convent of the Poor Clares,
where she was professed and later became abbess.
-----------------------------------------------
Severian of Sebaste M (RM)
Died 322. Saint Severian, an Armenian senator, was martyred at
Sebaste,
Armenia, during the reign of Licinius. He had witnessed the martyrdom
of
the 40 soldiers of Sebaste, which moved him to openly profess his own
faith. He was torn with iron rakes until he died (Benedictines).
-----------------------------------------------
Straton M (RM)
Date unknown. At an unknown time and place, Saint Straton was bound
between to trees that were bent toward each other. When they were
allowed to recoil, he was torn apart (Benedictines).
-----------------------------------------------
Wilfrida of Wilton, OSB Abbess (AC)
(also known as Wulfritha, Wulfthryth)
Died c. 988. Saint Wilfrida was a novice at the convent of Wilton
when
she caught the eye of the King Saint Edgar the Peaceful, who had bee
rejected by her cousin, Saint Wulfhilda. She became his concubine and
bore his daughter, Saint Edith of Wilton, out of wedlock. Shortly
after
Edith's birth, she returned to Wilton with her child. There she took
the
veil at the hands of Saint Ethelwold. As a nun, and later as abbess,
Wilfrida did penance and made ample amends for the irregularity
of her liaison with Edgar (Benedictines, Farmer).
-----------------------------------------------
Wulfhilda of Barking, OSB Abbess (AC)
Died c. 980-1000; other feasts include that of her translation on
September 2, c. 1030 (with the relics of Saints Hildelith and
Ethelburga), as well as on March 7 and September 23 at Barking.
.
Saint Wulfhilda was raised in the abbey of Wilton. When she was a
novice, King Saint Edgar sought her hand in marriage, but she had a
vocation that was irrevocable. Her aunt, Abbess Wenfleda of Wherwell,
invited the young novice to become her successor, but it was just a
ploy
to lure her from Wilton. When she arrived at Wherwell, she found the
king waiting for her and her aunt willing to allow him to seduce her.
Wulfhilda escaped through the drains despite the chaperons inside and
the guards outside the convent. The king pursued her back to Wilton
and caught her in the cloister, but she escaped his grasp and took
refuge in the sanctuary among the altars and relics. Thereafter
Edgar renounced his claim on her and took her cousin
Saint Wilfrida as his mistress instead.
.
Wulfhilda went on to found and serve as the first abbess of the
convent
of Horton in Dorsetshire. Later she was appointed abbess of the
convent
of Barking, which had been restored by King Edgar and endowed with
several churches in Wessex towns. During this period she was credited
with several miracles, including the multiplication of drinks when
King
Edgar, Saint Ethelwold, and a naval officer from Sandwich visited the
abbey. After Edgar's death, his widowed queen, Elfrida (?lfthryth),
conspired with some of Wulfhilda's nuns, to drive her out of Barking.
She retired to Horton for the next 20 years until she was recalled
to Barking by King Ethelred. For the last seven years of her life,
Wulfhilda served as abbess of both Horton and Barking.
Goscelin wrote her vita within 60 years of her death.
Her cultus has always been a local one.
-----------------------------------------------
Art Neuendorffer
Art Neuendorffer
HOUSTON, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Hurricane Humberto shut oil shipping
channels and two refineries as it slammed onshore Texas on Thursday.
Winds also forced pilots to halt shipping into and out of BEAUMONT-
Port Arthur in east Texas, while the Houston ship channel remained
closed after shutting on Wednesday. Exxon's refinery in BEAUMONT,
Texas, remained up and running through the storm.>>
-----------------------------------------
http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/VERE.htm
.
Margaret De VERE (B. BEAUMONT)
Died: 15 Jun 1398
.
Notes: The Complete Peerage vol.X,p.223-4,note n.
.
Father: John De VERE (7° E. Oxford)
.
Mother: Maud De BADLESMERE (C. Oxford)
.
(son of John De BEAUMONT and Eleanor Plantagenet) BEF 1370
.
Children:
.
1. John BEAUMONT (4° B. BEAUMONT) (b. 1361)
.
2. Eleanor BEAUMONT
.
Married 2: Nicholas De LOVAIN (Sir) ABT 1370
.
Children:
.
3. Margaret De LOVAIN
.
Married 3: John DEVEREUX (Sir Knight) ABT 1355/1380, Hereford, England
.
Children:
.
4. William DEVEREUX (Sir)
.
