St John de Brito, Priest; Blesseds Rodolf Acquaviva, Priest, and companions; Francis Pacheco, Charles Spinola, Priests and companions; Jacques Berthieu, Priest – all ‘Jesuit Martyrs of the Missions’ (Memorial) Read Saint John de Brito »
Boo Brigid of Kildare (Irish: Naomh Bhríde; lived 451-525 AD) was an Irish nun, abbess, and founder of several convents. Like many early saints there is much debate among scholars and even Christians as to the authenticity of her biographies.
The earliest writing about the life of Brigid is the Vita Brigitae of Cogitosus which is thought to have been written no later than the year 650. According to tradition, Brigid was born at Faughart near Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. Her parents were said to be Dubhthach, a pagan chieftain of Leinster, and Brocca, a Christian Pict who had been baptized by Saint Patrick. Some accounts suggested that Brigid’s mother was actually Portuguese, kidnapped by Irish pirates and brought to Ireland to work as a slave in much the same way as Patrick.
Brigid was given the same name as one of the most powerful goddesses of the pagan religion which her father Dubhthach practised. Brigid was the goddess of fire, whose manifestations were song, craftsmanship, and poetry, which the Irish considered the flame of knowledge. From an early age she was said to have been inspired by the teaching of St Patrick (who began his mission in Ireland in the year 432).
Against the will of her father, she was set on entering religious life. There are many stories of her piety and her deep concern for the poor who were never turned away. Her generosity did not please her father, but when she gave away his bejewelled sword to a leper, he accepted the nature of her vocation and she was sent to a convent.
She received the veil from Saint Mel and professed vows dedicating her life to Christ. She is believed to have founded her first convent in Clara, County Offaly. But her major foundation was in Kildare.
Around 470, she founded Kildare Abbey, a double monastery for nuns and monks on the plains of Cill-Dara, “the church of the oak”. Her cell was made under a large oak tree. As Abbess of this foundation she wielded considerable power. Brigid was known for her common-sense and most of all for her holiness. Even in her lifetime she was regarded as a saint. Kildare Abbey became one of the most prestigious monasteries in Ireland, its fame spreading throughout Christian Europe.
She died at Kildare about 525 and was buried in a tomb before the high altar of her abbey church. After some time, her remains were exhumed and transferred to Downpatrick to rest with the two other patron saints of Ireland, Patrick and Columba (Columcille). Her skull was extracted and brought to Igreja de Sao Joao Baptista (Lumiar) in Lisbon, Portugal by three Irish noblemen, where it remains.
There is widespread devotion to her in Ireland where she is known as the “Mary of the Gael” and she is considered one of Ireland’s patron saints along with Saints Patrick and Columba. Her cult was brought to Europe by Irish missionaries, such as Foillan, in the centuries after her death. In Belgium there is a chapel (7th-10th century) dedicated to Sainte-Brigide at Fosses-la-Ville.
Her feast day is February 1, the traditional first day of spring in Ireland.
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Gabhaim molta Bríde (An ancient invocation sung by Cathie Ryan)
Gabhaim molta Bríde, iníon í le hÉireann
Iníon le gach tír í, molaimís go léir í.
I give praise to Brigid, who is a daughter of Ireland
Daughter of all lands, let us all praise her.
Lóchrann geal na Laighneach, soils’ ar feadh na tíre
Ceann ar óigheacht Éireann, ceann na mban ar míne.
The leader of Ireland’s youth, leader of gentle women.
The bright torch of Leinster, shining across the country
Tig an Geimhreadh dian dubh, gearra lena géire
Ach ar lá le Bríghde, gar dúinn earrach Éireann.
The house of Winter is black, hard, cutting with its sharpness.
But on Brigid’s Day, spring in Ireland draws near to us.
Gabhaim molta Bríde, iníon í le hÉireann
Iníon le gach tír í, molaimís go léir í.
I give praise to Brigid, she is a daughter of Ireland,
Daughter of all lands, let us all extol her.
