THE MINOR HOLYDAYS OF MAY (continued). St. Augustine was at first buried abroad: but after the completion of the Cathedral at Canterbury his remains were translated thither, having first reposed for a while in the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in that city. How much of the dust of our great churches is the dust of those of whom the Holy Ghost has said, "Right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints"! [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xlvii. 8-11. St. Luke x. 1-7. During Easter-tide, St. John xv. 1-7.] 27] THE VENERABLE BEDE was born A.D. 673 at Jarrow, a village in Durham, not far from the mouth of the Tyne. About the same time the sister monasteries of St. Peter at Wearmouth, and St. Paul at Jarrow, had been founded by a great benefactor of Northern England, St. Benedict Biscop. At seven years of age, Bede was committed to the care of Ceolfrid, Abbot of Jarrow, who built a church there, of which the dedication stone at least, and possibly the whole of the chancel, still remain. Here the child made great progress in learning and piety, under various able masters; and at the unusually early age of nineteen, was ordained deacon by St. John of Beverley, then Bishop of Hexham. At thirty he was ordained priest by the same prelate. From this time he began to compose and compile books principally, but not exclusively, on theological subjects; and he had also a great school, similar to that in which he had been himself instructed. He paid great attention to the singing in the conventual church of Jarrow. A very interesting letter from Cuthbert, one of his scholars, addressed to one Cuthwin, a monk who had been his fellow-student, gives an affecting account of the last days of their old master. He died on the Eve of the Ascension, May 26, A.D. 735, and was buried in St. Paul's Church at Jarrow. In 1020 his remains were conveyed to Durham Cathedral, and in 1155 were enclosed in a rich shrine. At the Reformation they were buried, and now rest, under a plain tomb in the Galilee, with this inscription : HAC SVNT IN FOSSA BEDE VENERABILIS OSSA. There is a story told about his shrine, which illustrates the wide-spread reputation possessed by Bede in the middle ages. It is that a French Bishop on his way to or from Scotland offered a very small coin at St. Cuthbert's shrine, saying, "Sancte Cuthberte, si sanctus sis, ora pro me." But on coming to Bede's shrine, he offered a French crown, saying, "Sancte Beda, quia Sanctus es, ora pro me." His writings are still day by day instructing the whole of the Western Church, and probably will ever continue to do so. The title of " Venerable" seems to have been first given him about the ninth century, and he has often been styled the English Doctor. [No Epistle or Gospel is appointed for this day in the later Salisbury Missals, if in any.] THE MINOR HOLYDAYS OF JUNE. 1] ST. NICOMEDE is supposed to have been a disciple and fellow-labourer of St. Peter. During the persecution of Domitian he buried Felicula, a virgin martyr, with Christian rites. Thus incurring the displeasure of the heathen authorities, he himself was put to the test of being asked to sacrifice to idols. He refused to do so, and was accordingly beaten to death with whips loaded with lead, or, as some say, with a spiked club. His body was thrown into the Tiber, but was recovered by the Christians, and buried. The day of his martyrdom was Sept. 15th, and is then commemorated in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory. He is represented with the instruments of his martyrdom. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xiv. 20, and xv. 3-6. St. Matt. xvi. 24-28. During Easter-tide, St. John xv. 1-7.] 5] ST. BONIFACE, originally named Winfrid, was of English extraction, but by his missionary labours on the Continent earned for himself the title of Apostle of Germany. He was born at Crediton, in Devonshire, about A.D. 680, and was educated in the monastery of Exeter, where also he made his profession as a monk he afterwards studied at that of Nutcell, in the diocese of Winchester. Here he made such progress that he was appointed by the Abbot to teach others, and at thirty years of age was ordained priest. Having long had a desire to preach the Gospel to the heathen, in the year 716 he crossed over into Friesland for that purpose. Meeting with great opposition from the King, he was obliged to return, whereupon he was appointed Abbot of Nutcell, much against his will. In the course of two years he succeeded in obtaining a release, and in 719 went to Rome, and was sent by Pope Gregory II. to Germany, where he baptized great numbers of converts, and established the Church system. He also laboured with great success in Friesland, Hesse, and Saxony, after which the Pope consecrated him Bishop. Returning to his mission, he boldly cut down an oak consecrated to Jupiter, and built a chapel with the timber. He also founded many churches, and a monastery, and procured many missionaries from England. Having long laboured with great zeal and success, and obtained the titles of Archbishop and Primate of all Germany, he was martyred near Utrecht at the age of seventy-four. He is represented as an Archbishop, hewing down the oak, or with it prostrate at his feet, and sometimes with a scourge, or a book pierced through with a sword. