A Community of Love, Unity and Service

St. Margaret, queen of Scotland

Saint Margaret’s name signifies pearl, “a fitting name,” says Theodoric, her confessor and her first biographer, “for one such as she.” Her soul was like a precious pearl; a life spent amidst the luxury of a royal court never dimmed its luster or estranged it from Him who had bought it with His blood. She was the granddaughter of an English king; in 1070 she became the bride of Malcolm of Scotland, thereafter reigning as Queen until her death in 1093.

How did she become a Saint in a position where sanctity is so difficult? First, she burned with zeal for the house of God. She built churches and monasteries; she occupied herself by makingvestments; she could not rest until she saw the laws of God and His Church observed throughouther realm. Next, amid a thousand cares, she found time to converse with God, ordering her pietywith such sweetness and discretion that she won her husband to sanctity like her own. He wouldrise at night to pray with her; he loved to kiss the holy books she used, and sometimes would takethem away with him, bringing them back later to his wife covered with jewels. Lastly, despiteSaint Margaret’s great virtue, she wept constantly over her sins and begged her confessor tocorrect her faults.

Saint Margaret did not neglect her duties in the world even if she was not of the world. God blessed this marriage with eight children, six princes and two princesses who did not fail torespond to their mother’s teaching and examples. Never was there a better mother; she spared nopains in their education, and their sanctity was the fruit of her prudence and her zeal. And neverwas there a better queen. She was the most trusted counselor of her husband, who always foundher counsels of great utility, and she labored with him for the spiritual and material improvementof the land. Malcolm, after having pacified his domains for several years, saw to the building ofthe cathedral of Durham and founded a monastery at Dumfermlin.

Living in the midst of all the world’s pleasures, Saint Margaret sighed for the true homeland and viewed death as a release. On her deathbed she learned that her husband and their eldest son hadbeen slain in battle. She thanked God for sending this last affliction as a penance for her sins. After receiving Holy Viaticum, she repeated the prayer from the Missal, “O Lord Jesus Christ,who by Thy death didst give life to the world, deliver me.” And at the words “deliver me,” says her biographer, her soul took flight to Christ, in 1093, in her forty-seventh year.

St. Barnabas

We read that in the first days of the Church, the multitude of believers had but one heart and one soul; and none said that anything which he possessed was his own. (Acts 4:32) Amid this fervent company of Christians who practiced evangelical poverty, one only is singled out by name, Joseph, a rich Levite from Cyprus. He, having land, sold it, and bringing the price, laid it at the feet of the Apostles. They then gave him a new name, Barnabas, son of consolation. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and was soon chosen for an important mission, therapidly growing Church of Antioch. Here he perceived the great work which was waiting to bedone among the Greeks, and therefore he hastened to seek out and bring Saint Paul to Antioch,from his retirement at Tarsus.

When the prophet Agabus at Antioch foretold a great universal famine, Barnabas and Paul wereselected by the faithful, to take to the Church of Jerusalem their generous offerings for the poor ofthat city. It was also at Antioch that the two Saints were named for the apostolate of theGentiles; and they sailed together for Cyprus and then to the cities of Asia Minor. Theirpreaching struck men with amazement, and some cried out, “The gods have come down to us inthe likeness of men!” calling Paul Mercury, and Barnabas Jupiter. The Saints traveled togetheronce again, to the Council of Jerusalem, and told of the “signs and wonders which God hadwrought among the Gentiles” during their missionary journey. Shortly after this they separated;Barnabas with John Mark went to Cyprus, while Paul with Silas returned to Asia Minor.

The tradition of Milan, Italy, reveals that Saint Barnabas went from Cyprus to Italy, and in Milan founded its church; he is still honored there as its first bishop. After seven years he consecratedSaint Anathalon to replace him, and returned to Cyprus to visit the churches. He crisscrossed theisland several times to bring to every city and village the Holy Name of the Son of God. InSalamis, some of the recalcitrants plotted together to kill him. He was aware of the conspiracy;nonetheless, after foretelling to John Mark that he would die that same day, he went to thesynagogue to preach as usual. It was there that he was stoned as a blasphemer, in the year 61 ofour era. Saint John Mark succeeded in burying him near Salamis.