Commentary on Malachi 3:1-4; Psalm 23; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40
Today’s Gospel says:
…they brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”)…
The actual ritual is not described, but we are introduced to two elderly people who were in the Temple at the time.
The first of these was a devout man called Simeon. He had been told that he would not die until he had first laid eyes on the promised Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, he came into the Temple and recognized Mary’s child as the long-awaited Messiah. He makes a prayer of thanksgiving to God for answering his prayer “for my eyes have seen your salvation”. And what he has seen is:
…a light for revelation to the gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.
Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God, is a divine revelation to the non-Jews and the glory of God’s own people from whom he came.
Mary and Joseph are quite amazed at the words being spoken. There is a lot they still do not know about their Son. But Simeon then had some ominous words for the Mother:
This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul, too.
This is the paradox of Jesus. He comes as Saviour bringing life for the whole world, and yet there will be people who will reject his message of truth and life. His own people will be deeply divided over him. This will be a source of deep pain for his Mother, something she will not realize fully until she sees him die in agony before her eyes. Though at the time, Simeon’s words must have been very puzzling and even alarming to Mary and Joseph.
The second person to greet the parents and their Child was another deeply religious person. She was Anna, who:
…lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four.
She spent all her time in the Temple in prayer and fasting. On seeing the Child, she gave thanks to God and spoke about him to everyone she met.
In the past, when this feast was called the Purification of Our Lady, there was for a long time a custom in the Church for mothers to go through a purification ceremony after giving birth. Such a rite is now seen as unnecessary, but the revised Rituale Romanum (Roman Ritual) still provides for the blessing of women both before and after birth. The latter is only in cases where the mother could not be present at the baptism of her child. In general, it would seem highly appropriate for a special blessing to be given to mothers on this day.
The feast is now called the Presentation of Our Lord and the emphasis is more on Jesus than on his Mother. The blessing and the procession of candles, as well as the Scripture readings, focus on Jesus who is the “Light of the World”.
The First Reading is from the prophet Malachi. It consists of a prophecy which can be applied to the Messiah, and hence to Jesus. The opening sentence reminds one of John the Baptist:
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me…
But then the rest of the paragraph foreshadows today’s feast:
…the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
This is a clear reference to Jesus as the Word of God and the one who will inaugurate the New Covenant between God and his people. The prophecy goes on to warn that the coming Messiah will be a real challenge; he will be “like the refiner’s fire”. He will:
…purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.
For those who welcome his message and his call, Jesus is good news, but for those who will reject his call, it will mean death and the end of life.
The Second Reading is from the Letter to the Hebrews. It speaks of the meaning of God’s Son coming to live among us as one of us—which, of course, is the theme of today’s feast. For the Son of God came to share our flesh and blood and all that goes with it. It was in this way that he would:
…destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil…
On the contrary, for us he has come to:
…free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.
In order to do this, the Son:
…had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people.
And, on the cross, Jesus will be both Priest and Victim, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
As the reading concludes,
Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.
All of this is foreshadowed in the warnings that Simeon gives to Mary about the sword of sorrow which will pierce her heart.
Boo Today, forty days after the birth of Jesus, we celebrate the end of the Christmas season with a festival of light. Candles are blessed and they are carried in procession to welcome Christ, the Light to enlighten the Gentiles and the Glory of his people. Until the year 1969, the feast, which is of Eastern origin, was known in the West as the feast of the Purification of Our Lady and also as Candlemas. Now it is referred to it as the Presentation of the Lord.
It was Jewish belief that, because of bleeding, a mother was ritually unclean after giving birth and hence was in need of ritual purification. On giving birth to a son, a Jewish woman would be in semi-seclusion for 40 days (in the case of a girl, the period was longer). At the end of that period, the mother would then, in the case of her first-born, present him to the Lord in acknowledgement of his being source of all life. First-born animals were also presented and sacrificed to God.
