Saint Agatha. Died 251 A.D. Virgin And Martyr. Feast Day 5 February.

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Agatha.

Attended in Prison by Saint Peter and an Angel.

Artist: Alessandro Turchi (1578–1649).

Medium: Oil on Slate.

According to an early Christian legend, when a 3rd-Century Roman official of Sicily desired the Christian woman, Agatha, and she refused to yield to his advances, he had her tortured, and even ordered her breasts cut off. At night in prison, she was visited by a vision of Saint Peter and an Angel, and her breasts were miraculously restored. The gray stone of the prison wall was created by letting the slate show through, and it forms a background for the night scene, illuminated by a torch. As opposed to canvas and wood, slate gave a painting almost unlimited durability 

and the same kind of permanence as sculpture.

Date: Between, circa, 1640 and 1645 (Baroque).

Current location: Walters Art Museum, Baltimore,

Maryland, United States of America.

Credit line: Acquired by Henry Walters, before 1909.

Source/Photographer: Walters Art Museum.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The Parish Church of Saint Agatha of Sicily,

Bischofstetten, Austria.

Deutsch: Pfarrkirche Bischofstetten, Österreich.

Photo: 8 February 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: BSonne.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Agatha of Sicily is a Christian Saint. Feast Day 5 February. Agatha was born at Catania, Sicily, and Martyred circa 251 A.D. She is one of seven women, who, along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.

She is the Patron Saint of: Catania, Sicily; Molise, Italy; Malta; San Marino; and Zamarramala, a municipality of the Province of Segovia, Spain. She is also the Patron Saint of breast cancer patients, Martyrs, wet nurses, bell-founders, bakers, fire, earthquakes, and eruptions of Mount Etna.

Agatha is buried at the Abbey Church of Saint Agatha (Badia di Sant'Agata), Catania. She is listed in the Late-6th-Century Martyrologium Hieronymianum, associated with Jerome, and the Synaxarion, the Calendar of the Church of Carthage, circa 530 A.D.

English: The Martyrdom of Saint Agatha.

Italiano: Martirio di Sant'Agata.

Artist: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

This File: 17 April 2006.

User: Crux. This image was 

copied from wikipedia:de.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Agatha also appears in one of the carmina of Venantius Fortunatus. Two early Churches were dedicated to her in Rome, notably the Church of Sant'Agata dei Goti, in via Mazzarino, a Titular Church with Apse mosaics of circa 460 A.D., and traces of a fresco cycle, over-painted by Gismondo Cerrini, in 1630. In the 6th-Century, the Church was adapted to Arian Christianity, hence its name, "Saint Agatha of Goths" (Sant'Agata dei Goti), and later reconsecrated by Pope Gregory the Great, who confirmed her traditional Sainthood. 

Agatha is also depicted in the mosaics of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, where she appears, richly dressed, in the procession of female Martyrs along the North Wall. Her image forms an initial "I" in the Sacramentary of Gellone, from the end of the 8th-Century.

Italiano: Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (1702-1768), 

la Chiesa della Badia di Sant'Agata a Catania (1767).

English: Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (1702-1768), 

the Abbey Church of Saint Agatha, Catania, Sicily, Italy.

Photo: 4 July 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Giovanni Dall'Orto.

(Wikimedia Commons)

One of the most-highly-venerated Virgin Martyrs of Christian antiquity, Agatha was put to death during the persecution of Decius (250 A.D. - 253 A.D.) in Catania, Sicily, for her steadfast profession of Faith.

Her written legend comprises "straightforward accounts of interrogation, torture, resistance, and triumph, which constitute some of the earliest hagiographic literature", and are reflected in later recensions, the earliest surviving one being an illustrated Late-10th-Century passio, bound into a composite volume, in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, originating, probably, in Autun, Burgundy; in its margin illustrations, Magdalena Carrasco detected Carolingian or Late Antique iconographic traditions.

According to Jacobus de Voragine, Legenda Aurea, of circa 1288, having dedicated her virginity to God, fifteen-year-old Agatha, from a rich and noble family, rejected the amorous advances of the low-born Roman Prefect, Quintianus, who then persecuted her for her Christian Faith. He sent Agatha to Aphrodisia, the keeper of a brothel.

English: Church of Saint Agatha, Rabat, Malta.

Italiano: Chiesa di Sant'Agata, Rabat, Malta.

Photo: 31 August 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Cruccone.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Madam, finding her intractable, Quintianus sends for her, argues, threatens, and finally has her put in prison. Among the tortures she underwent was the cutting off of her breasts. After further dramatic confrontations with Quintianus, represented in a sequence of dialogues in her passio that document her fortitude and steadfast devotion. Saint Agatha was then sentenced to be burned at the stake, but an earthquake saved her from that fate; instead, she was sent to prison where Saint Peter the Apostle appeared to her and healed her wounds. Saint Agatha died in prison, according to the Legenda Aurea, in "the year of our Lord two hundred and fifty-three, in the time of Decius, the Emperor of Rome."

Osbern Bokenham, A Legend of Holy Women, written in the 1440s, offers some further detail.

English: Internal view of Saint Agatha's Chapel, Mdina, Malta.

Italiano: Interno della cappella di Sant'Agata, Mdina, Malta.

Photo: 31 August 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Cruccone.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Agatha's Church, 

Yorkshire, England. 

The Church is next to Easby Abbey.

Photo: 15 June 2008.

Source: Own work by uploader.

Author: Greenjettaguy.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Saint Agatha. 

Virgin and Martyr.

Feast Day 5 February.