St. John of Sahagun or of St-Fagondez

Saint John, one of the greatest preachers Spain has ever known, was born at St. Fagondez, andfrom his early youth gave signs of his future sanctity. He was the fruit of the ardent prayers of hisparents after sixteen years of sterility; God blessed them afterwards with several children. He wasentrusted to the Benedictines of the monastery of St. Fagondez for his education. He distributedto the poor virtually all the wealth accruing to him from several benefices, while he himself livedin great poverty; but soon he renounced all of these and obtained from his bishop permission tostudy theology in Salamanca. As a young priest he was already regarded as a Saint, so ardent washis devotion at Holy Mass. He entered the Order of Saint Augustine soon after he had bestowedon a poor man half of his clothing, and the following night experienced so great an increase in thelove of God, that he referred to this as his conversion.

He was a model religious, and soon was entrusted with important offices in his Order — masterof novices, definitor for the province, and prior of the convent of the city of Salamanca. Hecommanded well because he knew so well how to obey. When he observed in himself a slightdefect in his obedience, he repaired it with extraordinary penances. Often while offering theadorable Sacrifice with tender piety, he enjoyed the sight of Jesus in glory, and held sweetcolloquies with Him. The ineffable bliss of these moments caused him to spend much more timethan the other priests in celebrating Holy Mass; and everyone was complaining. It was only whenhis Superior forbid him to delay in this way that he was obliged to acknowledge the favors heenjoyed.

The power of his personal holiness was seen in his preaching, which produced a completereformation of morals in Salamanca. He had a special gift for reconciling differences, and wasable to put an end to the quarrels and feuds among noblemen, at that period very common andfatal. The boldness shown by Saint John in reproving vice endangered his life. A powerfulnobleman, having been corrected by the Saint for oppressing his vassals, sent two assassins to slayhim; but the remarkable holiness of the Saint’s aspect, result of the peace constantly reigning inhis soul, struck such awe into their minds that they could not execute their purpose, and humblybegged his forgiveness. The nobleman himself, falling sick, was brought to repentance, andrecovered his health by the prayers of the Saint whom he had endeavored to murder.

Saint John was also very zealous in denouncing the vices of impurity, and it was in defense of holypurity that he met his death. A lady of noble birth but evil life, whose companion in sin he hadconverted, contrived to administer a fatal poison to the Saint. After several months of terriblesuffering, borne with unvarying patience, Saint John went to his reward on June 11, 1479. Thispainful death and the cause for which he suffered it, have caused several of his historians andpanegyrists to say that he won a martyr’s crown. A great many striking miracles followed at histomb and elsewhere, even by the simple invocation of his name. He was canonized in 1690 byPope Alexander VIII.

St. Anthony of Padua

Born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1195, Fernando de Bouillon was of a noble family related to thefamous Godefroy de Bouillon, founder and first sovereign of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem,who at the close of the Crusade of 1099 had refused to wear a crown, there where Christ hadworn one of thorns.

Favored by nature and grace, Fernand resolved at the age of fifteen to leave the world andconsecrate himself to God in the Order of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine. No flattery, threator caress of his relatives could persuade him to leave that holy refuge. He asked to be transferredto another convent to avoid the family’s solicitations, and was sent to Coimbra. Still young, hissanctity became evident through miracles; he cured a poor religious whom the devil wasobsessing, by covering him with his cloak.

When this young monk decided, after witnessing the return of the martyred remains of fiveFranciscans who had gone to Africa, to join that Order so favored with the graces of martyrdom,the Augustinians were desolate but could not prevent his departure, for Saint Francis himselfappeared to him in a vision in July 1220, and commanded him to leave. He was then sent by theFranciscans to Africa, but two years later was obliged to return to Italy because of sickness; thushe was deprived of the martyr’s crown he would have been happy to receive.

In 1222 Anthony, as he was now called, went with other Brothers and some Dominican friars tobe ordained at Forli. There Fra Antonio rose under obedience to preach for the first time to thereligious, and took for his theme the text of Saint Paul: Christ chose for our sake to becomeobedient unto death. As the discourse proceeded, “the Hammer of Heretics,” “the Ark of the Testament,” “the eldest son of Saint Francis,” stood revealed in all his sanctity, learning, and eloquence before his rapt and astonished brethren. He had been serving in the humblest offices of his community; now he was summoned to emerge from this obscurity. And then for nine yearsFrance, Italy, and Sicily heard his voice and saw his miracles, whose numbers can scarcely becounted. A crowd to which he was preaching outdoors one day, when the church was too smallto hold all who came to hear him, amidst thunder and lightning felt not one drop of water fallupon them, while all around them the rain poured down. And men’s hearts turned to God.