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: 1 Cor. iv. 9-14. St. Matt. x. 23-26. During Easter-tide, St. John xv. 5—7.] 17] ST. ALBAN, MARTYR.-Our Calendar differs from the ancient English Calendar and the Modern Roman, which dedicate the 22nd to his memory, in placing St. Alban's day on the 17th of June. St. Alban is the first recorded British martyr, and was born at Verulam, near the present town of St. Alban's, an important Anglo-Roman city. It is thought from his name that he was born of Roman parents. It is recorded that they were of high rank, and sent him to Rome for his education. On his return he was one of the chief citizens of Verulam, and, though as yet a heathen, was known for his humane and charitable disposition. He sheltered a certain priest who was fleeing from persecution, and by his example and instructions was won over to the Christian faith. The Roman governor, hearing that he was harbouring the priest, sent soldiers to seek him, but his host had enabled him to escape and continue his work by exchanging clothes with him, and then confessed himself a Christian. Refusing to sacrifice to idols, he was first scourged, and then beheaded. On the way to martyrdom, the executioner was converted, it is said, by the miracles of the river drying up for them to pass, and a fountain springing forth. Both suffered together, and many of the spectators being converted also, were put to death, about A.D. 303. Upon the spot where they suffered, the great Benedictine Abbey, and the present town of St. Alban's, sprang up. The Abbot of St. Alban's held precedence over all the rest because of the patron being the first canonized Saint and Martyr of Britain. He is represented as a young layman, having a sword and long cross or crucifix sometimes he bears the martyr's palm, or is in armour and coronet, with a sceptre. The priest whom he had sheltered, whose name was Amphibalus, fled into Wales, and after making many converts, at last received the crown of martyrdom himself. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Wisd. iv. 7-11. 13-15. St. Matt. xvi. 24-28.] 20] It is mentioned above (March 18) that after the barbarous murder of Edward, King of the West Saxons, at Corfe Castle, his body was buried without any solemnity. Three years afterwards, however, it was translated by Elferius, Duke of Mercia, to Shaftesbury, and there solemnly interred, as being that of a king and martyr; and this event is commemorated on the 20th of June. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xxxi. 8--11. St. Luke xiv. 26-33.] G Transl. of St. Thomas the [Martyr. The Seven holy Brethren. Transl. of St. Benedict. St. James, brother of John. St. James. SS. Felix, Simplex, Faus[tinus, and Beatrice. 30 SS. Abdon and Sennes. 31 St. Anne. The Seven Sleepers. SS. Felix and Faustus. SS. Abdon and Sennes. St. Germanus. Modern Roman. Eastern. Visitation of B. V. Mary. SS. Pro[cessus and Martinianus. SS. Cosmas and Damian. Vestment of B. V. Mary. Translation of St. Thomas. Seven Brethren, and SS. Rufina and SS. John Gualbert, Nabor, and Felix. St. Anacletus. St. Bonaventure. B. Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. SS. Camillus de Lellis and Sympho[rosa, and her seven sons. St. Vincent of Paul. SS. Jerome Emilian and Margaret. SS. Apollinaris and Liborius. SS. Alexius and Christina. SS. James, Ap., and Christopher. SS. Abdon and Sennes. St. Pancratius. St. Gabriel the Archangel St. Aquila, Apostle. St. Marina. [Margaret.] St. Jude, Apostle. Elijah the Prophet. St. Mary Magdalen the [Ointment-bearer. St. Anne. SS. Prochorus, Nicanor, Ti[mon, and Parmenas, App. SS. Silas, Silvanus, and [their companions, App. son, THE MINOR HOLYDAYS OF JULY. 2] VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.-This minor festival of the Blessed Virgin was instituted A.D. 1389, by Pope Urban VI., and confirmed at the Council of Basle, A.D. 1431, that "she being honoured with this solemnity, might reconcile her Who is now angry for the sins of men, by her intercession, and that she might grant peace and amity among the faithful.” The event which it commemorates is the visit of the Blessed Virgin to her cousin Elizabeth recorded in the Gospel for the day. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Cant. ii. 1—4 and 10—14. St. Luke i. 39-47.] 4] TRANSLATION OF ST. MARTIN, BP. AND CONF.