Double.

Red Vestments.

Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr (Collect), was born in Sicily of noble parentage, but she estimated that, for her, the highest nobility would be to belong to Jesus, whom she took as her Spouse (Gospel).

Endowed with remarkable beauty, she had to resist the solicitations of the Roman Governor, Quintianus, who, unable to attain his end by persuasion, had recourse to violence. Her breast was torn by his order, but was healed on the following night, by the Apostle, Saint Peter, who appeared to her in prison (Communion).

Then the body of the Saint was rolled on pieces of broken pottery and on burning coals, and when she was brought back to her cell, she expired while praying.

This happened at Catana (Catania), Sicily, in 251 A.D., during the Persecution of the Emperor, Decius. God Almighty, by granting the victory of Martyrdom to a feeble woman (Collect), wished to show that He alone is our Redeemer, for it is with this "end in view that He chooses what is weak, in the world, to confound with their nothingness those who trust in their own strength" (Epistle).

English: Interior of the Church of Saint Agatha, Hausleiten, Austria.

Deutsch: Innenansicht der katholischen Pfarrkirche hl. Agatha

in der niederösterreichischen Gemeinde Hausleiten.

Photo: 29 September 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Bwag.

(Wikimedia Commons)

On several occasions, the virginal veil, which covered the tomb of Saint Agatha, held up the torrents of burning lava rushing down from Mount Etna and threatening to ruin the town. God thus honoured the resistance that her very pure Soul had shown to all the assaults of passion.

Her name is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass (Second List). Her Feast was already celebrated at Rome in the 6th-Century. The Church of Saint Agatha, in Rome, was made a Stational Church by Pope Pius XI, in 1934 (Third Tuesday in Lent).

Let us invoke Saint Agatha to preserve our homes from fire and to extinguish, through the spirit of penitence, the impure flames that consume our bodies and our Souls.

Saint Andrew Corsini (1302-1373). Confessor And Bishop. Feast Day 4 February.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Andrew Corsini.
Bishop and Confessor.

Double.
White Vestments.

English: Saint Andrew Corsini, in Prayer.

Deutsch: Hl. Andreas Corsini, im Gebet.

Artist: Guido Reni (1575–1642).

Date: 1630-1635.

Current location: Deutsch: Galleria Corsini, now Uffizi Gallery, Florenz, Italien.

Current location: English: Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. 
DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. 
Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Permission: [1].

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Andrew, of the noble family of Corsini, was born at Florence, and, from his birth, was consecrated to the Blessed Virgin. His mother dreamed that she had given birth to a wolf, which, on entering into the Carmelite Church, was suddenly changed into a lamb.

Her son, indeed, led a dissolute life in his youth. But Jesus exerted His redeeming power over him and Andrew entered the Carmelite Order and soon became its Head in Tuscany (Communion).

Having thus turned to good use the talents with which God had favoured him, he rose to a still higher dignity (Gospel) and, as Bishop of Fiesole, he had a share in the Priesthood of Christ, and accomplished His work of reconciling Souls, with God.

Thus, having been sent to Bologna, as Papal Legate, by Pope Urban V, he succeeded by his great prudence in extinguishing the burning hatred which had armed the citizens against each other (Epistle). The Blessed Virgin foretold him his death, which occurred in 1373.

Made wolves by sin, let us, like Saint Andrew Corsini, become lambs by Penance, in order that, "following in the footsteps of this Holy Confessor, we may obtain the same rewards" (Collect).

Mass: Státuit, of a Confessor Bishop.

The Church of Santa Maria del Carmine,

Florence, Italy,

which contains the Corsini Chapel.

This File: 9 July 2006.

User: Sailko.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: 

The Corsini Chapel, 

Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, 

Florence, Tuscany, Italy.

Français: Église Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Toscane, Italie. La chapelle Corsini.

Photo: 23 September 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: 

Tango7174.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

Andrew Corsini, O.Carm. (1302 – 1373), was an Italian Carmelite Friar and Bishop of Fiesole, who is honoured as a Saint within the Catholic Church.

Corsini was born in Florence on 30 November 1302, a member of the illustrious Corsini family. Wild and dissolute in youth, he was startled by the words of his mother about what had happened to her before his birth, and, becoming a Carmelite Friar in his native city, began a life of great mortification. He studied at Paris and Avignon.

On his return, Corsini became the "Apostle of Florence". He was regarded as a prophet and a wonderworker. After being elected to the Office of Bishop of Fiesole, which he did not want, he fled. He was discovered by a child at the Charterhouse at Enna, and was subsequently compelled to accept the honour.

English: Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Tuscany, Italy. 

The Vault over the entire Nave, with the Apse on the left and the main entrance on the right.

Français: Église Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Toscane, Italie. La voûte au-dessus de la nef dans son intégralité, l'abside étant sur la gauche et l'entrée principale sur la droite.

Photo: 23 September 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: 

Tango7174.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Corsini redoubled his austerities as a Bishop, was lavish in his care of the poor, and was sought for everywhere as a peacemaker, notably at Bologna, whither he was sent, as Papal Legate, to heal the breach between the nobility and the people.

After twelve years in the Episcopacy, Corsini died in his native Florence in 1373, at the age of seventy-one. In 1675, after his Canonisation, the members of the Corsini family had the Corsini Chapel built in the Carmelite Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in Florence, Italy, to provide his Remains a more suitable resting place.

The Corsini Chapel, Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome.

San Giovanni in Laterano is the Cathedral Church of Rome.

Photo: October 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Maros M r a z (Maros).

