April 13–St. Martin I, Pope and Martyr

 

Pope St. Martin I by Carlo Laurentis, CC-4.0.

What happens when one does the right thing for the right reason in the right way but then is arrested, convicted, and exiled? He, St. Martin I, becomes the last pope to be martyred. Pope St. Martin I became pope in AD 649. What he did that got him arrested and martyred in 653 by the emperor was to condemn the heresy of Monothelitism, which the emperor supported.

Monothelitism stated that Jesus had only one will, a divine will, but not a human will. This was over 200 years after the Council of Chalcedon adopted the Tome of Pope St. Leo the Great, which had declared that Jesus Christ was one divine person with two natures, one divine and one human. To say that Jesus had one divine will is to deny him a human will and thus any human freedom in what he did or said. To say that he had only a divine will means that he was not really human because humans have a human will. Another problem with Monothelitism is that if Jesus only had a divine will then our human will is not saved. “What is not assumed is not saved,” according to St. Athanasius. God not only became incarnate by assuming human nature, but also by assuming all that it means to be human, and that means having a human will!

St. Martin I taught the truth and suffered: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me’” (Mt. 16:24). We are all called to love, to take up our crosses, and follow Jesus. This will lead to suffering, but we offer it up in turn to Jesus, who loves and strengthens us. Pope St. Martin I, pray for us.

April 6--St. Paul Le-Bao Tinh, Priest and Martyr

St. Paul Le-Bao Tinh

Vietnam was evangelized by Catholic missionaries from Portugal, Spain, and then later from France. St. Paul Le-Bao Tinh was born in Vietnam in 1793. He was sent to a Catholic seminary at the age of twelve, after which he lived as a hermit until the local bishop asked him to bring missionary priests to Laos. In 1841 persecution began. He was arrested and spent seven years in prison in Hanoi. His sentence of death was commuted in 1848. He returned to the seminary and was ordained a priest. In 1855 he was again arrested and sentenced to death. In 1857 he was decapitated, as was the original St. Paul of Tarsus. St. John Paul II canonized him in 1988.

In both persecutions we have his words describing his suffering and his readiness for death: “I, Paul, bound in chains for the sake of Christ, send to you from prison salutations which are many and final… The prison is truly a living example of hell: to chains, shackles and manacles, are added anger, vengeance, lies, obscene conversations, brawls, evil acts, swearing, slander, plus boredom, sadness, mosquitoes and flies… I write these things so that your hearts might burst with desire to be martyrs, and that your prayers might strengthen me, who lives in the arena of combat.”

"My body is in your hands, please torture it as you wish, I am very happy, without any complaint. It dies but will rise again in glory tomorrow. As for my soul, it belongs to God, nothing can make me sacrifice it, no one can shake my faith. Christianity is the right religion, the true religion. I have loved and kept that religion since I was a child, and even if I die, I cannot abandon it." St. Paul Le-Bao Tinh, pray for us.

March 31--St. Benjamin, Deacon and Martyr

 Saint Benjamin

Vatican II reestablished the order of the diaconate as a “proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy:” “It is the duty of the deacon... to administer baptism solemnly, to be custodian and dispenser of the Eucharist, to assist at and bless marriages in the name of the Church, to bring Viaticum to the dying, to read the Sacred Scripture to the faithful, to instruct and exhort the people, to preside over the worship and prayer of the faithful, to administer sacramentals, to officiate at funeral and burial services” (Lumen gentium, 29).

Today’s saint was a deacon in this same manner in Persia in the 4th and 5th centuries. St. Benjamin was martyred in AD 424 during a persecution through two kings of Persia and for about forty years. The Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II was able to obtain his release after being imprisoned but with the condition that he not preach. St. Benjamin “declared it was his duty to preach about Christ and that he could not be silent.” He was then subjected to brutal torture, which killed him.

Today’s deacons may not be called to martyrdom, but they are called to preach the Gospel, to witness, and to serve the People of God in the ways directed by Vatican II. According to a study commissioned by the USCCB in 2021-2022, there were over 20,000 permanent deacons, with more than half of them in active ministry. We have been blessed by this ministry. Thus, we need to continue to promote vocations to the diaconate as well as to the priestly and religious vocations. The People of God need men and women to dedicate themselves to serving others so we may come closer to God. Be open to God’s call. St. Benjamin, pray for us.

March 29–St. Berthold, Priest and Hermit

 

Berthold of Mount Carmel, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Mount Carmel was where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. But it is also the location of the foundation of the Carmelite religious order. However, even before the Carmelites were founded other hermits and religious men lived together on Mt. Carmel. That seems to be the case with today’s saint. St. Berthold was a priest who went with the Crusaders on the Third Crusade. He “found himself in Antioch when it was being besieged by the Saracens. Through his urgings, the Christians in Antioch turned to prayer and penance, and the city was delivered.”

It is said that he built “a monastery and church on Mount Carmel and dedicated the church in honor of the prophet [Elijah]... and lived out his days on Mount Carmel, ruling the community he had founded for forty-five years until his death about 1195. His example and way of life stamped the beginnings of the Carmelite Order,” which was formally founded later. The Carmelites have given us numerous saints, especially mystics, such as St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, all Doctors of the Church.

There is much fruit that can grow from small seeds. This was true of St. Berthold and it can be true of us. Every moment is an opportunity to do the will of God. Whatever we are doing, we can offer it up in love to God. It can be a moment of suffering, and thus we can participate in Christ’s sufferings. It can be a moment of joy, and thus we can rejoice in the gifts God has given us. It can be a moment of silence, such as when Jesus prayed to his Father. We need to offer each moment to God! St. Berthold, pray for us.

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!

December 24--Saints Adam and Eve, First Parents

Adam and Eve with Promise of Mary

Are the two people who brought evil to humanity considered saints of the Church? Even though they are not in the official Catholic Martyrology, they are accepted as being in Heaven. But let’s first consider their place in salvation history. First, they disobeyed God and brought about Original Sin and its consequences of concupiscence, sin, suffering, and death! Second, they lost original justice and original holiness, keeping us from benefiting from these graces. However, they also are the progenitors of humanity, from whom the Son of God is descended in his human nature. And, finally, they are the first holders of the covenant that God made with humanity in order to bring about our salvation!

Genesis 3:15 states the curse of God upon the serpent who tempted our parents:

I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
They will strike at your head,
while you strike at their heel.

This is the protoevangelium, the first proclamation of the Good News of God’s gift of salvation! Here God states that Original Sin is not the final word. The final Word is Jesus Christ! Thus we can proclaim, “O happy fault! O truly necessary sin of Adam, that won for us so great a Redeemer!” We have Adam and Eve in the Old Testament and the New Adam and the New Eve, Jesus and Mary, in the New Testament. Even so, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception includes this passage from Genesis as the first reading!

Even though Adam and Eve are not thought of as official saints of the Catholic Church, there has been honor given to them throughout history. As well, the Eastern Orthodox Churches honor them. We can pray to them for their intercession. Saints Adam and Eve, pray for us!