5. Joan DEVEREUX
----------------------------------------------------------
approached by a mile-long avenue of CEDARS. While nothing remains
of it today but a few stones, full plans survive. It was built
about two principal quadrangles, respectively 86 and 110 feet on
a side, and among its many apartments was *a gallery 113 feet long*
"wainscoted with oak and paintings oVER the same
"Singin' in the Rain" was part of Brown & Freed's score for MGM's
first "all talking, all singing, all dancing" musical, The Hollywood
Revue of 1929 (the song has since been used in five other films,
songbook as the basis for an original musical, as he had done with
Jerome Kern's songs in 1946 (Till the Clouds Roll By) and George
Gershwin's in 1951 (An American in Paris). Freed assigned Betty
material, with Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly to direct. When the
time came to shoot, Donen decided that Donald O'Connor needed
a solo number, and couldn't find anything that worked in the Freed
catalog. Donen suggested that Brown and Freed write a new song,
pointing to Porter's "Be a Clown" as the sort of thing he thought
-maybe too well--with "Make 'Em Laugh." Donen called it "100%
plagiarism," but Freed was the boss and the song went into the
film. Cole Porter never sued, although he obviously had grounds
enough. Apparently he was still grateful to Freed for giving
him the assignment for The Pirate at a time when Porter's career
was suffering from two consecutive Broadway flops (Mexican
..............................................
1899 Billy Rose, (d. 1966) composer
1943 Lorenzo
1951 Michael Keaton, Beetlejuice, Batman
1966 Adam Sandler
------------------------------------------
1000 Battle of Swold. Death of Olaf I of Norway.
.
1488 Death of Francis II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1433),
. from a fall from a horse.
.
1739 Stono Rebellion, the largest slave uprising in the British
mainland colonies prior to the American Revolution, erupted near
Charleston.
.
1776 The Continental Congress officially names the United States.
.
1835 Bear-baiting was banned in England.
.
.
1850 California was admitted as 31st US state.
.
1901 Death of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (b. 1864).
.
.
1926 The National Broadcasting Company formed.
.
1945 Admiral Grace Hopper discovered first computer bug ' a moth.
.
1948 The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was created.
-------------------------------------------
Feast day of St Alexander
.
Feast day of St Bettelin (Beccelin), hermit and confessor
This saint is patron of Stafford, England, where his relics
were kept. He lived as an anchoret (hermit) in the forest nearby.
.
Born in Lyons, France, in 1813; died 1853; beatified in 1997.
.
Feast day of St Gaudridus
.
Feast day of Blessed Jacques Laval (Father Laval Day, Mauritius)
"Slavery had only recently been outlawed in Mauritius, and many of
Jacques' potential parishioners were freed slaves, poor, uneducated,
often unemployed, and always treated as second class citizens. Jacques
lived with them, learned their language, fasted when supplies were
short, slept in a packing crate, used his medical training to heal
them, and explained that to God there were no unimportant people,
that no one was second class."
.
"Every September 9, Mauritians of all faiths walk or drive towards
Black People' at Ste-Croix, Port-Louis. The belief in P're Laval,
to whom powers of healing are attributed, reminds us of the
Lourdes Pilgrimage in France."
.
Feast day of St Kieran the Younger (Ceran; Ciaran; Ciaran of
Conmacnoise; Kieran of Clonmacnoise; Kyran; Kiaran; Kierian; Queran;
Queranus; one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland), abbot in Ireland
Founder of the Conmacnois abbey in West Meath (known for centuries
as a centre of Irish scholarship), and served as its first abbot.
.
Feast day of St Joseph of Volokolamsk
Feast day of St Maria Eutimia
Feast day of St Mary de la Cabeza
.
Feast day of St Omer (Audomarus) of Th?rouanne, bishop and
confessor(Canadian golden rod, Solidago Canadensis
is today's plant, dedicated to this saint)
.
Feast day of St Osmanna (Osmana) virgin, of Ireland
Feast day of St Peter Claver
Feast day of St Pierre Bonhomme
Feast day of St Seraphina Sforza
Feast day of St Severian
Feast day of St Tiburtius
Feast day of St Wilfrida
Feast day of St Wulfhilda
------------------------------------------
"I have not earned what I have already enjoyed."
Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), US philosopher, author,
naturalist; letter, September 9, 1857, to Daniel Ricketson,
in The Writings of Henry David Thoreau
in 1864 to combat pasture insects. In the 'Shaky Isles' they
are often seen as a pest and they continue the swooping
behaviour for which they are well known in their home country.