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1373, while Corsini had been celebrating the Midnight Mass of Christmas Eve, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and told him he would leave this world on the Feast of the Epiphany. It came to pass, as the vision had told him, and he died on that day.

Miracles were so multiplied at his death that Pope Eugene IV permitted a public devotion to him, immediately. It was only in 1629 that Pope Urban VIII formally confirmed this. His Feast is kept on 4 February, in the Carmelite Order, and in the Cities of Florence and Fiesole.

In the Early-18th-Century, Pope Clement XII, born Lorenzo Corsini, erected, in the Roman Basilica of Saint John Lateran, a magnificent Chapel dedicated to his 14th-Century kinsman.

English: The Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy,

which contains the Corsini Chapel.

Français: l'église Santa Maria del Carmine de Florence la nuit.

Photo: October 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: Emmanuel BRUNNER Manu25.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Blaise. Bishop And Martyr. Died 316 A.D. Feast Day 3 February.

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

English: Saint Blaise confronting the Roman Governor.

Scene from the life of Saint Blaise, Bishop of Sebaste (Armenia).

Martyr under the Roman Emperor Licinius (4th-Century). 

Stained-Glass Window from the area of Soissons, Picardy, France.

Early-13th-Century.

Français: Saint Blaise devant le gouverneur romain : scène de la vie de saint Blaise, évêque de Sébaste en Arménie, martyr sous le règne de l'empereur Licinius (IVe siècle). Vitrail de la région de Soissons (Picardie, France), début du XIVe siècle. Versement de l'Office des biens privés, 1951.

Current location: Louvre Museum, Paris, France.

Credit line: Assigned by the Office of private goods and interests, 1951.

Source/Photographer: Jastrow (2005).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Blaise (Armenian: Սուրբ Բարսեղ, Sourb Barsegh; Greek: Άγιος Βλάσιος, Agios Vlasios), also known as Saint Blase, was a physician, and Bishop of Sebastea, in historical Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey).

According to the Acta Sanctorum, he was Martyred, by being beaten, attacked with iron carding combs, and beheaded. In the Latin Church, his Feast falls on 3 February; in the Eastern Churches, on 11 February.

The first reference we have to him is in manuscripts of the medical writings of Aëtius Amidenus, a court physician at the very end of the 5th-Century, or the beginning of the 6th-Century; there, his aid is invoked in treating objects stuck in the throat.

Marco Polo reported the place where "Meeser Saint Blaise obtained the glorious Crown of Martyrdom", Sebastea; the Shrine near, the Citadel Mount, was mentioned by William of Rubruck in 1253. However, it appears to no longer exist.

English: Church of Saint Blaise, Alsace, France.

Français: Alsace, Bas-Rhin, Valff, Eglise Saint-Blaise, 

Maître-autel (XVIIIe) avec statues de Sainte-Marguerite 

et Saint-Jean de Népomucène, Tableau Saint-Blaise.

Photo: 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Rh-67.

(Wikimedia Commons)

From being a healer of bodily ailments, Saint Blaise became a physician of Souls, then retired for a time, by Divine Inspiration, to a cavern, where he remained in Prayer. As Bishop of Sebastea, Blaise instructed his people, as much by his example as by his words, and the great virtues and sanctity of the Servant of God were attested by many Miracles. From all parts, the people came flocking to him for the cure of bodily and spiritual ills.

In 316 A.D., the Governor of Cappadocia and Lesser Armenia, Agricolaus, began a Persecution, by order of the Emperor, Licinius. Saint Blaise was seized. After interrogation and a severe scourging, he was hurried off to prison, and subsequently beheaded. The legendary Acts of Saint Blaise were written 400 years later. The Acts of Saint Blaise, written in Greek, are Mediaeval.

The Legend, as given in the Grande Encyclopédie, is as follows:

Blaise, who had studied philosophy in his youth, was a doctor in Sebaste, in Armenia, the city of his birth, who exercised his art with miraculous ability, good-will, and piety. When the Bishop of the city died, he was chosen to succeed him, with the acclamation of all the people. His holiness was manifest through many Miracles: From all around, people came to him to find cures for their spirit and their body; even wild animals came in herds to receive his blessing. In 316 A.D., Agricola, the Governor of Cappadocia and of Lesser Armenia, having arrived in Sebastia at the order of the Emperor Licinius to kill the Christians, arrested the Bishop. As he was being led to prison, a mother set her only son, choking to death of a fish-bone, at his feet, and the child was cured straight away. Regardless, the Governor, unable to make Blaise renounce his Faith, beat him with a stick, ripped his flesh with iron combs, and beheaded him.

In many places, on the day of his Feast, the Blessing of Saint Blaise is given: Two candles are consecrated, generally by a Prayer, these are then held in a crossed position by a Priest over the heads of the Faithful or the people are touched on the throat with them. At the same time, the following Blessing is given: "May Almighty God at the intercession of Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, preserve you from infections of the throat and from all other afflictions".

English: Valentino Rovisi, Saint Blaise, 1780, fresco, 

San Biagio church in Alleghe.

Polski: Chwała św. Błażeja i osiem epizodów z życia 

świętego, 1780, fresk, kościół w Alleghe.

Photo: 27 December 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Stanisław Gurba.

(Wikimedia Commons)

One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers [Editor: Or, The Fourteen Auxiliary Saints], Blaise became one of the most popular Saints of the Middle Ages. His cult became widespread in Europe in the 11th- and 12th-Centuries and his legend is recounted in the 14th-Century Legenda Aurea. Saint Blaise is the Saint of the Wild Beast.

