March 16–St. Abbán, Abbot

 

Andreas F. Borchert, New Ross Church of St. Mary and St. Michael Nave West End Relief of Saint Abban 2012 09 04, CC 4.0.

When we think of March saints we usually think of St. Patrick, whose feast day is March 17. Nonetheless, the Martyrology of Donegal lists 1000 saints of Ireland. Today’s saint was also an Irish saint who founded a monastery in Ireland. Three versions of the Life of St. Abbán show a lot of variation and confusion about him. However, according to the Martyrology, St. Abbán had great devotion to God as a child and he worked saintly miracles, such as when his maternal uncle, a bishop, took him to Rome, he was said to have power over “men, monsters, and supernatural phenomena” and “special authority over rivers and seas.” He died about A.D 520.

This sounds like a lot of Irish exaggeration, except that scholars have studied and documented his life and impact throughout Ireland. So what makes a person a saint? As stated in this column before, men, women, and children are saints because of their holiness. They dedicate themselves to knowing, loving, and serving God so they may give greater glory to God and bring others closer to him. St. Abbán was thus such a man.

St. Abbán was one of the many abbots, abbesses, and monks that helped Christianize Ireland. Irish Christianity was primarily monastic with the spread of “networks of monastic ‘city-states’ throughout Ireland that served as centers of learning for religious men and women.” Irish monasticism was influential in re-Christianizing northern Europe after the fall of the Roman empire in the West.

The impact of Irish Catholicism is worthwhile. Many of us can remember the Irish priests who taught us as children and established parishes in our dioceses. We are grateful for the Irish Catholics like St. Abbán, who, by their holiness, spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. St. Abbán, pray for us.

February 27--St. Gregory of Narek, Monk, Priest, and Doctor of the Church

St. Gregory of Narek Statue, Vatican City

“Lex orandi, lex credendi.” “The law of what is prayed is the law of what is believed.” This Latin phrase summarizes the impact and relationship of prayer and faith. As the Catechism states: “The law of prayer is the law of faith: the Church believes as she prays.” (1124).

Thus: Saint Gregory of Narek was a mystic, monk, priest, and, as declared by Pope Francis, Doctor of the Church. Living in the Kingdom of Armenia, modern Turkey (born about 951, died about 1003), Gregory and his brother were raised by their uncle in a monastery, which he eventually entered. He then taught there and wrote commentaries and prayers. His most famous work is The Book of Lamentations, a collection of ninety-five prayers, each beginning: “Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart.” The prayers were expressions of love and dependency on God’s mercy. “He believed his book was written not only for himself, his monks, or the Armenian people, but for all people, for the entire world.” In other words, St. Gregory proclaimed the Gospel in the prayers he composed.

Here is the conclusion of his final prayer: Prepare the earth for the day of light and let the soil bloom and bring forth fruit, heavenly cup of life-giving blood, ever sacrificed, never running dry, all for the salvation and life of the souls in eternal rest. And though my body die in sin, with Your grace and compassion, may I be strengthened in You, cleansed of sin through You, and renewed by You with life everlasting, and at the resurrection of the righteous be deemed worthy of Your Father’s blessing. To Him together with You, all glory, and with the Holy Spirit, praise and resounding thanks, now, always and forever, Amen. St. Gregory of Narek, pray for us!