Jmj

On December 14, we members of the Catholic Church family honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- "saints" and "blesseds" whose souls are now in heaven:

St. John of the Cross de Yepes of Fontiveros [Juan de la Cruz] ["Doctor of Mystical Theology"] (Spanish, priest, reformer of Discalced Carmelites, mystical writer, Doctor of the Church, died at age 49 in 1591 [beatified 1675, canonized 1726])

St. Abundius and Justus (early martyrs by the sword)
St. Agnellus of Abtini (Italian, abbot, d. 596))
St. Bartholomew Buonpedoni of San Germiniano (Italian, servant to Benedictines, Franciscan tertiary, village priest, leper, died at about 82 in 1310)
Sts. Drusus, Theodore, and Zosimus (Syrian, early martyr)
Sts. Fingar, Phiala, and companions, of Hoyle (Irish, martyred in 5th century)
Sts. Heron, Arsenius, and Isidore, of Alexandria (Egyptian, martyred by burning in 250)
St. John Bread-and-Water of Sangramenia [Juan "Pan y Agua"] (Spanish, Cistercian brother, fasted on bread and water his entire adult life, c. 1150)
St. Matronianus of Milan (Milanese, hermit, 4th century)
Sts. Nicasius, Eutropia, Jucundus, and Florentius, of Rheims (French ... bishop, his sister, lector, deacon ... martyred [beheaded] by barbarians c. 451)
Bl. Nicholas Factor of Valencia [Nicolás] (Spanish, Franciscan friar, itinerant preacher, died at about age 62 in 1582 [beatified 1786]) [commemorated by some on the 23rd]
St. Nimatullah Kassab al-Hardini [i.e., of Hardin] [baptized Youssef (Joseph)] (Lebanese, Maronite priest, died at age 50 in 1858 [beatified 1998, canonized 2004])
St. Pompeius of Pavia (Italian, bishop, c. 290)
St. Spyridon of Termithus (shepherd, monk at Mt. Carmel, bishop on Cyprus, died at about age 74 in 344 [incorruptible])
St. Venantius Fortunatus of Treviso [full name: Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus] (Italian, spiritual counselor of nuns, prolific poet and writer of hymns, bishop of Poitiers in France, died at about age 70 c. 605)
St. Viator of Bergamo (Italian, bishop, c. 378)

[From the pen of St. John of the Cross:]

"If you do not learn to deny yourself, you can make no progress in perfection."

"In detachment, the spirit finds quiet and repose for coveting nothing. Nothing wearies it by elation, and nothing oppresses it by dejection, because it stands in the center of its own humility."

"The Lord measures our perfection neither by the multitude nor the magnitude of our deeds, but by the manner in which we perform them."

"I wish I could persuade spiritual persons that the way of perfection does not consist in many devices, nor in much cogitation, but in denying themselves completely and yielding themselves to suffer everything for the love of Christ.

"Live in the world as if only God and your soul were in it; then your heart will never be made captive by any earthly thing."

"O you souls who wish to go on with so much safety and consolation, if you knew how pleasing to God is suffering, and how much it helps in acquiring other good things, you would never seek consolation in anything; but you would rather look upon it as a great happiness to bear the Cross of the Lord."

"Though holy doctors have uncovered many mysteries and wonders, and devout souls have understood them in this earthly condition of ours, yet the greater part still remains to be unfolded by them, and even to be understood by them."

"We must then dig deeply in Christ. He is like a rich mine with many pockets containing treasures: however deep we dig, we will never find their end or their limit. Indeed, in every pocket new seams of fresh riches are discovered on all sides. For this reason the apostle Paul said of Christ, 'In him are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God.' The soul cannot enter into these treasures, nor attain them, unless it first crosses into and enters the thicket of suffering, enduring interior and exterior labors, and unless it first receives from God very many blessings in the intellect and in the senses, and has undergone long spiritual training."

"In giving us His Son, His only Word, He spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word -- and He has no more to say ... because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son."

If you have anything to share about these holy people, please reply now -- biographical episodes, prayers through their intercession, the fact that one is your patron -- whatever moves you. If you are interested in one of these saints or blesseds and want to find out more about him/her, please ask. Additional information is sometimes available on the Internet.

All you holy men and women, saints of God, pray for us.
God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 09, 2004

Answers

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 15, 2004.