He is the Patron of the Armenian Order of Saint Blaise. In Italy, he is known as San Biagio. In Spanish-speaking countries, he is known as San Blas, and has lent his name to many places (see San Blas). In Italy, Saint Blaise's Remains rest at the Basilica over the town of Maratea, shipwrecked there during Leo III the Isaurian's iconoclastic persecutions.

Many German Churches, including the former Abbey of Saint Blasius, in the Black Forest, and the Church of Balve, are dedicated to Saint Blaise/Blasius.

In Cornwall, England, the village of St Blazey derives from his name, where the Parish Church is still dedicated to Saint Blaise. Indeed, the Council of Oxford, in 1222, forbade all work on his Festival. There is a Church dedicated to Saint Blaise in the Devon, England, hamlet of Haccombe, near Newton Abbot (also one at Shanklin, on the Isle of Wight, and another at Milton, near Abingdon, in Oxfordshire), one of the country's smallest Churches. It is located next to Haccombe House, which is the family home of the Carew family, descendants of the Vice-Admiral on board the Mary Rose at the time of her sinking. One curious fact associated with this Church is that its "Vicar" goes by the title of "Arch-Priest".

English: Statue of Saint Blaise on the Holy Trinity Column 

in Olomouc in Olomouc (Czech Republic).

Čeština: Socha Svatého Blažeje na sloupu 

nejsvětější trojice v Olomouci.

Source: Own work.

Author: Michal Maňas.

(Wikimedia Commons)

There is a Saint Blaise's Well In Bromley, Kent, where the water was considered to have medicinal virtues. Saint Blaise is also associated with Stretford, in Lancashire. A Blessing of the Throats ceremony is held on 3 February at Saint Etheldreda's Church, in London, and in Balve, Germany.

In Bradford, West Yorkshire, a Roman Catholic Middle School, named after Saint Blaise, was operated by the Diocese of Leeds from 1961 to 1995. The name was chosen due to the connections of Bradford to the woollen industry and the method whereby Saint Blaise was Martyred (with the wool-comb).

Saint Blaise (Croatian: Sveti Vlaho or Sveti Blaž) is the Patron Saint of Dubrovnik and, formerly, the Protector of the independent Republic of Ragusa. At Dubrovnik, his Feast is celebrated on 3 February, when Relics of the Saint are paraded in Reliquaries. The festivities begin the previous day, Candlemas, when white doves are released. Chroniclers of Dubrovnik, such as Rastic and Ranjina, attribute his veneration there to a vision in 971 A.D., to warn the inhabitants of an impending attack by the Venetians.

English: Church of Saint Blaise, 

Montepulciano, Italy.

Italiano: Montepulciano - 

Chiesa di S. Biagio.

Photo: August 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: Geobia.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Blaise (Blasius) revealed the Venetians' pernicious plan to Stojko, a Canon of Saint Stephen's Cathedral. The Senate summoned Stojko, who told them in detail how Saint Blaise had appeared before him as an old man with a long beard and a Bishop's Mitre and Staff. In this form, the effigy of Blaise remained on Dubrovnik's State Seal and coinage until the Napoleonic era.

In England, in the 18th- and 19th-Centuries, Blaise was adopted as mascot of wool-workers' pageants, particularly in Essex, Yorkshire, Wiltshire and Norwich. The popular enthusiasm for the Saint is explained by the belief that Blaise had brought prosperity (as symbolised by the Woolsack) to England, by teaching the English to comb wool. According to the tradition, as recorded in printed broadsheets, Blaise came from Jersey, Channel Islands. Jersey was certainly a centre of export of woollen goods (as witnessed by the name jersey for the woollen textile). However, this legend is probably the result of confusion with a different Saint, Blasius of Caesarea (Caesarea being also the Latin name of Jersey).

In iconography, Blaise is represented holding two crossed candles in his hand (the Blessing of Saint Blaise), or in a cave surrounded by wild beasts, as he was found by the hunters of the Governor. He is often shown with the instruments of his Martyrdom, steel combs. The similarity of these instruments of torture to wool combs led to his adoption as the Patron Saint of wool combers, in particular, and the wool trade in general.

The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Saint Blaise.

Bishop and Martyr.

Feast Day 3 February.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

Saint Blaise, elected Bishop of Sebastea, Armenia (Introit), had a part in the Redemption of the Saviour. "The sufferings of the Saviour abounded in him" (Epistle), and, after a life of severe penance passed among wild beasts in a cave on Mount Argeus, "he gave his life for Jesus" (Gospel). Having suffered the most atrocious torments under Licinius, he was beheaded in 316 A.D.

Like the Redeemer, Saint Blaise healed bodies while healing Souls, wherefore his intercession was often prayed for. In consequence of his having saved the life of a child, who was dying choked by a bone which had stuck in his throat, the Church recognises his "prerogative for healing all diseases of the throat". She Blesses two candles to this effect and asks God for all those, whose necks the candles shall touch, that they may be delivered from throat diseases, or from any other ill, through the merits of this holy Martyr's passion. He is one of The Fourteen "Auxiliary Saints".

Let us, with Saint Blaise, take part in the sufferings of the Redeemer, so as to be able with him to take part in His triumph (Epistle).

Mass: Sacerdótes Dei, of a Martyr Bishop.

The Venerable Bede (673 A.D.-735 A.D.). Saint. Confessor. Doctor Of The Church. (Part Three).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Bede, translating the Gospel 
of Saint John on his deathbed.