In today’s feast we see Mary and Joseph—40 days after the birth of Jesus—submitting to the Law of Moses in bringing their Son to be offered to God as their first-born, and for the purification of the mother after giving birth, even though we believe that Mary did not need such purification. For this ceremony, they have traveled from Nazareth to the Temple in Jerusalem.
Today’s feast brings to an end a whole period which resonates with a sense of light. Christmas itself, taking place just after the winter solstice, is the celebration of the end of the darkness of winter and the coming of light into the world, especially the Light of the World. Twelve days later, there is the feast of the Epiphany when the light of a star guides gentile outsiders (the Magi) to pay homage to the Light of the World.
Today then, we bring the celebration to a close with this feast of light. Traditionally, it has been a day for processions, as we remember the Lord’s entry into the Temple, the house of his Father, for the first time. These processions originally replaced pagan celebrations. Later, it was identified with the blessing of candles carried in procession in honour of Christ, the:
…light for revelation to the gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel. (Luke 2:32)
Today’s feast commemorates the extraordinary conversion of St Paul on the road to Damascus. Paul, whose original name was Saul, was born in Tarsus, a city in the province of Cilicia, in what is now the southeast corner of Turkey.
As he himself boasted, his Jewish credentials were impeccable. He was also a Pharisee and hence an outstanding observer of the Mosaic Law. It would be quite natural for him to be outraged by the teaching of the disciples of Jesus. As far as he was concerned, it was a total distortion of the most sacred Jewish traditions.
It is not surprising that we first meet him at the execution of Stephen, the first person to die in the name of Jesus Christ. While Saul did not actually join in the stoning (would it have been below his dignity?), he stood by guarding the clothes of those who were stoning and clearly looked on with total approval. In fact, he may well have been instrumental in the arrest and trial of Stephen, and have been a member of the court.
But it is also possible that the heroic death of Stephen may well have sown the first seeds of doubt in his heart. Who was this Jesus who could generate such total loyalty in a follower? However, he continued his campaign to wipe out what he regarded as a heretical and dangerous aberration of his Jewish faith.
Jesus, however, had other plans for Paul—big plans.
Boo Commentary on Philippians 4:4-9; Psalm 102; Matthew 18:1-5
Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
This is the question that the disciples put to Jesus in today’s Gospel reading. Perhaps they had their own ideas on this—the one with the greatest leadership qualities, the most intelligent, the one with the deepest understanding of the Scriptures and the Law, the one most admired in the group, and so on. They may have been somewhat surprised by the response of Jesus.
He called over a small child to be among them and said:
Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven [i.e. of God].
That is, unless they became like little children, they would not be ready to live their lives in accordance with what God wanted for them.
In asking them to become a child, of course, Jesus was not calling on his disciples to be childish or temperamental. Nor, obviously, to have the mental understanding of a child. But children, at their best, are totally open to learning; they want to know what is true and right, and they put their trust in the good judgement of their parents.
If we are to become truly Kingdom people we, like children, need to have that openness to what is true and right and we need to surrender ourselves totally to the Way of Jesus:
Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus goes further—not only are his followers to have the docility, the teach-ability, of children before their Lord, but:
Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And, in the passage which follows (not included in today’s reading), Jesus gives dire warnings as to what will happen to people who become stumbling blocks to “little ones” so that they are blocked from coming in contact with God and his love. These “little ones” include both innocent children but also all those of whatever age who may easily be led astray.
This part of the reading clearly applies to Don Bosco, who dedicated his life to opening up the world of the Gospel to young people and enabling them to live lives where they made a positive contribution to their societies in truth, love and justice.
The First Reading, from the Letter of Paul to the Christians of Philippi, reflects one of the outstanding qualities of Don Bosco, his cheerful temperament and his desire to bring joy and happiness into the lives of young people, especially those who came from deprived environments.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone.
Today we thank God for the great work the Salesian Fathers, Brothers and Sisters continue to do for young people all over the world. And let them be an inspiration to us, too, to make what contribution we can to bettering the life of young people in our society.