We may wonder why we always see Saint Anthony with the Child Jesus in his arms. The accountof this heavenly visitation was told only after his death, at the official process concerning hisvirtues and miracles. It was narrated by the man who witnessed the marvel in question; the Sainthimself had never spoken of it. Saint Anthony was in the region of Limoges in France, and wasoffered hospitality, rest and silence by this businessman of the region, in his country manor. Hewas given a room apart, to permit him to pray in peace; but during the night his host lookedtoward his lighted window and saw in the brilliance a little Infant of marvelous beauty in the armsof the Saint, with His own around the Friar’s neck. The witness trembled at the sight, and in themorning Saint Anthony, to whom it had been revealed that his host had seen the visitation, calledhim and enjoined him not to tell it as long as he was alive. The town near Limoges where thisoccurred remains unknown; the original account of the inquiry does not name it, but says that theman in question narrated it, with tears, after Saint Anthony’s death.

After a number of years of teaching of theology, unceasing preaching and writing, Saint Anthony, whose health was never strong, was spending a short time of retreat in a hermitage near Padua. He was overcome one day with a sudden weakness, which prevented him from walking. Itprogressed so rapidly that it was evident his last days had arrived. He died at the age of thirty-six,after ten years with the Canons Regular and eleven with the Friars Minor, on June 13, 1231. Thevoices of children were heard crying in the streets of Padua, “Our father, Saint Anthony, is dead.” The following year, the church bells of Lisbon rang without ringers, while in Rome one of its sons was inscribed among the Saints of God.

St. Basil the Great

Saint Basil was born in Asia Minor. Two of his brothers became bishops, and with his mother and his sister, are honored as Saints. He studied with great success in Athens, where he formed atender and perpetual friendship with Saint Gregory Nazianzen. He then taught oratory. Thestudy of philosophy had already raised him above all worldly ambition, and dreading the honors ofthe world, he gave up all things to become the father of monastic life in the East. His older sister,Saint Macrina, encouraged him when he abandoned the greater part of his inheritance.

He retired into Pontus, where his sister was Superior of a convent, into which his mother also had entered; there he founded a monastery on the opposite side of the river from the convent, andgoverned it for four years, from 358 to 362. He founded several other religious houses in thesame region, both for men and for women. It was for them that he composed his ascetic works,including his famous Rule, still followed by the monks of the Orient.

He then resigned, leaving his office to his brother, Saint Peter of Sebastus, to retire in prayer. Saint Gregory came to join his friend for a time, in response to his invitation. Ever afterwards,Basil would recall with regret the peace and happiness they had enjoyed, singing Psalms, studyingScripture, keeping vigil in prayer, and disciplining their flesh by manual work. It was only in 363that this holy hermit was ordained a priest by Eusebius of Caesarea in Cappadocia.

The Arian heretics, supported by the court, were then persecuting the Church, and Basil wassummoned from his retirement by his bishop to give aid against them. His energy and zeal soonmitigated the disorders of the Church, and his solid and eloquent words silenced the heretics. Onthe death of Eusebius, he was chosen Bishop of Caesarea. His commanding character, hisfirmness and energy, his learning and eloquence, seconded by his humility and the great austerityof his life, made him a model for bishops. He founded in Caesarea a vast hospital, which SaintGregory called “a new city” and which remained in existence for long decades. He went thereoften to console the suffering, and help them to make good use of their pains.

When Saint Basil was summoned by the emperor Valentius to admit the Arians to Communion,the prefect in charge, finding that soft words had no effect, said to him, “Are you mad, that youresist the will before which the whole world bows? Do you not dread the wrath of the emperor,nor exile, nor death?” “No,” said Basil calmly; “he who has nothing to lose need not dread loss of goods; you cannot exile me, for the whole earth is my home; as for death, it would be the greatestkindness you could bestow upon me; torments cannot harm me; one blow would end both my fraillife and my sufferings.” The prefect answered, “Never has anyone dared to address me thus.” “Perhaps,” suggested Basil, “you never before measured your strength with a Christian bishop.” The emperor desisted from his commands.

Saint Basil’s entire life was one of suffering, both physical and moral; he lived amidst jealousies, misunderstandings and seeming disappointments. But he sowed the seed which bore good fruit in the future generations. He was God’s instrument to resist the Arian and other heretics in the East,and to restore the spirit of discipline and fervor in the Church. He died peacefully in 379 at theage of fifty-one, and is venerated as a Doctor of the Church.

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