26 August SAINT ZEPHYRINUS Pope and Martyr(† 217) Zephyrinus, a native of Rome, succeeded Victor in the pontificate, in the year 198, in which Severus raised the fifth most bloody persecution against the Church, which continued not for two years only, but until the death of that emperor in 211. Under this furious storm this holy pastor was the support and comfort of the distressed flock of Christ, and he suffered by charity and compassion what every confessor underwent. The triumphs of the martyrs were indeed his joy, but his heart received many deep wounds from the fall of apostates and heretics. Neither did this latter affliction cease when peace was restored to the Church. Our Saint had also the affliction to see the fall of Tertullian, which seems to have been owing partly to his pride. Eusebius tells us that this holy Pope exerted his zeal so strenuously against the blasphemies of the heretics that they treated him in the most contumelious manner; but it was his glory that they called him the principal defender of Christs divinity. St. Zephyrinus filled the pontifical chair nineteen years, dying in 217. He was buried in his own cemetery, on the 26th of August. He is, in some Martyrologies, styled a martyr, which title he might deserve by what he suffered in the persecution, though he perhaps did not die by the executioner. Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894] Other saints: Blessed Dominic Barberi (1792 - 1849)Dominic Barberi was born near Viterbo, Italy, in 1792 and joined the Passionist Order, urged on by an inner assurance that God called him to work as a missionary in England. He was ordained a priest in 1818 and worked in Italy and Belgium before coming to England in 1841. His first foundation was at Aston Hall in Staffordshire; he established four Passionist houses in all, and received many Anglicans into full communion, the most famous being the Venerable John Henry Newman, who was received at Littlemore near Oxford on 9 October 1845. Blessed Dominic was noted for the personal warmth of his approach to non-Catholics and for his zeal in preaching; he drew crowds in spite of his strong Italian accent. He favoured a higher profile for the small Catholic body in England; he went around in his Passionist habit and, while at Aston Hall in 1844, organised a Corpus Christi procession through the streets of the neighbourhood, which is believed to have been the first public procession of its kind in England in modern times.. Blessed Dominic died at Reading on 27 August 1849 and was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1963. Other saints: St David Lewis (1616-1679) David Lewis was born at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, in 1616 and raised in the Church of England. At sixteen years of age, while visiting Paris, he became a Catholic and subsequently went to study in Rome, where in 1642 he was ordained priest. Three years later he became a Jesuit. In 1647 he returned home and, for over thirty years, worked in South Wales, with his base at the Cwm on the borders of Herefordshire, an area sheltered between the high ridges of the Welsh Black Mountains to the west and Malvern Hills to the east. Here the Jesuits maintained two remote farmhouses, which also functioned as shelters for hunted Catholic priests. Lewis used the name Charles Baker. He was arrested in November 1678 in Monmouthshire, and condemned as a Catholic priest and for saying Catholic masses, at the Assizes in Monmouth in March 1679. He was then taken to Newgate Prison in London with John Kemble (Herefordshire) and questioned about the “gunpowder plot” (this was a fictitious plot invented by Titus Oates and is now known as the “Popish Plot” to distinguish it from Guy Fawkes’ plot of 1605) . Oates and his companions could find nothing against him. The judge advised him that if he gave evidence about the “plot” or renounced his Catholic faith, his life would be spared and he would be greatly rewarded. Lewis said in his dying speech, “discover the plot I could not, as I knew of none; and conform I would not, for it was against my conscience”. He was returned to Usk and waited for three months for his call to death by execution. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered on 27 August 1679. After the Titus Oates affair (1679—80), the remaining Welsh-speaking Catholic clergy were either executed or exiled. DK Other saints: Our Lady of Częstochowa The Black Madonna of Częstochowa is a revered icon of the Virgin Mary housed at the Jasna Góra Monastery at Częstochowa, in Poland. It has been venerated for at least 600 years and many miracles are attributed to the intercession of Our Lady. Częstochowa is the most popular shrine in Poland and a noted centre of pilgrimage. Ballade to Our Lady of Częstochowa Lady and Queen and Mystery manifold And very Regent of the untroubled sky, Whom in a dream St Hilda did behold And heard a woodland music passing by: You shall receive me when the clouds are high With evening and the sheep attain the fold. This is the faith that I have held and hold, And this is that in which I mean to die. Steep are the seas and savaging and cold In broken waters terrible to try; And vast against the winter night the wold, And harbourless for any sail to lie. But you shall lead me to the lights, and I Shall hymn you in a harbour story told. This is the faith that I have held and hold, And this is that in which I mean to die. Help of the half-defeated, House of Gold, Shrine of the Sword, and Tower of Ivory; Splendour apart, supreme and aureoled, The Battler’s vision and the World’s reply. You shall restore me, O my last Ally, To vengeance and the glories of the bold. This is the faith that I have held and hold, And this is that in which I mean to die. Envoi Prince of the degradations, bought and sold, These verses, written in your crumbling sty, Proclaim the faith that I have held and hold And publish that in which I mean to die. Hilaire Belloc You will see these texts in a more readable format and with a better layout (especially for verse) if you use the free Catholic Calendar app from Universalis. Catholic Calendar is free. You may also be interested in the full Universalis app. The official Grail translation of the Psalms. The readings at Mass are in both the Jerusalem Bible/Grail and the NAB translations. The Mass Today page contains the exact liturgy for today all in one place, both the Order of Mass and the prayers, antiphons and readings. A perpetual liturgical calendar covering all years. Local liturgical calendars for over 20 countries and dioceses. A choice of views: either scrolling like a web page or page-turning like an e-book. Access to all texts for all dates, past, present and future. Complete independence from the Internet. Everything is stored within the application itself. Universalis costs £9.99 / $13.99 / €12.99 from the App Store. Alternatively you can pay nothing to start with and then subscribe for £0.69 / $0.99 / €0.89 per month. To do this, get the free Catholic Calendar app and press the Try or buy button in the calendar.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 17:01:28 +0000
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