Date: 1902.

Source: http://www.bible-researcher.com/bede.jpg.

Author: James Doyle Penrose.

(Wikimedia Commons)

At three o'clock, according to Cuthbert, he asked for a box of his to be brought, and distributed among the Priests of the Monastery "a few treasures" of his: "Some pepper, and napkins, and some incense". That night he dictated a final sentence to the scribe, a boy named Wilberht, and died soon afterwards. Cuthbert's Letter also relates a five-line poem, in the vernacular, that Bede composed on his death-bed, known as "Bede's Death Song". It is the most-widely copied Old English poem, and appears in forty-five manuscripts, but its attribution to Bede is not absolutely certain — not all manuscripts name Bede as the author, and the ones that do are of later origin than those that do not. Bede's remains may have been transferred to Durham Cathedral in the 11th-Century; his tomb there was looted in 1541, but the contents were probably re-interred in the Galilee Chapel at the Cathedral.

One further oddity, in his writings, is that in one of his works, the "Commentary on the Seven Catholic Epistles", he writes in a manner that gives the impression he was married. The section in question is the only one in that work that is written in first-person view. Bede says: "Prayers are hindered by the conjugal duty because as often as I perform what is due to my wife I am not able to pray." Another passage, in the "Commentary on Luke", also mentions a wife in the first person: "Formerly, I possessed a wife in the lustful passion of desire and now I possess her in honourable sanctification and true love of Christ." The historian, Benedicta Ward, argues that these passages are Bede employing a rhetorical device.

Whitby Abbey at Sunset.

Photo: 12 April 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Ackers72.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Synod of Whitby was a 7th-Century Northumbrian Synod, where King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter, and observe the Monastic Tonsure, according to the customs of Rome, rather than the customs practised by Iona and its satellite institutions. The Synod was summoned in 664 A.D., at Saint Hilda's Double Monastery of Streonshalh (Streanæshalch), later called Whitby Abbey. The Venerable Bede comments upon 

this Synod in the third book of his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, or, 

"An Ecclesiastical History of the English People", completed in about 731 A.D.

Bede wrote scientific, historical and theological works, reflecting the range of his writings from music and metrics to exegetical Scripture commentaries. He knew Patristic literature, as well as Pliny the Elder, Virgil, Lucretius, Ovid, Horace and other classical writers. He knew some Greek. His Latin is generally clear, but his Biblical commentaries are more technical.

Bede's scriptural commentaries employed the allegorical method of interpretation and his history includes accounts of miracles, which, to modern historians, has seemed at odds with his critical approach to the materials in his history. Modern studies have shown the important role such concepts played in the world-view of Early-Medieval scholars. He dedicated his work on the Apocalypse and the De Temporum Ratione to the successor of Ceolfrid, as Abbot, Hwaetbert.

Modern historians have completed many studies of Bede's works. His life and work have been celebrated by a series of annual scholarly lectures at Saint Paul's Church, Jarrow, from 1958 to the present. The historian, Walter Goffart, says of Bede that he "holds a privileged and unrivalled place among first historians of Christian Europe".

The Saint Petersburg Bede (Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, lat. Q. v. I. 18), formerly known as the Leningrad Bede, is an early surviving illuminated manuscript of Bede's 8th century history, the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People). It was taken to the Russian National Library of Saint Petersburg at the time of the French Revolution.

Although not heavily illuminated, it is famous for containing the earliest historiated initial (one containing a picture) in European illumination. The opening three letters of Book 2 of Bede are decorated, to a height of 8 lines of the text, and the opening h contains a bust portrait of a haloed figure carrying a cross and a book. This is probably intended to be St. Gregory the Great, although a much later hand has identified the figure as St. Augustine of Canterbury.

Date: Circa 731 A.D. - 746 A.D.

Source: HistoryofScience.com and Russian National Library, St Petersberg.

Author: Unknown Anglo-Saxon artist.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Although Bede is mainly studied as a historian, now, in his time, his works on grammar, chronology, and biblical studies were as important as his historical and hagiographical works. The non-historical works contributed greatly to the Carolingian Renaissance.

Bede's best-known work is the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, or, "An Ecclesiastical History of the English People", completed in about 731 A.D. Bede was aided in writing this book by Albinus, Abbot of Saint Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury. The first of the five books begins with some geographical background, and then sketches the history of England, beginning with Caesar's invasion in 55 B.C.

A brief account of Christianity in Roman Britain, including the Martyrdom of Saint Alban, is followed by the story of Augustine's mission to England in 597 A.D., which brought Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons. The second book begins with the death of Gregory the Great in 604 A.D., and follows the further progress of Christianity in Kent and the first attempts to evangelise Northumbria. These ended in disaster, when Penda, the pagan King of Mercia, killed the newly-Christian, Edwin of Northumbria, at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, in about 632 A.D.

A page from a copy of Bede's Life of Saint Cuthbert, 

showing King Athelstan presenting the work to the Saint. 

This manuscript was given to Saint Cuthbert's Shrine in 934 A.D.

Originally from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

Source: Scanned from the book 

"The National Portrait Gallery History of the Kings and Queens of England" 

by David Williamson, ISBN 1855142287.

Author: See description.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The setback was temporary, and the third book recounts the growth of Christianity in Northumbria, under Kings Oswald of Northumbria and Oswy. The climax of the third book is the account of the Council of Whitby, traditionally seen as a major turning point in English history. The fourth book begins with the consecration of Theodore, as Archbishop of Canterbury, and recounts Wilfrid's efforts to bring Christianity to the Kingdom of Sussex.