-This festival commemorates the translation of the relics of St. Martin from the place of his burial at Cande, in the diocese of Tours, to a basilica dedicated in his honour, immediately adjacent to the city of Tours, A.D. 473. The Sarum Calendar also commemorates his ordination. The keeping of his relics was committed to a fraternity which developed into the famous chapter of St. Martin, of which the King of France was ex officio head, under the title of Abbat. The Huguenots tore down the feretory, and burnt the relics, with the exception of some portions which were recovered and still exist. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xliv. 17. 20, 21-23; xlv. 6, 7. 15, 16. St. Luke xii. 32-34.] 15] ST. SWITHUN, BP. OF WINCHESTER.-St. Swithun, or Swithin, was born in the kingdom of the West Saxons, was educated in the monastery attached to Winchester Cathedral, and was ordained priest early in the ninth century by Helmstan, Bishop of that see, whom he succeeded A.D. 838, having been consecrated by Cealnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury. He devoted himself with great zeal to the work of his diocese, and was celebrated for his humility, as well as his austerity, and works of charity. He died July 2, A.D. 862, and was buried at his own request outside the church, where men might walk over him, and the rain water his grave. In A.D. 971 the relics were translated to a rich shrine within the cathedral; but it is recorded that a most violent rain fell on the destined day, and continued for thirty-nine days, whence arose the popular notion that if it rain on St. Swithin's Day, it will for thirty-nine following. festival is kept on the 15th in honour of this translation; and Winchester Cathedral, which before had been dedicated to St. Peter, was now dedicated also to St. Swithin. When the cathedral was rebuilt by Bishop Walkelyn, the relics were placed in a more costly shrine, A.D. 1093. More than fifty churches in England are dedicated to this saint. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Heb. vii. 23-27. St. Luke xii. 35-40.] The 20] ST. MARGARET, V. AND M. OF ANTIOCH.-Little is known respecting this saint except that she suffered martyrdom at Antioch in Pisidia about A.D. 278, probably in the tenth general persecution. The so-called "Acts of St. Margaret" are not at all to be depended on, though it is probable, from the great popularity of the saint, that they were generally accepted in mediæval times. In the Greek Church she is called St. Marina, and commemorated on the 17th; and it is curious that on an old bell at Pittington, near Durham, are the words Sancta Marineta, as if the two forms of the name had been amalgamated. No less than 238 churches are dedicated to St. Margaret; but it is probable that some of these, especially in the North of England, may belong to St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland. She is represented with the martyr's crown and palm; sometimes she stands piercing a dragon with a long cross, or emerges from its rent body, while her robe is yet passing through its mouth. She was esteemed as the patron of women in childbirth. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. li. 9-12. St. Matt. xiii. 44-52.] 22] ST. MARY MAGDALEN.-The Western Church anciently recognized Mary Magdalen, the sister of Lazarus, and "the woman that was a sinner," as one and the same person, while the Eastern Church has held them to be distinct. This opinion having been to a great extent received in England since the Reformation, the special office has been removed from the First Book of Edward VI., and the festival has ceased to be a "red-letter day." In the Greek Church she is esteemed as the equal of the Apostles, as having been the first witness of the Resurrection. She is supposed to have retired to Ephesus with the Blessed Virgin and St. John, and to have been buried there. Her relics were translated to Constantinople by the Emperor Leo the Philosopher, and placed in a church dedicated to St. Lazarus, as if under the supposition that she was his sister. In Western art she is represented with long golden hair, and always having near her the alabaster box of ointment. She is often pictured as a penitent, in a cave, with a simple cross and a skull, and sometimes she is being carried by angels to heaven. The Collect in the First Book of Edward VI. was as follows:-" Merciful Father, give us grace that we never presume to sin through the example of any creature; but if it shall chance us at any time to offend Thy Divine Majesty, that then we may truly repent and lament the same, after the example of Mary Magdalen, and by a lively faith obtain remission of all our sins, through the only merits of Thy Son our Saviour Christ. Amen." The Epistle and Gospel were from the Salisbury Missal, as here given. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Prov. xxxi. 10-31. St. Luke vii. 36-50.] 26] ST. ANNE, MOTHER OF THE B. V. M.