Saints of the Week: Our Lady, John Chrysostom, Hildegard, Andrew Kim Taegon, Catherine of Genoa, and More
Happy Sunday! It was a week of important feasts, most notably the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the Holy Name of Mary. As we leave summer behind and settle into the school or work routine of fall, we can reflect on the declining of the year—and our own mortality, how important it is to keep God first in our lives like the saints did, so that disaster or death does not catch us unawares.
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Sept. 14) commemorates the finding of the True Cross of Christ and the dedication of the original basilica built over Mt. Calvary and the tomb from which Jesus resurrected in Jerusalem. You can read my full article from earlier this week.
There were three feasts commemorating Jesus’s Mother Mary this week. First was the Holy Name of Mary (Sept. 12), which recognizes the power of names (hence name changes for important Biblical figures like Abram/Abraham and Simon/Peter) and how Mary is eager to help us draw closer to Jesus if we call on her. You can read my previous article for a longer reflection. Our Lady of Coromoto (Sept. 11) commemorates Mary’s appearance in a vision to a native tribal chief Coromoto in Venezuela in 1652, urging conversion to Catholicism; the vision led to the conversion of the whole tribe except (ironically) the chief.
Also, on Sept. 15, was Our Lady of Sorrows or Dolors, remembering what Mary suffered throughout her Son’s life and how Simeon prophesied (Lk. 2:35), “And thy own soul a sword shall pierce.” Tradition holds that this mystical sword pierced Mary’s soul when her Son died on the Cross, as she silently and faithfully felt within her heart every pain of her Son’s redeeming Passion. The Seven Sorrows of Mary are traditionally listed as: the Prophecy of Simeon, the Flight into Egypt, the Loss of Jesus in the Temple, Mary’s Meeting with Jesus on the Way of the Cross, Jesus’s Crucifixion, Jesus’s Body Taken from the Cross, and the Burial of Jesus. Like Mary, we must learn to suffer as patiently as Jesus suffered.
St. John Chrysostom (Sept. 13) was born in 344 AD and grew up to be a brilliant orator and theologian (Chrysostom means “golden-mouthed”), one of the four greatest Eastern Church Fathers. He was an anchorite for a few years, but became Patriarch of Constantinople and one of the most influential and inspiring clerics in the Church. Unfortunately, holiness tends to make enemies of the wicked, and he was sent into exile, where he died. He is the author of one of the liturgies (for Mass) used by Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox rites.
St. Hildegard von Bingen (Sept. 17) is one of the most remarkable and versatile women in history, perhaps the only female composer whose music is foundational for Western culture. Born to German nobility, she received visions from toddlerhood and became an anchoress, then head of a convent. At 42 years old, in 1141 AD, Jesus inspired her with miraculous ability to understand religious texts and ordered her in a vision to write down everything. She finished her first visionary work with papal approval. Hildegard was a brilliant scientist, botanist, healer, theologian, and composer. She was recently named a Doctor of the Church.
St. Andrew Kim Taegon (Sept. 14) was the first native Korean priest. His parents were upper class converts to Christianity, and his father was martyred. Andrew went to seminary in the Portuguese colony of Macau and was ordained a priest in Shanghai in 1844 by his friend and mentor Bishop Jean-Joseph-Jean-Baptiste Ferréol. He returned to Korea to evangelize at a time of great persecution by the Joseon Dynasty that killed many martyrs. Andrew was tortured and beheaded for his faith at the young age of 25.
St. Catherine of Genoa (Sept. 15) was born to Italian nobles in 1447, related to two popes. A pious child, she was forced into an arranged marriage with a nobleman whose cruelty and infidelity drove her into depression. A religious ecstasy and realization of her sinfulness caused her to lead a holy life, and she and her converted husband lived chastely, helping the sick and poor. Widowed, she became a Franciscan tertiary, visionary, and spiritual writer.
St. Cyprian of Carthage (Sept. 16) was raised wealthy and well-educated, an adult convert to the faith. He was ordained in 247 AD and became bishop of Carthage, though he was forced to minister from hiding during Decius’s persecutions. He helped define the conditions under which apostates could be re-admitted to the Church and supported Pope Cornelius against an anti-pope. He was exiled and later martyred. Cyprian was “second only in importance to Tertullian as a Latin Father of the Church.”