Boo John Bosco was born in 1815 in the village of Becchi in the Piedmont district of northern Italy, and grew up on his parents’ small farm. On the death of his father when John was only two years old, his mother Margaret and her three boys found it increasingly difficult to support themselves. Even as a small boy, John had to help his brothers on the farm. He was remembered as a happy and imaginative child who liked to entertain his friends with juggling and walking on a tightrope, but would insist on beginning and ending these sessions with a prayer.
As he grew older, he began to think of becoming a priest, although poverty and lack of education seemed to rule this out. A kind priest, recognising the boy’s intelligence, taught him to read and write. By taking odd jobs in the village, and through the help of his mother and some kind neighbours, John managed to finish his schooling and was then able to enter the diocesan seminary in Turin.
As a seminarian, he devoted his spare time to looking after the poor boys who roamed through the slums of the city. Every Sunday he taught them catechism, supervised their games, and amused them with stories and tricks. His kindness soon won their confidence and they became regulars at his Sunday School.
Upon becoming a priest (and now called ‘Don’), Bosco knew very clearly in what direction his vocation was to be lived. The Industrial Revolution was spreading into Northern Italy, resulting in a great deal of poverty, turmoil and revolution on the streets of the city. Young people lived awful lives, whatever the cost to themselves or others. He was shocked at the conditions they endured and the things they did to enable them to eat, and to survive.
This was the cost of the industrial ‘improvement’ that would eventually produce the high standards people would later enjoy. The young priest, Don Bosco, clearly saw his vocation when he visited the prisons. He wrote:
“To see so many children, from 12 to 18 years of age, all healthy, strong, intelligent, lacking spiritual and material food, was something that horrified me.”
In the face of such a situation he made his decision and wrote:
“I must, by any available means, prevent children ending up here.”
He knew that a new approach was required. He needed to show there were better ways for these healthy intelligent young people to lead their lives.
Following his ordination to the priesthood in 1841 at the age of 26, he became assistant to the chaplain of an orphanage at Valocco, on the outskirts of Turin. However, he did not stay there very long. When he was refused permission to allow his Sunday School boys to play on the orphanage grounds, he resigned. He began looking for a permanent home for them but no ‘respectable’ neighbourhood would accept the rowdy youngsters. Finally, in a rather rundown part of the city, where no one was likely to protest, the first oratory was established and named after Saint Francis de Sales.
At first, the boys got their schooling elsewhere but, as more volunteer teachers came forward, it was possible to hold classes at the oratory. Enrollment increased so rapidly that by 1849, there were three oratories in various places in the city. By now Don Bosco had been considering founding a religious congregation to carry on and expand the work. Surprisingly, this proposal was supported by a notoriously anti-clerical cabinet minister named Rattazzi. He had seen the results of John’s apostolate and, even though an Italian law forbade the founding of religious communities at that time, Rattazzi promised government support.
Don Bosco went to Rome in 1858, and at the suggestion of Pope Pius IX, drew up a rule for his new community, the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (more popularly known as the Salesians). Four years later he founded a congregation for women, the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians, to take care of abandoned girls. Finally, to supplement the work of both congregations, he organized an association of lay people interested in supporting their work.
When others talked to him of his great achievements, he would always interrupt and say:
“I have done nothing by myself. It is Our Lady who has done everything.”
Exhausted from touring Europe to raise funds for a new church in Rome, Don Bosco died on January 31, 1888, at the age of 73. He was canonised in 1934 by Pope Pius XI.
The work of John Bosco continues today in over 1,000 Salesian oratories throughout the world. He is remembered for his warmth of manner, and in his belief that to give complete trust and love is the most effective way to nourish virtue in others. His success can be summed up in the words spoken of his chosen patron, St Francis de Sales:
“The measure of his love was that he loved without measure.”