PART FOUR FOLLOWS

The Venerable Bede (673 A.D.-735 A.D.). Saint. Confessor. Doctor Of The Church. (Part Two).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Bede, translating the Gospel 
of Saint John on his deathbed.

Date: 1902.

Source: http://www.bible-researcher.com/bede.jpg.

Author: James Doyle Penrose.

(Wikimedia Commons)

When Bede was about seventeen years old, Adomnan, the Abbot of Iona Abbey, visited Monkwearmouth and Jarrow. Bede would probably have met the Abbot during this visit, and it may be that Adomnan sparked Bede's interest in the Easter dating controversy. In about 692 A.D., in Bede's nineteenth year, Bede was ordained a Deacon by his Diocesan Bishop, John, who was Bishop of Hexham. The Canonical age for the Ordination of a Deacon was twenty-five; Bede's early Ordination may mean that his abilities were considered exceptional, but it is also possible that the minimum age requirement was often disregarded. There might have been Minor Orders, ranking below a Deacon; but there is no record of whether Bede held any of these Offices. In Bede's thirtieth year (about 702 A.D.), he became a Priest, with the Ordination again performed by Bishop John.

In about 701 A.D., Bede wrote his first works, the De Arte Metrica and De Schematibus et Tropis; both were intended for use in the classroom. He continued to write for the rest of his life, eventually completing over sixty books, most of which have survived. Not all his output can be easily dated, and Bede may have worked on some texts over a period of many years. His last-surviving work is a Letter to Ecgbert of York, a former student, written in 734 A.D.

Durham Cathedral,

The Liber Vitae, of Durham Cathedral, includes a list of Priests; 

two are named Bede, and one of these is, presumably, Bede himself.

Photo: 30 January 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Domstu.

(Wikimedia Commons)

A 6th-Century Greek and Latin manuscript, of Acts, that is believed to have been used by Bede, survives and is now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University; it is known as the Codex Laudianus. Bede may also have worked on one of the Latin Bibles that were copied at Jarrow, one of which is now held by the Laurentian Library in Florence, Italy. Bede was a teacher, as well as a writer; he enjoyed music, and was said to be accomplished as a singer and as a reciter of poetry in the vernacular. It is possible that he suffered a speech impediment of some kind, but this depends on a phrase in the introduction to his verse "Life of Saint Cuthbert". Translations of this phrase differ, and it is quite uncertain whether Bede intended to say that he was cured of a speech problem, or merely that he was inspired by the Saint's works.

In 708 A.D., some Monks at Hexham Abbey, Northumberland, England, accused Bede of having committed Heresy in his work De Temporibus. The standard theological view of world history, at the time, was known as the Six Ages Of The World; in his book, Bede calculated the age of the world for himself, rather than accepting the authority of Isidore of Seville, and came to the conclusion that Christ had been born 3,952 years after the Creation of the World, rather than the figure of over 5,000 years that was commonly accepted by theologians.

The accusation occurred in front of the Bishop of Hexham, Wilfrid, who was present at a Feast when some drunken Monks made the accusation. Wilfrid did not respond to the accusation, but a Monk, who was present, relayed the episode to Bede, who replied within a few days to the Monk, writing a Letter setting forth his defence and asking that the Letter also be read to Wilfrid.

Depiction of the Venerable Bede (on CLVIIIv) 

from the Nuremberg Chronicle.

Date: 1493.

Source: http://www.beloit.edu/~nurember/book/images/

People/Early_Christian_Medieval/.

This File: 25 February 2007.

User: Aleichem.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Bede had another brush with Wilfrid, for the historian, himself, says that he met Wilfrid, sometime between 706 A.D., and 709 A.D., and discussed Æthelthryth, the Abbess of Ely. Wilfrid had been present at the exhumation of her body in 695 A.D., and Bede questioned the Bishop about the exact circumstances of the body and asked for more details of her life, as Wilfrid had been her Advisor.

In 733 A.D., Bede travelled to York, to visit Ecgbert, who was then Bishop of York. The See of York was elevated to an Archbishopric in 735 A.D., and it is likely that Bede and Ecgbert discussed the proposal for the elevation during his visit. Bede hoped to visit Ecgbert again in 734 A.D., but was too ill to make the journey. 

Bede also travelled to the Monastery of Lindisfarne, and at some point visited the otherwise-unknown Monastery of a Monk named Wicthed, a visit that is mentioned in a Letter to that Monk. Because of his widespread correspondence with others throughout the British Isles, and due to the fact that many of the Letters imply that Bede had met his correspondents, it is likely that Bede travelled to some other places, although nothing further about timing or locations can be guessed. It seems certain that he did not visit Rome, however, as he would have mentioned it in the autobiographical Chapter of his Historia Ecclesiastica.

Folio 3v from the Saint Petersburg Bede.

Bede's "Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum".

Beda Petersburgiensis, fol. 3v

Date: 746 A.D.

This File: 22 August 2005.

User: GDK.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Saint Petersburg Bede (Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, lat. Q. v. I. 18), formerly known as the Leningrad Bede, is an Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscript, a near-contemporary version of Bede's 8th-Century history, the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People). Although not heavily illuminated, it is famous for containing the earliest historiated initial (one containing a picture) in European illumination. It is so named because it was taken to the Russian National Library of Saint Petersburg (later known as Leningrad), in Russia , at the time of the French Revolution by Peter P. Dubrovsky.