.
Formerly 'maggot-pie', maggot representing Margaret
(cf Robin redbreast, Tom-tit, and the old Phyllyp-sparrow,
and pie being pied, in allusion to its white and black plumage.
.
The magpie has generally been regarded as an uncanny bird;
in Sweden it is connected with witchcraft;
in Devonshire it was a custom to spit three times
to avert ill luck when the bird was sighted;
in Scotland magpies flying near the windows of a house foretold death.
.
The old rhyme about magpies seen in the course of a walk says:
.
One's sorrow, two's mirth.
Three's a wedding, four's a birth?
Five's a christening, six a dearth,
Seven's heaven, eight is hell?
And nine's the devil his ane sel?.
- Ivor H Evans
---------------------------------------------
In a Chinese legend, a witch warned Sun Go to go to a mountaintop
refuge to escape a disaster that would happen on the 9th day of
the 9th moon (the date of commemoration has been adjusted to conform
with the Gregorian calendar). Today people go to high places, where
there is kite flying (kites take misfortune to the skies), offerings
to ancestral spirits; family dinners. This ritual is called the
'festival of High Places' in China. Go was a Chinese villager with
a small farm. A witch looked at his face and saw the circulation of
his blood, then warned him that on 9/9 there would be death on his
farm. He fled with his whole family and returned from the mountain
to find all his animals and fowls were dead. People go to high
places today, to repair graves of ancestors and prune away dead
branches from trees.
.
The Double Ninth Festival, dated on the ninth day of the ninth month
in Chinese calendar, is a traditional Chinese holiday, mentioned in
writing since before the East Han period. According to the I Ching,
nine is a yang number, ninth day of the ninth lunar month or double
nine, has too much yang and is thus a potentially dangerous date.
Hence, the day is also called 'Double Yang Festival'. To protect
against the danger, it is customary to climb a high mountain, drink
chrysanthemum wine, and wear a plant named zhuyu. Both chrysanthemum
& zhuyu are considered to have cleansing qualities and are used to
air out houses and cure illnesses. Double Ninth may have started out
as a day to drive away danger, but, like the Chinese New Year, over
time it became a day of celebration. Today it is an occasion for
hiking and chrysanthemum appreciation. Stores sell rice cakes
inserted with mini colourful flags to represent zhuyu. Most
people drink chrysanthemum tea, a few old schools drink homemade
chrysanthemum wine. School children learn poems about chrysanthemum,
and many cities will host a chrysanthemum exhibit. Mountain
climbing races are also popular, winners get to wear a wreath
made of zhuyu.
.
'The festival is based on the theory of Yin & Yang, the two opposing
principles in nature. Yin is feminine, negative principle, while
Yang is masculine & positive. The ancients believed that all natural
phenomena could be esplained by this theory. Numbers are related to
this theory. Even numbers belong to Yin and odd numbers to Yang.
The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is a day when the two Yang
numbers meet. So it is called Chongyang. Chong means double in
Chinese. Chongyang has been an important festival since ancient
times.'The festival is held in the golden season of autumn, at
harvest -time. The brght clear weather and the joy of bringing in
the harvest make for a festive happy atmosphere. The Double Ninth
dogs and even *the powerful OX* . Later Huan Jing told his teacher,
Fei Changfang, about this. Fei said the poultry & livestock died
in place of Huan Jing's family, who escaped disaster by following
his instructions. And so it happened that climbing a mountain,
carring a spray of dogwood and drinking chrysanthemum wine
became the traditional activities of the Chongyang Festival.
.
'The dogwood is a plant with a strong fragrance, and is often used
as a Chinese herbal medicine. People in ancient times believed it
could drive away evil spirits and prevent one from getting a chill
in lalte autumn. So its history as a medicine goes back many
centuries. But the custom of carrying a spray of dogwood during
the Double Ninth Festival is slowly dying out and many people,
especially young people in the cities, do not even know what
a dogwood spray looks like.
.
'Even though the tradition of carrying a few sptigs of dogwood
dies out, that of climbing mountains is reaching new heights.
.
'Early in the Western Han Dynasty, about 2,000 years ago, people
used to climb a high platform outside the capital city of Chang'an
on the occasion of the Chongyang Festival. For many, it was the
last outing of the year before the onset of winter. The custom
evolved into its present form, when people go climbing to get
some exercise as well as enjoy the autumn scenery.