Boo Commentary on Wisdom 7:7-10,15-16; Psalms 118; Matthew 23:8-12
The First Reading from the Book of Wisdom reflects very well the mind of Thomas Aquinas:
I prayed, and understanding was given me;
I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
What is wisdom? It is not just a vast amount of knowledge. Wisdom involves a deep insight into the nature of things and into their relationships; it is a holistic view and understanding of our world, and of the values which govern that world.
This wisdom and insight into God and his creation was something which Thomas had in the highest degree. He would identify, too, with the words of the writer:
I preferred her to scepters and thrones,
and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her.
What is the use of wealth and material abundance without an understanding of the meaning and direction of life? And this meaning comes to us in a unique way through Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God. He is for us the Way—he is Truth and Life. It is through people like Thomas Aquinas that that Word is unravelled and made clearer for us.
The Gospel reading comes from chapter 23 of Matthew in which Jesus denounces the pride and arrogance of the Pharisees. In doing so, Jesus is not attacking every Pharisee because many of them were good people (we think of Nicodemus in John’s Gospel and Gamaliel in the Acts of the Apostles). Rather, it is a denunciation of an attitude or state of mind which was undoubtedly found among some Jewish Pharisees, but was also found in the early Christian communities (not to mention later communities down to our own day). Part of this attitude was a sense of superiority over others indicated by the demand to be addressed by certain titles like ‘Teacher’ or ‘Father’ or ‘Master’.
It seems that there were people in Matthew’s community who expected to be addressed in this way. But in Christian communities we need to remember that we have only one Father, one Lord, one Teacher and one Master—the Divine Father with his Incarnate Son.
In spite of his great learning and his being regularly called on to give advice to popes and kings, Thomas Aquinas shunned all such titles. At different times, he declined being made Archbishop of Naples and Abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino in Italy and, in spite of the powerful and educated circles in which he worked, he led a simple life. He is an example for people at all levels of our Church.
Boo Thomas Aquinas was born in 1224 at his father Count Landulph’s castle of Roccasecca in the Kingdom of Sicily, in the present-day Regione Lazio. Through his mother, Theodora Countess of Theate, Aquinas was related to the Hohenstaufen dynasty of Holy Roman emperors. An uncle was abbot of the original Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, and his family hoped that Thomas would follow in his footsteps.
It was while studying at the University of Naples that he came under the influence of the Dominicans, who with the Franciscans, were introducing radical changes in church life. His family was not happy with this development and actually imprisoned him in his parents’ castle for one year. Eventually, through the intervention of Pope Innocent IV, he joined the Dominican Order.
His superiors immediately saw his aptitude for theological study and he was sent in 1244 to Cologne to study under Albert the Great, also a Dominican, and who, in the coming years, would have a great influence on his development. The following year, Thomas and Albert went to the University of Paris and lectured there on theology and philosophy for three years. In 1248, he returned to Cologne, where he was appointed second lecturer and magister studentium (master of students), which saw the beginning of his writing and public life. He also incorporated the philosophy of Aristotle into his studies.
In 1256, Aquinas, along with his Franciscan friend Bonaventure, was named doctor of theology and began to lecture on theology in Paris and Rome and in other Italian towns. This involved a great amount of tiring travel as he was also called on to advise popes on affairs of state. Throughout the ensuing years he was constantly involved in the public business of the Church.
From 1269 to 1271, he was again in Paris but then returned to being a professor in Naples. Aquinas preached every day, wrote homilies, disputations, and gave lectures. He also worked diligently on his great literary work, the Summa Theologiae. He was invited to become archbishop of Naples and abbot of Monte Cassino but declined both. He was described by contemporaries as being “a pure person, humble, simple, peace-loving, given to contemplation, moderate, a lover of poetry” as well as known for the depth of his thinking.
Early impressions that he was not a good speaker led him to be nicknamed “The Dumb Ox”. Albert, his teacher, strongly refuted this: “You call him ‘a dumb ox,’ but I declare before you that he will yet bellow so loud in doctrine that his voice will resound through the whole world.”
