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CALENDAR of the SAINTS
11 February 2007 Anno Domini
Saint Ampelius
Saint Anselm of Rot
Saint Ardanus of Tournus
Saint Benedict of Aniane
Birth name : Witiza
Visigoth son of Aigul, Count of Maguelone. Educated at the court of Pepin. Courtier and cup-bearer to King Pepin and Charlemagne. Part of the 773 campaign of Charlemagne; narrowly escaped drowning in the Tesin near Pavia while trying to save his brother.
Benedictine monk at Saint Sequanus where he took the name Benedict. Lived two and one half years on bread and water, sleeping on the bare ground, praying through the night, and going barefoot.
In the Frankish empire, monasticism suffered lay ownership and the attacks of the Vikings. Monastic discipline decayed. In 779 Benedict founded the Aniane monastery on his own land; the monks did manual labor, copied manuscripts, lived on bread and water except on Sundays and great feast days when they added wine or milk if they received any in alms. The results of his austere rule were disappointing, so he adopted the Benedictine Rule and the monastery grew. He then reformed and inaugurated other houses.
Bishop Felix of Urgel proposed that Christ was not the natural, but only the adoptive son of God (Adoptionism); Benedict opposed this heresy, wrote against it, and assisted in the Synod of Frankfurt in 794.
Emperor Louis the Pious built the abbey of Maurmunster as a model abbey for Benedict in Alsace and then Cornelimunster near Aachen, then made Benedict director of all the monasteries in the empire. The monk instituted widespread reforms, though because of opposition they were not as drastic as he had wanted.
Participated in the synods in Aachen. Benedict was an advisor and supported of the emperor. Wrote the Capitulare monasticum, a systematization of the Benedictine Rule as the rule for all monks in the empire. Compiled the Codex regularum, a collection of all monastic regulations, and Concordia regularum, showing the resemblance of Benedict's rule to those of other monastic leaders. The rules stressed individual poverty and chastity with obedience to a properly constituted abbot, himself a monk. Benedict insisted upon the liturgical character of monastic life, including a daily Conventual Mass and additions to the Divine Office. He stressed the clerical element in monasticism which led to the development of teaching and writing as opposed to manual labor in the field. This direction lapsed some after Benedict's death, but had lasting effects on Western monasticism. Benedict is considered the restorer of Western monasticism and is often called the 'second Benedict.'
Saint Caedmon
Saint Calocerus of Ravenna
Saint Castrensis of Capua
Saint Dativus
Saint Desiderius
Saint Elizabeth Salviati
Saint Felix
Saint Gobnata
Saint Gregory II
Saint Helwisa
Saint Jonas of Muchon
Saint Lazarus
Bishop of Milan c.439. Archbishop of Milan during a time when invading Ostrogoths controlled the area. May have developed and certainly popularized the Rogationtide litanies; originally devised to ask for protection from the Ostrogoths, over time the devotion spread throughout Europe. Feast day moved to February due to the Milanese custom of not celebrating saint days during Lent.
Saint Lucius of Hadrianople
Martyrs of Africa
Pope Saint Paschal I
Son of Bonosus. Studied at the Lateran. Benedictine monk. Abbot of Saint Stephen's monastery, which was near the Vatican, and which housed pilgrims to Rome. Elected 98th pope in 817.
Defended the Greeks against iconoclastic emperors, and sheltered refugees from the iconoclast persecutions. Supported Saint Nicephorous and Saint Theodore Studites. Enshrined the relics of Saint Caecilia and other martyrs.
When two papal officials were found blinded and murdered, Paschal was accused of the crime. He was not involved, but the murderers were members of his household, and he refused to surrender them, claiming that the victims were traitors, and that secular authorities had no jurisdiction over events that occurred within the Vatican. The dispute resulted in the Constitution of Lothair, which set specific limits on the law enforement and judicial powers of the pope.
Saint Pedro Maldonado
Saint Saturninus of Albatina and Companions
Saint Severinus of Agaunum
Saint Simplicius I of Vienne
Saint Smaragdus
Daughter of Paphnutius, a rich citizen of Alexandria, Egypt, born in her parents' old age due to the prayers of a monk who was a friend of the family. When she was grown, her family arranged marriage for her to wealthy young noble, but she preferred religious life. While her father was on a retreat, she gave away her possessions, then became a nun and spiritual student of the monk who'd prayed for her birth. To hide from her family, she wore men's clothes, and became a monk, taking the name Smaragdus. She became famous for her holiness and wisdom, and became a spiritual teacher of her father, who did not recognize her. On her deathbed she revealed her true identity to her father who then became a monk, and lived in her cell the remaining ten years of his life.
Saint Soteris
Saint Theodora
Saint Tobias Borras Romeu
Saint Victoria
North African nobility. Convert in her youth. She refused an arranged marriage to a young nobleman, and on her wedding day she leaped from a window in her parents' house. She sought sanctuary in a nearby church, and there dedicated her life to God.
Arrested during the Eucharist for her faith, her pagan brother, Fortunatianus, tried to intercede with the judge by claiming she was insane; she disproved this by engaging in debate with the judge. The judge, Anulinus, was willing to release her if she agreed to her brother's supervision, but she refused, saying she could obey only God. Anulinus finally, knowing her family, pleaded with her to not throw away her life on what he considered a fantasy; she proclaimed that she was a Christian, that she was loyal to God, and that she had taken part in the Eucharist. Saint Victoria tortured to death in 304 in prison at Albitina, north Africa with 45 fellow parishioners; they have long been given as examples to those who are lukewarm in attending Mass. She was noted during her imprisonment for her courage. It is uncertain as to the location of her relics. They may be in an ancient sacristy in Rignano, Italy, and / or a chapel in Maria Stein, Ohio, USA
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