.
'But what about those people who live in flat regions far from
any mountain' The problem is solved by going for a picnic & eating
cakes. The Chinese word for cake is Gao, a homonym of the Chinese
word for high. Mountains are high, so eating cake can, by a
stretch of the imagination, take the place of going for a climb.>>
-----------------------------------------------
September 9
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0909.shtml
-----------------------------------------------
Audomarus (Omer) of Th?rouanne, OSB B (RM)
Born in Coutances, France, c. 595; died September 9, c. 670. Saint
Omer was the only son of wealthy and noble parents, Friulph and
Domitilla, whose only thoughts were for the benefit of their son-
- both secular and spiritual. Upon the death of Domitilla, Friulph
sold his estate, and distributed the entire proceeds among the poor.
Thereafter, Friulph & Omer were welcomed by Abbot Saint Eustasius
to Luxeuil monastery near Besan?on, where they were both professed.
.
Omer was distinguished by his humility, obedience, and devotion.
Within a short time his reputation for sanctity became widely known.
After spending more than 20 years at Luxeuil, Saint Omer was
nominated by Bishop Saint Acharius of Noyon-Tournai and appointed by
King Dagobert to be bishop of Th?rouanne, a diocese sadly in need
of evangelization than then encompassed the Pas-de-Calais & Flanders.
cell to die. Some of his relics may have been translated to
Stafford before the plunder and burning of Croyland by the Danes.
He is the patron of Stafford, in which his relics were kept with
great veneration.>>
-------------------------------------------------------
Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (the Younger, Cluain Mocca Nois), Abbot
(also known as Kieran, Kyran, Ceran, Queran)
.
Born in Connacht, Ireland, c. 516; died at Clonmacnoise, c. 556.
Saint Ciaran is one of the 12 Apostles of Ireland. Born into a
Meath family of pre-Celtic descent, Saint Ciaran was the son of
the carpenter Beoit. As a boy he left home with a dun cow for
company in order to be trained for the monastic life in Saint
Finnian's monastery at Clonard. At Clonard he taught the daughter
of the king of Cuala because he was considered the most learned
monk in the abbey. About 534, he migrated to Inishmore in the
'steep is that road; and it must needs be.' The brethren said to
him, 'Father, we know that nothing is hard for thee: but for us
*FEEBLE* folk, there is sore dread in this hour.'
.
"And again brought back into the house he lifted up his hand
and blessed his people and his clergy, and having received the
sacrifice of the Lord, on the ninth day of September he gave
up the ghost, in the 33rd year of his age".
-----------------------------------------------
Dorotheus (Dorothea), Peter, and Gorgonius (Goroon) M (RM)
Died 303; feast day formerly March 12 on which day it is still
celebrated in the East. The martyrdom of Saints Dorotheus, Peter,
& Gorgonius was recorded by their contemporary Eusebius of Caesarea.
They were members of the imperial court- -favorite eunuchs of Emperor
Diocletian and officials of his body guard at Nicomedia. Dorotheus
was the *FIRST CHAMBERLAIN* ; the other two, under-chamberlains.
They sacrificed their fine place to remain faithful
to their baptismal promises.
.
When the palace at Nicomedia was set ablaze, perhaps at the
instigation of Galerius, the Christians were unjustly blamed,
including these three Christian men. They were cruelly tortured,
and at length Gorgonius and Dorotheus were hanged. Peter, who had
refused to sacrifice, was hung up naked in the air, and brutally
whipped. When his flesh was so torn that the bones were exposed,
the executioners poured salt and vinegar into his wounds. Then he
was broiled on a gridiron, but he remained resolute,
and died while still being tortured. Diocletian had the bodies cast
into the sea, so that the Christians could not collect their relics.
-----------------------------------------------
Saint Gorgonius is sometimes confused with the martyr of
Nicomedia of the same name who is celebrated today with Saint
Dorotheus. He was a martyr buried on the Via Lavicana, who was
honored with an office in the sacramentary of Pope Saint Gelasius.
Several reputable early historians record that Saint Chrodegang
of Metz obtained his relics from Pope Paul to enrich his
monastery at Gorze. Pope Saint Damasus, who died about 384,
wrote an epitaph on Saint Gorgonius.
-----------------------------------------------
Hyacinth, Alexander, and Tiburtus MM (RM)
Date unknown. This trio of saints are said to have been
martyred in the Sabine country, about 30 miles from Rome.