Nothhelm, a correspondent of Bede's, who assisted him by finding documents for him in Rome, is known to have visited Bede, though the date cannot be determined beyond the fact that it was after Nothhelm's visit to Rome. Bede died on 26 May 735 (Ascension Day) and was buried at Jarrow. Cuthbert, a Disciple of Bede's, wrote a Letter to a "Cuthwin" (of whom nothing else is known), describing Bede's last days and his death. According to Cuthbert, Bede fell ill, "with frequent attacks of breathlessness but almost without pain", before Easter. On the Tuesday, two days before Bede died, his breathing became worse and his feet swelled. He continued to dictate to a scribe, however, and, despite spending the night awake in Prayer, he dictated again the following day.

PART THREE FOLLOWS

Saint John Bosco (1815 - 1888). Confessor. Feast Day 31 January.

From The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint John Bosco.
Confessor.
Feast Day 31 January.

Double.
White Vestments.

English: Portrait of Saint John Bosco.

Français: Portrait de Saint Don Bosco.

Date: Unknown.

Source: Own work.

Author: Fontevrault.

(Wikimedia Commons)

His Religious Family is carrying on his work, so that, on 3 December 1933, Pope Pius XI could describe it as numbering: 19,000 Religious; 1,430 Houses of Education; 80 Religious Provinces; Thousands of Churches, Chapels, Boarding Schools and Boys' Clubs; 17 Territories in the Mission Field; Hundreds of thousands of pupils, and about a million Old Pupils; about as many Co-operators, who, after his own expression, "lengthen his arm".

In Heaven, Saint John Bosco prays for them and for those who have recourse to his intercession (Postcommunion).

The following Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

John Bosco (Italian: Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco; 1815 – 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco, was an Italian Roman Catholic Priest of the Latin Church, educator and writer of the 19th-Century. While working in Turin, where the population suffered many of the effects of industrialisation and urbanisation, he dedicated his life to the betterment and education of street children, juvenile delinquents, and other disadvantaged youth.

He developed teaching methods based on love, rather than punishment, a method that became known as the Salesian Preventive System. A follower of the spirituality and philosophy of Saint Francis de Sales, John Bosco dedicated his works to him, when he founded the Salesians of Don Bosco, based in Turin.

Saint John Bosco Parish Church, 

Makati City, Philippines[1].

Photo: 18 May 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Ramon FVelasquez.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Together with Maria Domenica Mazzarello, he founded the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, a Religious Congregation of Nuns dedicated to the care and education of poor girls.

In 1876, John Bosco founded a movement of Laity, the Association of Salesian Co-operators, with the same educational mission to the poor. In 1875, he began to publish the Salesian Bulletin. The Bulletin has remained in continuous publication, and is currently published in fifty different editions and thirty languages.

Saint John Bosco established a network of organisations and Centres to carry on his work. Following his posthumous Beatification, in 1929, he was Canonised as a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Pius XI in 1934.

Saint Francis De Sales (1567-1622). Confessor. Bishop. Doctor Of The Church. Feast Day, Today, 29 January.

Text and Illustrations from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Francis of Sales.
Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church.
Feast Day 29 January.

Double.
White Vestments.

Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622).

Francis of Sales from de:Wikipedia.

From a painting in Heimsuchungskloster, 

Oberroning, Bayern, Deutschland

(Convent of the Visitation Sisters,

Oberroning, Bavaria, Germany).

This File: 18 April 2005.

User: Searobin.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Word Made Flesh makes known to us, by His teachings, the Mysteries of His Divine Wisdom, and, by His Miracles, His eternal love. Saint Francis of Sales (Saint Francis de Sales), a Doctor of the Church, had a share in the knowledge of the Incarnate Word (Gradual), and, like Him, by his gentle Charity (Collect) worked wonders of conversion.

Sent to "preach the word of God to the Calvinists of Chablais, he brought back sixty thousand to the Catholic Faith" (Breviary). Having become the father of the Church at Geneva, and founder of the Order of the Visitation, he shed over this double family (Communion) the rays of his Apostolic zeal and of his gentle holiness.

"May your light shine before men, so that, seeing your works, they may glorify your Father Who is in Heaven" (Gospel). It is especially God's goodness which this Saint revealed. "If we must fall into some excess," Saint Francis of Sales would say, "let it be on the side of gentleness".

"I wish to love him so much, this dear neighbour, I wish to love him so much ! It has pleased God so to make my heart ! Oh !, when shall we be impregnated with gentleness and in Charity towards our neighbour ?"

Saint Francis of Sales died at Lyons, France, in 1622.

Let us remember this Saint's two sayings: "You can catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than with a hundred barrels of vinegar." "What is good makes no noise; noise does no good."

Mass: In médio.

Coat-of-Arms 

of Saint Francis de Sales.

Date: 5 December 2013.

Source: Own work.

Reference: File:Franz von Sales Bischofswappen.jpg.

Commons Images Used: File:Template-Bishop.svg.

Author: Jayarathina.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Francis de Sales, C.O., T.O.M., A.O.F.M. Cap. (French: François de Sales) (1567 – 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is honoured as a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep Faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He is known also for his writings on the topic of Spiritual Direction and Spiritual Formation, particularly the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God.

Francis de Sales was Beatified in 1661 by Pope Alexander VII, who then Canonised him four years later. He was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1877.

The Roman Catholic Church currently celebrates Saint Francis de Sales' Feast Day on 24 January, the day of his burial in Annecy, France, in 1624. From the year 1666, when his Feast Day was inserted into the General Roman Calendar, until the reform of this Calendar in 1969, it was observed on 29 January, and this date is kept by those who celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Solemn Evensong And Benediction. The Feast Of The Presentation Of The Lord. Church Of Our Lady Of The Assumption And Saint Gregory. Sunday, 2 February 2014, 1600 hrs.