-We have no infor mation whatever in Holy Scripture respecting the genealogy of the Blessed Virgin, except that she was of the "house and lineage of David." But St. John Damascene extols the virtue of St. Joachim and St. Anna, speaking of them as her parents; and St. Anne is frequently represented in the catacombs at Rome, with her name in connexion with the figure. She was doubtless honoured in the Primitive Church as the parent of the Mother of God, and as such retains her place in our Calendar. The Emperor Justinian I. built a church at Constantinople in honour of St. Anne, cir. A.D. 550. In the Catacombs and in other early representations she has her hands stretched out as in prayer, and has near her a dove, with a ring or crown in its beak. In Mediæval times she is figured with a book in her hand, teaching the Blessed Virgin to read, and sometimes pointing to the words "Radix Jesse floruit." [Sar. Ep. and Gosp: Prov. xxxi. 10-31. St. Matt. i. 1-16.] 1] LAMMAS DAY.-The observation of this day as a feast of thanksgiving for the first-fruits of the corn dates from Saxon times, in which it was called Hlaf-masse, or Loaf-mass, from the offering at the mass of bread made of the new corn. Other explanations, e. g. Lamb-mass, have been given, but the above is certainly the true one, as appears from old Saxon MSS. This is one of the four Cross-quarter days, at which rents were formerly due. 6] TRANSFIGURATION.-This festival was instituted in the Greek Church as early as A.D. 700, and appears to have been observed at Rome in the time of St. Leo (cir. 450). Pope Calixtus the Third issued a bull for its general observance, A.D. 1457, in remembrance of the deliverance of Belgrade from Mahomet the Second. The glorious mystery of the Transfiguration is related by the three former Evangelists; but the festival has never ranked with the other festivals of our Lord, probably because its theological significance, though great, has appeared to be less evident than that of the rest. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: 2 St. Pet. i. 16-19. St. Matt. xvii. 1-9.] 7] NAME OF JESUS.-This commemoration was removed at the Reformation from the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, but in Saxon times it was observed on the Feast of the Circumcision. The special point which it sets before us is the peculiar sanctity of that Name at which every knee should bow, and in the power of which countless miracles have been wrought; a sanctity in some respects analogous to that of the Sacred name Jehovah, but representing to us the Love of the Saviour as well as the Majesty of His Godhead. The acknowledged symbol of this name in our Church for many centuries has been thc or ths; Anglicized forms of I.H.C., the first three letters in the Greek form of the name IHCOYC. But I.H.S. is a modern alteration originating with the Jesuits, whose symbol it is, and representing "Jesus Hominum Salvator." [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Acts iv. 8-12. St. Matt. i. 20-23.] 10] ST. LAURENCE, the Deacon and Martyr, is said to have been of Spanish extraction, but nothing is certainly known respecting his early years. He was ordained Deacon by St. Sixtus II., and soon afterwards appointed chief of the Seven Deacons of Rome. The Christians were at this time suffering under the eighth general persecution, and the Bishop of Rome was led forth to martyrdom in A.D. 258. Laurence, the Deacon, made a most affecting appeal to be allowed to suffer with his "father," whom he had so often assisted in offering the Holy Sacrifice. This did not come to pass; but within a week he drew upon himself the fury of the persecutors by refusing to deliver up the property of the Church, and showing instead the poor Christians as the real treasures of Christ. He was instantly seized, and put to the torture, but could not be compelled to deny Christ. He was then laid on an iron frame with bars like a gridiron, and slowly burnt to death over live coals. He suffered with marvellous patience and tranquillity, praying for the conversion of Rome. Prudentius, in a beautiful hymn, ascribes the final conversion of the city to this martyr's intercession. He is named in the earliest Roman Calendar, A.D. 354, and his name has always been in the Canon of the Roman mass. No less than 250 churches are dedicated to him in England, and he was honoured by a vigil and octave in this country as well as at Rome. He is one of the three "Minor" Saints in the Calendar of Queen Elizabeth's reign. His distinguishing emblem is the gridiron, and he is represented as a young man in alb and dalmatic, carrying a clasped book, or a bag, the latter in allusion to the treasure be refused to deliver up. The Palace of the Escurial, about fifteen miles from Madrid, was built by Philip the Second, A.D. 1563, in place of a monastery dedicated to St. Laurence which he had been obliged to demolish in some military operations. It is built on the plan of a gridiron, which form is also carried into all the details. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: 2 Cor. ix. 6-10. St. John xii. 24-26.] 28] ST. AUGUSTINE, or Austin, was one of the most illustrious of the Fathers, and is honoured as one of the Four Doctors of the Western Church. He was born of humble parents, A.D. 354, at Togaste, in Numidia. His mother Monica was a Christian; his father Patricius, a Pagan. Both paid great attention to the education of their son, the mother to his spiritual training, the father to that secular education which was the foundation of his subsequent fame as a scholar. After being taught at home for a while, he was sent to Madaura to be perfected in grammar and rhetoric. Returning home at the age of fifteen, he spent a year in idleness, and, to the great sorrow of his holy mother, acquired dissolute habits. After this he was sent to complete his education at Carthage, and here he plunged still deeper into vice and dissipation. He did, however, devote some portion of his time to study, and began to read the Holy Scriptures, which, of course, he could not at this period of his life appreciate. He then fell into the Manichæan heresy, which appears to have accorded but too well with his pride of intellect and profligacy of life. St. Monica was deeply grieved at the errors of her son, and would not even eat with him; but being assured by a holy Bishop that the son of so many prayers and tears could not be lost, she became reconciled to him again. About this time he began to distrust Manichæism, and took to scepticism. Being rhetoric professor at Milan in A.D. 384, he was attracted by the Sermons of St. Ambrose, through whose influence he was gradually converted to the Catholic faith, and was baptized A.D. 387. The Te Deum is sometimes called the Hymn of St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, from a tradition that it was composed and sung by them on this occasion. [See p. 10.] After a diligent study of St. Paul's Epistles and of theology generally under the direction of St. Ambrose, he returned to Togaste, where he formed a small society of brethren who devoted themselves to a religious life. In A.D. 391 he was admitted to Holy Orders by Valerius, Bishop of Hippo, whose coadjutor in the episcopate he became in 395, having spent the previous four years in retirement. He began to write against the Donatists in 394. In 396 he succeeded Valerius, and was obliged to occupy the Bishop's residence, but here he also established a community of clergy living by rule, which afterwards developed into the Order of Augustinian Canons. After an episcopate of thirty-five years he lived to see Hippo besieged by the Vandals. Augustine and his clergy earnestly prayed for deliverance from the Church's foes; but in the third month of the siege he died of a fever, on August 28th, A.D. 430, in his seventy-seventh year, and was buried in the Church of St. Stephen. He had been summoned to the third general council, but the Emperor's messenger arrived just too late to find him alive. Nearly fifty years afterwards the African Bishops carried the body with them to Sardinia, whither they were banished by Huneric, and about A.D. 710 it was purchased from the Saracens by the Lombards, and solemnly translated to the Church of St. Peter at Pavia, where it now rests. His festival was observed at Carthage, a century after his death, and is a holyday of obligation in the Spanish dominions. The distinguishing emblem of St. Augustine is a child with a shell, in allusion to his vision of the Infant Jesus pouring water into a hole in the sand of the shore, to show him the impossibility of understanding the mystery of the Trinity. Sometimes a heart, or an eagle, are represented with him. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xlvii. 8-11. St. Matt. v. 13-19.] 29] This minor festival of ST. JOHN the Baptist commemorates his being beheaded at the instigation of Herodias, as related in Matt. xiv. 1-12. It is probable that the event took place shortly before the Passover, A.D. 32; and that it is celebrated on the 29th of August as the day on which some translation of his relics took place. Portions of his head are said to be still kept at Amiens and at Rome. He was held in great honour in this country, upwards of 390 churches being dedicated to him, and his decollation, and the circumstances connected with it, were favourite subjects in mediaval representations. The nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24th) is observed as his greater festival, probably because of his miraculous birth, and its connexion with that of our Blessed Lord. The Agnus Dei is his distinguishing emblem, and he is represented clad in skins, carrying a vexillum or pennon with the words Ecce, agnus Dei. [Prov. x. 28-32, and xi. 3. 6. 8-11. St. Mark vi. 17-29.] |