-----------------------------------------------
Isaac (Sahak) I the Great B (AC)
Born c. 350; died at Ashtishat, Armenia, c. 440. Saint Isaac,
descendent of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, was the son of
Patriarch (Katholikos) Saint Nerses the Great of Armenia. After
studying in Constantinople, he married. Upon the death of his wife,
he became a monk. In 390, he was consecrated patriarch of Armenia.
He secured metropolitan rights for the Armenian Church from
Constantinople in order to end its long dependence upon the
Church of Caesarea in Cappadocia. In all practical terms, Isaac
was both the spiritual and civil ruler of the country. He ended the
practice of married bishops, enforced Byzantine canon law, fought
Persian paganism, built churches and schools, and encouraged the
growth of monasticism. He supported Saint Mesrop in the creation
of an Armenian orthographic system and helped him to translate
a large portion of the Bible into Armenian. Isaac also supported
the translation of the Greek and Syrian doctors into the vernacular
and initiated the creation of a national liturgy. His efforts can
be said to have launched Armenian literature. Saint Isaac's
opposition to *Nestorianism* and his contacts with the imperial
Blessed Seraphina Sforza, Poor Clare V (AC)
Born at Urbino, Italy, 1434; died in Pesaro, Italy, 1478; beatified
in 1754. Seraphina was the daughter of Count Guido of Urbino, lord
of Gubbio. In 1448, she married Duke Alexander Sforza of Pesaro,
who treated her with contempt and finally threw her out.
She took refuge in the convent of the Poor Clares,
where she was professed and later became abbess.
-----------------------------------------------
Severian of Sebaste M (RM)
Died 322. Saint Severian, an Armenian senator, was martyred at
Sebaste, Armenia, during the reign of Licinius. He had witnessed the
martyrdom of the 40 soldiers of Sebaste, which moved him to openly
profess his own faith. He was torn with iron rakes until he died.
-----------------------------------------------
Straton M (RM)
Date unknown. At an unknown time and place, Saint Straton was bound
between to trees that were bent toward each other. When they were
allowed to recoil, he was torn apart (Benedictines).
-----------------------------------------------
Wilfrida of Wilton, OSB Abbess (AC)
(also known as Wulfritha, Wulfthryth)
Died c. 988. Saint Wilfrida was a novice at the convent of Wilton
when she caught the eye of the King Saint Edgar the Peaceful, who had
bee rejected by her cousin, Saint Wulfhilda. She became his concubine
and bore his daughter, Saint Edith of Wilton, out of wedlock. Shortly
after Edith's birth, she returned to Wilton with her child. There she
took the veil at the hands of Saint Ethelwold. As a nun, and later
as abbess, Wilfrida did penance and made ample amends for the
irregularity of her liaison with Edgar.
.
Peter Claver, SJ Priest Born 1581; died 1654.
This entry is taken nearly verbatim from Lunn.
.
"Jesus Christ, Son of God, you will be my father and my mother and
all my good. I love you much. I am sorry for having sinned against
you. Lord, I love you much, much, much." --Saint Peter Claver.
.
Saint Peter Claver was unable to abolish the slave trade, but he
did what he could to mitigate its horrors by bringing them the
consolations of religion and ministering to their bodily wants.
He landed in Cartagena (Colombia) in 1610 and for forty years
strove to alleviate their lot, with true apostolic fervor,
declaring himself "the slave of the Negroes forever."
.
Cartagena, which was founded by Pedro de Heredia in 1533, owed its
great commercial importance to its superb harbor. It is situated in
the Caribbean Sea near the most northerly point of South America,
to the east of the Isthmus of Panama. It is in the tropics, about
700 miles north of the Equator.
.
When Peter Claver first set foot in Cartagena, he kissed the ground
which was to be the scene of his future labors. He had every reason
to rejoice, for the climate of Cartagena was disagreeably hot and
moist, the country around was flat and marshy, the soil was barren,
the necessities of life had to be imported, and in the time of
Peter Claver fresh vegetables were almost unknown. In the 17th
Negroes, glorious & splendidly arrayed; on the left side the wicked
Negroes, hideous & deformed, surrounded by unlovely monsters.
In art, Saint Peter Claver is a Jesuit with a Negro.
He is the apostle of Cartagena and patron of missions
to non-European nations.>>
-----------------------------------------------
Art Neuendorffer