St. Robert Bellarmine (Sept. 17) was born 1542 in Italy, and though he always suffered health problems, it did not impede his accomplishments, since he was one of the lights of the Catholic Reformation (the reform movement in response to the Protestant Revolt). A Jesuit, well-educated, he became a theology professor, preacher, and anti-heresy writer. He held many important positions in Rome, including Cardinal, but was always very generous to the poor. Americans might find it particularly interesting that Catholicsaints.info says Bellarmine took “a fundamentally democratic position – authority originates with God, is vested in the people, who entrust it to fit rulers, a concept which brought him trouble with the kings of both England and France.” Bellarmine was a friend or helper to Galileo, St. Francis de Sales, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga, and a Doctor of the Church.
The Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi (Sept. 17—the stigmata is the wounds of Christ’s Passion that some saints receive). Catholicsaints.info: “While in meditation on Mount Alvernia in the Apennines in September 1224, Saint Francis received a vision of a six winged angel. Francis saw that the angel was crucified. When the angel departed, Francis was left with wounds in his hands, feet, and side as though he had been crucified. The wound in his side often seeped blood.” While in Assisi, I saw the shoes specially made for Francis because of the bleeding from his feet.
Louis of Thuringia (Sept. 11) was the 13th century landgrave or ruler of a part of modern Germany. His beloved wife was the famous St. Elizabeth of Hungary and his youngest (and posthumously born) daughter St. Gertrude of Aldenberg. Louis, a devoted husband and good ruler, died of disease while on crusade.
St. Francis Ch’oe Kyong-Hwan (Sept. 12) was a devoted husband, father, and catechist from 19th century Korea who was tortured and martyred for the faith. St. Bonaventura of Barcelona (Sept. 11) was a widower who became a Franciscan friar, reformer, and advisor to multiple popes. St. Notburga (Sept. 14) was a servant born in 13th century Austria, known for her charity and her many miracles. Sts. Protus and Hyacinth (Sept. 11) were brothers and early Roman martyrs whose epitaph was composed by Pope Damasus. St. Satyrus of Milan (Sept. 17) was a Roman prefect and brother of Sts. Marcellina and Ambrose of Milan.
Pope St. Cornelius (Sept. 16) became pope in the 200s amid a period of harsh persecution of Christians, but before his exile and martyrdom he called a synod, fought heresy, and welcomed back apostates. St. Cornelius the Centurion (Sept. 13) was told in a vision to send for St. Peter, who came and baptized Cornelius and his whole household as the first Gentile converts to Christianity (see Acts. 10); Cornelius was the first bishop of Caesarea. St. Zygmunt Szcesny Felinski (Sept. 17) was a 20th century freedom fighter and Archbishop of Warsaw exiled for his denunciations of Russian crimes. St. Margaret of Cashel (Sept. 13) was an Irish laywoman martyred for the faith in 1647 (one of the Irish Martyrs). St. Joan Roig i Diggle (Sept. 11) was a pious layman and Eucharistic minister martyred in the Spanish Civil War.
Also this week were Jean-Gabriel Perboyre, Carlo Spinola, Franciscus Takeya, and Elijah Speleota (Sept. 11); Guy of Anderlecht, Ailbe of Emly, Apolinar Franco and Martyrs of Japan, Pierre-Sulpice-Christophe Faverge, and Eanswith (Sept. 12); María López de Rivas Martínez, Gertrude Prosperi, Claude Dumonet, and Theobald Stapleton (Sept. 13); Albert of Acre, Aelia Flaccilla, Peter of Tarentaise, Generalis and Carthage Martyrs (Sept. 14); Paolo Manna, Nicomedes of Rome, Jacinto de Los Angeles, Juan Bautista, and Aicardus (Sept. 15); Pope Victor III, Ludmila, Euphemia of Chalcedon, Ninian, and Louis Allemand (Sept. 16); and Lambert of Liege, Sophia, and her daughters Faith, Hope, and Charity (Sept. 17).
Have a blessed week!