Personal Ordinariate Of Our Lady Of Walsingham.

Solemn Evensong And Benediction.

The Feast Of The Presentation Of The Lord.

Sunday, 2 February 2014, 1600 hrs.

Church Of Our Lady Of The Assumption 

And Saint Gregory. 

Warwick Street, 

London W1B 5NB.

Music:

Charles Stanford;

Richard Ayleward;

Henry Balfour Gardiner;

Gioacchino Rossini;

Maurice Durufle;

Gregorio Allegri.

The Venerable Bede (673 A.D.-735 A.D.). Saint. Confessor. Doctor Of The Church. (Part One).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Bede, translating the Gospel 
of Saint John on his deathbed.

Date: 1902.

Source: http://www.bible-researcher.com/bede.jpg.

Author: James Doyle Penrose.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Bede (Old English: Bǣda or Bēda); 673 A.D. – 735 A.D.), also referred to as Saint Bede, or the Venerable Bede (Latin: Bēda Venerābilis), was an English Monk at the Monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth and its companion Monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow (see Monkwearmouth-Jarrow), Northeast England, both of which were located in the Kingdom of Northumbria.

He is well known as an author and scholar, and his most famous work, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) gained him the title "The Father of English History".

In 1899, Bede was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII, a position of theological significance; he is the only native of Great Britain to achieve this designation (Anselm of Canterbury, also a Doctor of the Church, was originally from Italy). Bede was moreover a skilled linguist and translator, and his work made the Latin and Greek writings of the early Church Fathers much more accessible to his fellow Anglo-Saxons, contributing significantly to English Christianity. Bede's Monastery had access to a superb library, which included works by Eusebius and Orosius, among many others.

Bede's tomb in Durham Cathedral,

County Durham, England.

Photo: Robin Widdison.

Source: Image from enwiki http://en.wikipedia.org/

wiki/Image:Bede.jpg.

Author: Robin Widdison.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Almost everything that is known of Bede's life is contained in the last Chapter of his Historia ecclesiastica, a history of the Church in England. It was completed in about 731 A.D., and Bede implies that he was then in his fifty-ninth year, which would give a likely birth date of about 672 A.D. – 673 A.D. A minor source of information is the Letter by his disciple, Cuthbert, which relates Bede's death.

Bede, in the Historia, gives his birthplace as "on the lands of this Monastery". He is referring to the twinned Monasteries of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, in modern-day Sunderland, claimed as his birthplace; there is also a tradition that he was born at Monkton, two miles from the Monastery at Jarrow. Bede says nothing of his origins, but his connections with men of noble ancestry suggest that his own family was well-to-do.

Bede's first Abbot was Benedict Biscop, and the names "Biscop" and "Beda" both appear in a King List of the Kings of Lindsey from around 800 A.D., further suggesting that Bede came from a noble family. The name "Bede" was not a common one at the time. The Liber Vitae of Durham Cathedral includes a list of Priests; two are named Bede, and one of these is, presumably, Bede himself.

Durham Cathedral,

where Saint Bede's tomb 

is in the Galilee Chapel.

Photo: 19 February 2011.

Source: Durham_Cathedral_from_the_South.jpg.

Author: Durham_Cathedral_from_the_south.jpg: Teach46.

derivative work: Ericoides.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Some manuscripts of the "Life of Cuthbert", one of Bede's works, mention that Cuthbert's own Priest was named Bede; it is possible that this Priest is the other name listed in the Liber Vitae. These occurrences, along with a "Bieda" who is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, under the year 501 A.D., are the only appearances of the name in early sources.The name probably derives from the Old English "bēd", or "Prayer"; if Bede was given the name at his birth, then his family had probably always planned for him to enter the Clergy.

At the age of seven, he was sent to the Monastery of Monkwearmouth by his family, to be educated by Benedict Biscop and, later, by Ceolfrith. Bede does not say whether it was already intended, at that point, that he would be a Monk. It was fairly common in Ireland, at this time, for young boys, particularly those of noble birth, to be fostered out; the practice was also likely to have been common among the Germanic peoples in England.

Monkwearmouth's sister Monastery, at Jarrow, was founded by Ceolfrith in 682 A.D., and Bede probably transferred to Jarrow, with Ceolfrith, that year. The Dedication Stone for the Church has survived to the present day; it is dated 23 April 685 A.D., and, as Bede would have been required to assist with menial tasks in his day-to-day life, it is possible that he helped in building the original Church.

English: Durham Cathedral,

where Saint Bede's tomb

is in the Galilee Chapel.

Hrvatski: Katedrala u Durhamu.

Magyar: Durhami székesegyház.

Italiano: Cattedrale di Durham.

Deutsch: Durham Cathedral.

Български: Дърамска катедрала.

Español: Catedral de Durham.

Polski: Katedra w Durham.

Photo: 13 August 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: Oliver-Bonjoch.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 686 A.D., plague broke out at Jarrow. "The Life of Ceolfrith", written in about 710 A.D., records that only two surviving Monks were capable of singing the full Offices; one was Ceolfrith and the other a young boy, who, according to the anonymous writer, had been taught by Ceolfrith. The two managed to do the entire Service of the Liturgy until others could be trained. The young boy was almost certainly Bede, who would have been about fourteen years old.


PART TWO FOLLOWS.