August 30--St. Fiacre, Priest and Abbot

St. Fiacre, Stained glass window, Notre-Dame, Bar-le-Duc, France

The Catholic Church recognizes patron saints from Academics–St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Albert the Great to Zoology–St. Albert the Great again! Today’s saint is the patron saint of Gardeners. St. Fiacre was born in Ireland about A.D. 600 and died in A.D. 670 in France. He grew up in a monastery, was ordained a priest, and eventually became an abbot. As people came to him because of his reputation for holiness and healing he went to France to become a hermit. He built a hermitage for himself and a hospice for travelers about 50 miles northeast of Paris. There he planted a vegetable and herb garden and an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He lived a life of self-denial, prayer, fasting, vigils and healing by laying on of hands. Veneration towards him seems to be based on his healing abilities as well as his holiness. His patronage of gardeners is based on his gardening abilities.

Every good act we do can be an act of love for God and others. Gardening may bring joy through the beauty of flowers and health through the nourishment of fruits, and vegetables. Tilling the soil may allow us to focus our minds and hearts on prayer to God in praise and on behalf of others. Tending the yard may bring peace. Scripture envisioned earthly paradise as a garden: “The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it” (Gn. 2:15). Furthermore: “You make the grass grow for the cattle and plants for people’s work to bring forth food from the earth, wine to gladden their hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread to sustain the human heart” (Ps. 104:14-15). St. Fiacre, pray for us.

July 25--St. Christopher, Martyr

 

St. Christopher Memorial Card

Whatever happened to St. Christopher? We know that he was a martyr under the persecution of the Emperor Decius in the third century in Lycea in present-dayTurkey, but we do not know anything else about him. Because of that, the Church removed him from the liturgical calendar. However, that does not mean that the Church demoted him or denied his existence. He is still on the Roman Martyrology, the approved list of saints in the Catholic Church.

In the Middle Ages a story spread about St. Christopher. The legend states that he was a giant who wished to serve the strongest, most powerful king. He started out serving a Christian king who crossed himself whenever he heard the devil’s name. Thus St. Christopher went to serve the devil who shuddered at the sight of the cross of Christ. Thus St. Christopher went to serve Christ. He was told by a hermit he would find Christ by carrying people across a river. “After Christopher had performed this service for some time, a little child asked him to take him across the river. During the crossing, the river became swollen and the child seemed as heavy as lead, so much that Christopher could scarcely carry him and found himself in great difficulty. When he finally reached the other side, he said to the child: ‘You have put me in the greatest danger. I do not think the whole world could have been as heavy on my shoulders as you were.’ The child replied: ‘You had on your shoulders not only the whole world but Him who made it. I am Christ your king, whom you are serving by this work.’ The child then vanished.” Thus, he is the patron of travelers.

St. Christopher is still a saint! St. Christopher, pray for us.

May 4--St. Florian, Martyr

 

St. Florian

The Catholic Church has patron saints for just about everything under the sun: animals–St. Francis of Assisi; Catholic schools–St. Thomas Aquinas; actors–St. Genesius; soldiers–St. George; bakers–St. Elizabeth of Hungary; and today’s saint, St. Florian, patron of firefighters. St. Florian was born in AD 250 in present-day Austria. He joined the Roman army and was in charge of fire brigades as part of his duties. He became a Christian, was discovered, arrested, and sentenced to be burned at the stake in 304 under the persecution of Emperor Diocletian. “Standing on the funeral pyre, Florian is reputed to have challenged the Roman soldiers to light the fire, saying ‘If you wish to know that I am not afraid of your torture, light the fire, and in the name of the Lord I will climb onto it.’ Apprehensive of his words, the soldiers did not burn Florian, but executed him by drowning him in the Enns River with a millstone tied around his neck instead.”

The reason we have patron saints is because they are men, women, and children to whom we can relate, whether because of their lives, their jobs, their circumstances, their deaths or what have you! Patron saints are people who we appeal to for help because we can relate to their experiences and we know they can relate to ours. St. Florian was a firefighter and a martyr. He lived his faith through his life and through his death. People look to us as role models as well! We are husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, workers, victims of illness or accidents. We need to live our faith through our lives. We can guide others and pray for them as their patrons, just as the patron saints guide us and pray for us. St. Florian, patron of firefighters, pray for us!

September 29--Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels

          

"Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o'er the plain."  What's with the Christmas carol in September?  Today's feast is for three "non-humans", the archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.  Technically, they are not saints, in that they are not human, but we call them saints in honor of their holiness and because they are the only angels mentioned by name in the Bible.  Michael is mentioned in the Books of Daniel and Revelation, Gabriel in the Book of Daniel and the Gospel of Luke, and Raphael in the Book of Tobit.  Michael is the leader of God's armies to victory over evil; Gabriel announces God's will to Mary; and Raphael guides Tobias in order to heal his father Tobit.

The word angel means "messenger".  All the angels are messengers of God to share God's will with us.  According to St. Paul, there are nine choirs, or levels, of angels, each with their own function.  The veneration of the angels goes back to the Eastern Church starting with Michael in the fourth century.  Along with other other patronages, Michael is the patron of police officers, Gabriel of communication workers, and Raphael of travelers.

When we think of angels, do we think of cute, winged, creatures who fly about and are delicate and look like they can easily be broken?  Angels are God's creatures who represent God, so they are not cutesy, delicate, or able to be broken.  The name Michael means "Who is like God"?  It is a challenge and a call to worship God.  The name Gabriel means "God is my strength".  It is a call to depend on God to protect and guide us.  The name Raphael means "God heals".  It is a charge to let us be healed of all our sins by God.  Perhaps we should change the lyrics of the Christmas carol to "Angels we have heard on high, boldly, strongly, calling us" to repent and believe in the Good news of his loving salvation.

April 4—St. Isidore of Seville, Bishop

The Church oftentimes names a person as a patron saint of a cause or group or even a nation.  For example, Mary, the Immaculate Conception is the patroness of the United States and St. Thomas Aquinas is the patron of Catholic schools.  However, there is no patron of the Internet.  Today’s saint has been proposed as the patron of the Internet because of his encyclopedia, which was used as a textbook for 900 years!

St. Isidore of Seville is considered the last of the Church Fathers.  He was the bishop of Seville, Spain and was influential in the conversion of the Visigoths in Spain in the seventh century.  He also established schools and seminaries, completed a Spanish version of the liturgy (Mozarabic), and played a major role in two councils in Spain.  His efforts inspired the education system of the Middle Ages.

We are fortunate to live in an age that values learning.  We have numerous junior colleges, colleges, and universities that educate our youth in various arts and disciplines.  We have numerous professions that contribute to the common good.  We owe their skills to men and women who have dedicated themselves to the vocation of teaching, the passing on of a lore of knowledge and the skill of processing that knowledge so that students may benefit society.  

But knowledge and skill are useless without wisdom.  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps. 111:10).  It is vital that we educate our youth not just in arts and disciplines that may benefit society, but also in the ways of God so that society, in turn, may benefit individuals respectful of Truth.  St. Isidore knew about learning, but he also knew about God and the necessity of faith to guide reason.