Of the Good, Peaceable Man: (2)

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Of the Good, Peaceable Man: (2)

   Direct your zeal, therefore, first upon yourself; then you may with
justice exercise it upon those about you. You are well versed in
coloring your own actions with excuses which you will not accept from
others, though it would be more just to accuse yourself and excuse
your brother. If you wish men to bear with you, you must bear with
them. Behold, how far you are from true charity and humility which
does not know how to be angry with anyone, or to be indignant save
only against self!
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 2, Chapter 3

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9 October – Saint Denis of Paris
(also known as Denis of France, Dennis, Denys, Dionysius.)

(Died c 258)
 The First Bishop of Paris, Martyr, Missionary, Confessor. St Denis
was Bishop of Paris (then Lutetia) in the third century and, together
with his companions the Priest Rusticus and Deacon Eleutherius, was
Martyred for his faith by decapitation.  Patronages – against frenzy,
against headaches, against hydrophobia or rabies, against strife,
France, Paris, possessed people. The feast of Saint Denis was added to
the Roman Calendar in the year 1568 by Pope Pius V, although it had
been celebrated since at least the year 800. St Denis was for a time,
confused with the writer St Dionysuis the Areopagite, now called
Pseudo-Dionysius.

Denis is the most famous cephalophore in Christianiaty (a cephalophore
[from the Greek for “head-carrier”] is a saint who is generally
depicted carrying their own severed head. The decapitated Bishop
picked up his head and walked several miles while preaching a sermon
on repentance.

St Gregory of Tours states that Denis was Bishop of the Paris and was
Martyred by being beheaded by a sword. The earliest document giving an
account of his life and Martyrdom, the “Passio SS. Dionysii Rustici et
Eleutherii” dates from c 600, is mistakenly attributed to the poet
Venantius Fortunatus and is legendary.

Nevertheless, it appears from the Passio that Denis was sent from
Italy to convert Gaul in the third century, forging a link with the
“apostles to the Gauls” reputed to have been sent out with six other
Missionary Bishops under the direction of Pope Fabian. There Denis was
appointed first Bishop of Paris. The persecutions under Emperor Decius
had all but dissolved the small Christian community at Lutetia
(Paris). Denis, with his inseparable companions Rusticus and
Eleutherius, who were Martyred with him, settled on the Île de la Cité
in the River Seine. Roman Paris lay on the higher ground of the Left
Bank, away from the river.

Denis and his companions were so effective in converting people that
the pagan priests became alarmed over their loss of followers. At
their instigation, the Roman Governor arrested the Missionaries. After
a long imprisonment, Denis and two of his clergy were executed by
beheading on the highest hill in Paris (now Montmartre), which was
likely to have been a druidic holy place.

The Martyrdom of Denis and his companions is popularly believed to
have given the site its current name, derived from the Latin Mons
Martyrum “The Martyrs’ Mountain.”

After he was decapitated, Denis picked his head up and walked several
miles from the summit of the hill, preaching a sermon on repentance
the entire way, making him the most renowned cephalophores in
hagiology. Of the many accounts of this Martyrdom, this is noted in
detail in the Golden Legend and in Butler’s Lives Of The Saints.

The site where he stopped preaching and actually died was marked by a
small shrine that developed into the Saint Denis Cathedral Basilica,
which became the burial place for the Kings of France.
The Cathedral Basilica of St Denis

Montmartre’s heritage pays tribute in it’s own way to Saint Denis and
you will find many famous landmarks commemorating the saint around the
hill. You can marvel at the statue of Saint Denis, holding his head in
the quiet square Suzanne Buisson. Or even walk in his steps on rue
Mont-Saint Denis), which is said to follow the same route the Saint
took after being decapitated.

Since at least the ninth century, the legends of Dionysius the
Areopagite and Denis of Paris have often been confused. Around 814,
Louis the Pious brought certain writings attributed to Dionysius the
Areopagite to France and since then it became common among the French
legendary writers to argue that Denis of Paris was the same Dionysius
who was a famous convert and disciple of Saint Paul.

https://anastpaul.com/2020/10/09/


Reflection
Be fond of inquiring, and listen in silence to the words of the
Saints; and let not the parables of the ancients be displeasing to
thee, for they are not uttered without a cause.

Saint Quote:
O sovereign Spouse of my soul, never suffer me to love anything but in
Thee or for Thee.  May everything which tends not to Thee be bitter
and painful, and Thy will alone sweet. May Thy will be always mine: as
in Heaven Thy will is punctually performed, so may it be done on earth
by all creatures, particularly in me and by me.
-- St. Elizabeth of Hungary

Bible Quote
15 I will praise thy name continually, and will praise it with
thanksgiving, and my prayer was heard. 16 And thou hast saved me from
destruction, and hast delivered me from the evil time.
(Ecclesiasticus 51:16-17)


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The Most Holy Name of Jesus
 is our Strength insuperable.

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be Saved."
--Rom. x. 13:
(Hymn of Thomas a Kempis)

In Christ's dear Name with courage bear
Whatever ills betide;
For worldly good is oft a snare,
And fills the heart with pride.
What seems a loss will often prove
To be our truest gain;
And pains endured with patient love
A jewelled crown obtain.

Brief is this life, and brief its pain,
But long the bliss to come;
And trials borne for Christ attain
A place with martyrdom.
The Christian soul by patience grows
More perfect day by day,
And brighter still and brighter glows
With Heaven's eternal ray.