In appearance Aquinas had a dark complexion, large head and receding hairline and was on the stout side. People described him as refined, affable and lovable and his tastes simple. Towards the end of his life he felt deeply dissatisfied with the quality of his work. His last words on December 6, 1273, were said to have been: “Such secrets have been revealed to me that all I have written now appears as so much straw.”
In January 1274, Pope Gregory X told Aquinas to attend the Second Council of Lyons. Although in failing health, he began the journey. On the way, he became seriously ill at the castle of a niece. He wanted to end his days in a religious house but was unable to reach a Dominican house. Instead he was taken to the Cistercian monastery at Fossa Nuova, about 100 km south-east of Rome. Seven weeks later he died on March 7, 1274.
On July 18, 1323, Pope John XXII pronounced Aquinas a saint. In 1567, Pope Pius V ranked him with four great Latin fathers: Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory. His Summa Theologiae was deemed so important that at the Council of Trent, it was placed on the altar beside the Bible and the council documents. In 1879, Pope Leo XIII decreed that all Catholic seminaries and universities must teach Aquinas’ doctrines and in 1880, Aquinas was declared patron of all Catholic educational establishments.
His feast is now celebrated on January 28, the date when the Summa Theologiae was published. Formerly it was on March 7, the date of his death. The works for which he is best remembered are the Summa Theologiae and the Summa Contra Gentiles. He is considered by many Catholics to be the Church’s greatest theologian and philosopher.
Boo Timothy was born at Lystra, in the province of Pisidia (modern Turkey). He was the son of a Greek father and his mother, Eunice, was a convert from Judaism. When Paul preached at Lystra during his first missionary journey in the area, Timothy joined him and replaced Barnabas, with whom Paul had some differences over Barnabas’ cousin, John Mark.
Timothy soon became a close friend, confidant and partner of Paul in his missionary apostolate. In order to placate the Jewish Christians, Paul agreed to Timothy being circumcised. This was because Timothy’s mother had been Jewish and, for the Jews, it was the religion of the mother which was decisive. Timothy then accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey (Acts 16:1-18:22).
When Paul was forced to flee Berea, in northern Greece, because of the hostility of the local Jews, Timothy stayed on (Acts 17:13), but soon after he was sent to nearby Thessalonica to report on the condition of the Christians there, and to encourage them under persecution. This report led to Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians when he joined Timothy at Corinth in southern Greece.
In 58 AD, Timothy was sent with Erastus north to Macedonia, but then went south to Corinth to remind the Corinthians of Paul’s teaching. He then accompanied Paul into Macedonia and Achaia. They were probably together when Paul was imprisoned at Caesarea and later in Rome. He was himself also imprisoned, but then freed.
According to tradition, Timothy went to Ephesus in western Turkey, became its first bishop, and was stoned to death there when he opposed the pagan festival of Katagogian in honour of the goddess Diana.
There are two letters reputedly written by Paul to Timothy, one written about 65 AD from Macedonia and the second from Rome, while Paul was in prison awaiting execution. Commentators today doubt (on the basis of style and content) that Paul could have written these letters. Nevertheless, they do reflect his teaching.
Titus was a disciple and companion of Paul, and one of Paul’s letters is addressed to him. Again, modern commentators doubt if Paul was really the writer, as it was common in those days for writings to carry the name of a well-known person as the author.
In the letter, Paul refers to Titus as “my true child in the faith we share”. Although not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, Titus is mentioned in the Letter to the Galatians (2:1-3), where Paul writes of going to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus.
Titus was then sent off to Corinth in southern Greece, where he successfully restored harmony between that Christian community and Paul, its founder, who had some differences with them. Titus was later left on the island of Crete to help organize the Church there, although he soon went to Dalmatia, in Croatia.
According to Eusebius of Caesarea in the Ecclesiastical History, Titus served as the first Bishop of Crete. He was buried in Cortyna (Gortyna), Crete. His head was later transferred to Venice at the time of the Saracen invasion of Crete in year 832 and enshrined there in St. Mark’s Church.
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