A Community of Love, Unity and Service

St. Mary Magdalen

Of the earlier life of Saint Mary Magdalen we know only that she was “a woman who was asinner.” From the depth of her degradation she raised her eyes to Jesus with sorrow, hope, andlove. Covered with shame, she came to where Jesus was at table, and knelt behind Him. She saidnot a word, but bathed His feet with her tears, wiped them with the hair of her head and kissedthem with humility. Then she poured on them costly ointment. The divine lips of her Saviourremoved her reproach, spoke her absolution, and bade her go in peace. From that time on, sheministered to Jesus, sat at His feet, and listened to His words. She was one of the family ofBethany “whom Jesus so loved” that He raised her brother Lazarus from the dead.

It happened that once again, on the eve of His Passion, she brought precious ointment, and this time, as His purified and beloved follower, poured it on His head; and we may say that the entireHouse of God is still filled with the fragrance of her anointing. Mary Magdalen stood with OurLady and Saint John at the foot of the cross, representative of the many who have loved muchbecause much has been forgiven them.

To her, the first after His blessed Mother, and through her to His Apostles, Our Lord gave the certainty of His resurrection. When the faithful were scattered by persecution, the family ofBethany found refuge in the south of France. The cave in which Saint Mary Magdalen lived forthirty years is still seen, with a chapel on the mountaintop, in which she was caught up daily, likeSaint Paul, to “visions and revelations of the Lord.” When her end drew near she was borne to aplace still marked by a monument, where the holy Bishop Maximin awaited her; and when she hadreceived her Lord, she peacefully fell asleep in death.

St. Apollinaris

When Saint Peter, setting out for Rome, left Antioch after seven years as its spiritual Head, he took with him several of the faithful of that city, among them Apollinaris, a disciple of JesusChrist. He consecrated him bishop a few years later and sent him to Ravenna as its first bishop.

His first miracle was on behalf of the blind son of a soldier who gave him hospitality when he first arrived in the city of Ravenna. When the apostle told him of the God he had come to preach andinvited him to abandon the cult of idols, the soldier replied: “Stranger, if the God you preach is aspowerful as you say, beg Him to give sight to my son, and I will believe in Him.” The Saint hadthe child brought and made the sign of the cross on his eyes as he prayed. The miracle wasinstantaneous, to the great amazement of all, and news of it spread rapidly. A day or so later, amilitary tribune sent for him to cure his wife from a long illness, which again he did. The house ofthe tribune became a center of apostolic action, and several persons sent their children to the Saintto instruct them there. Little by little a flourishing Christian assembly was formed, and priests anddeacons were ordained. The Saint lived in community with the two priests and two deacons.

The idolatrous priests aroused the people against him, as we see the enemies of Saint Paul do in the Acts of the Apostles. He was left half-dead on the seashore, after being severely beaten, butwas cared for by the Christians and recovered rapidly. A young girl whom he cured after havingher father promise to allow her full liberty to follow Christ, consecrated her virginity to God. Itwas after this that, in the time of Vespasian, he was arrested and interrogated and again flogged,stretched on the rack and plunged into boiling oil. Alive still, he was exiled to Illyria, east of theAdriatic Sea.

He remained three years in that country, having survived a shipwreck with only a few personswhom he converted. Then he evangelized the various districts, with the aid of his converts. When an idol ceased to speak during his sojourn in one of these regions, the pagans again beathim and threw him and his companions on a ship which took them back to Italy. Soonimprisoned, he escaped but was seized again and for the last time subjected to a flogging. He diedon July 23^rd of the year 79. His body lay first at Classis, four miles from Ravenna, and a churchwas built over his tomb; later the relics were returned to Ravenna. Pope Honorius had a churchbuilt to honor the name of Apollinaris in Rome, about the year 630. From the beginning theChurch has held his memory in high veneration.

St. Christina

Saint Christina was the daughter of a rich and powerful magistrate named Urban. Her father, who was deep in the practices of paganism, had a number of golden idols. His young daughter brokethem, then distributed the pieces among the poor. Infuriated by this act, Urban became thepersecutor of his own daughter. He had her whipped with rods and thrown into a dungeon. Christina remained unshaken in her faith. Her tormentor brought her forth to have her body tornby iron hooks, then fastened to a rack beneath which a fire was kindled. But God watched overHis servant and turned the flames back toward the onlookers, several of whom perished.

The torments to which this young girl was subjected would seem as difficult to devise as toimagine; but God was beside her at all times. After a heavy stone was attached to her neck, SaintChristina was thrown into the lake of Bolsena, but was rescued by an Angel and seen wearing astole and walking on the water, accompanied by several Angels. Her father, hearing she was stillalive, died suddenly amid atrocious sufferings. A new judge succeeded him, a cruel paganexperienced in persecuting the Christians. He tried to win her by reminding her of her nobility,suggesting she was in serious error. Her reply infuriated him: “Christ, whom you despise, willtear me out of your hands!” Then Saint Christina suffered the most inhuman torments. Thesecond judge also was struck down by divine justice. A third one named Julian, succeeded him. “Magician!” he cried, “adore the gods, or I will put you to death!” She survived a raging furnace, after remaining in it for five days. Serpents and vipers thrown into her prison did nottouch her, but killed the magician who had brought them there. She sent them away in the nameof Christ, after restoring the unfortunate magician to life; he was converted and thanked the Godof Christina and the Saint. Then her tongue was cut out.

The Saint prayed to be allowed to finish her course. When she was pierced with arrows, shegained the martyr’s crown at Tyro, a city which formerly stood on an island in the lake of Bolsenain Italy, but has since been swallowed up by the waters. Her relics are now at Palermo in Sicily. Her tomb was discovered in the 19^th century at Bolsena, marked with an inscription dating fromthe 10^th century.

St. James the Greater

Among the twelve Apostles, three were chosen to be the close companions of our Blessed Lord,and of these James was one. He, with Peter and John, was admitted to the house of Jairus whenhis dead child was raised to life (Luke 8:40 ff.); only these three were taken up to the high mountain of Thabor and beheld the face of Jesus shining as the sun, and His garments white assnow (Mark 9:2-7). These three alone witnessed the fearful agony in Gethsemane. (Luke 22:39-45)

What was it that won James a place among the favorite three? Faith, burning, impetuous andoutspoken, the straightforwardness of the true Israelite, were visible in him; but these qualitiesneeded purifying before the “Son of Thunder” could proclaim the Gospel of peace. It was Jameswho suggested fire from heaven to consume the inhospitable Samaritans, and who sought a placeof honor beside Christ in His kingdom. Yet Our Lord, in rebuking his presumption, prophesiedhis faithfulness unto death. (Mark 10:38-40) He went to Spain after the death of Our Lord, and remained there for nine years, according to tradition. The famous Basilica of Saint James ofCompostello, one of the most frequented pilgrimage sites of Europe, the site also of countlessmiracles, commemorates the memory of the nation’s beloved Apostle.

In the year 44 Saint James, who was at that time in Jerusalem, was brought before King HerodAgrippa. The Apostle had been preaching fearlessly there, curing the sick and the blind, anddelivering possessed persons. Two magicians were sent by the authorities to stop his doings bytheir charms, but both were converted. His enemies were not defeated by that, however, and paidtwo Roman captains to incite a sedition during the Apostle’s preaching, then seize him as itsauthor. A certain Josias, a scribe among the Pharisees, put a cord around his neck and took himbefore the third Herod, grandson of the first, murderer of the Innocents, and nephew of thesecond, who had the Baptist decapitated. This new sycophant of the Roman Emperors, desiringto conciliate the Jews and make them forget his non-Jewish origins, decided to do so bypersecuting the Christians. Without delay he condemned Saint James to die by the sword. TheApostle’s fearless confession of Jesus crucified so moved the scribe Josias, that he too confessedChrist and begged pardon of the Saint. He was taken with the Apostle to the place of execution,where Saint James and his convert died together.

The Apostle won the three crowns of heroism: he is a Doctor par excellence of the Faith, he was the first Apostle to be martyred, and according to Saint Epiphanus and other historians, he always conserved his virginity. He is the patron of Spain. A Spanish author by the name of Tamayoreports fifteen different apparitions of Saint James to the kings and princes of Spain, followedeach time by some specific assistance for the benefit of the land.

St. Anne

Saint Anne, chosen by God to be the mother of Mary, His own Blessed Mother on earth, was thespouse of Saint Joachim. Ancestor of the Eternal King and High Priest, Joachim was of the royalhouse of David, while Anne was of Levitical descent. Their lives were wholly occupied withprayer and good works. One thing only was wanting to their union — they were childless, andthis was held as a bitter misfortune among the Jews. At length, when Anne was well advanced inage, Mary was born, the fruit rather of grace than of nature, and the child more of God than of man.

With the birth of Mary the holy matron began a new life; she watched Her every movement withreverent tenderness, and, aware of the little one’s destiny, felt herself hourly sanctified by thepresence of her Immaculate Child. But she had vowed her daughter to God; to God the childMary had already consecrated Herself, and to Him Anne gave Her back. Mary was three yearsold when Anne and Joachim led Her to the Temple steps, saw Her pass by Herself into the innersanctuary, and then saw Her no more. Thus was Anne left childless in her old age, and deprivedof her purest earthly joy. The holiest parents on earth could not, in the plan of God, raise thisChild as was needed: Mary had to suffer from Her earliest years. Saint Anne and Saint Joachimhumbly adored the Divine Will, and continued to watch and pray, until God called them to unending rest.

France and Canada possess the principal sanctuaries of Saint Anne: in France, at Apt inProvence, and at Auray in Britanny; in Canada at Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in the Province ofQuebec. At Apt the discovery in 792 of Saint Anne’s relics, brought by Lazarus and his twosisters to France, was wholly miraculous, authenticated by the presence of Charlemagne duringthe discovery, and the signature of Pope Adrian I on the written account of the facts.

Daily Mass