Today, 12 April, is the feast of ...
Julius I, pope (352)
Zeno, bishop of Verona (371): Seemed to be very concerned with "liturgical
correctness": Inveighed against the abuses(?) of the *agape* and also
against the practice of interrupting funeral masses by loud lamentations.
Zeno also makes allusions to the practice of giving medals to the newly
baptised.
Sabas the Goth, martyr (372): A martyr only after much effort: FIRST TRY:
When, at the outset of the persecution, magistrates ordered the Christians
to eat meat sacrificed to idols, certain pagans, who had Christian
relatives whom they wished to save, persuaded the officials to give
Christians meat which had not been offered to idols. Sabas loudly
denounced this ambiguous proceeding: not only did he himself refuse to
eat, but he declared that those who consented to do so had betrayed the
faith. This time he was not martyred by the magistrates but some
Christians were so displeased with his behaviour that he was kicked out of
town. But he soon returned ... SECOND TRY: Another persecution broke out,
and some of the principal inhabitants offered to swear that there were no
Christians in town. As they were about to make the oath, Sabas presented
himself and said: "I am a Christian!" Upon finding that Sabas was poor the
officials of the persecution said: "Such a fellow can do us neither harm
nor good." And they let him go. THIRD TRY: During another persecution a
few years later, Sabas was tied to a rack and tortured. During the
tortures' lunchbreak, a woman took pity on Sabas and untied him, but he
refused to escape. He then insulted the leader of the soldiers who then
ordered Sabas to be drowned. When some soldiers were leading Sabas to the
river, they took pity on him and said that he was free to go. FOURTH TRY:
Sabas, however, upbraided the soldiers for not carrying out their orders.
The executioners then plunged him in to the river. THE END.
Alferius and others, Abbots of La Cava (Eleventh - Thirteenth Centuries)
Andrew of Montereale, Preacher (1480): Joined the Hermits of St Augustine
at the age of fourteen. For fifty years he preached in Italy and in
France. It is recorded of him that he never went to see any public show or
spectacle, and that he never laughed. (I hope this is not a reflection of
the tenor of his sermons.)
Angelo of Chivasso, Franciscan (1495): Educated at the University of
Bologna in civil and canon law. Upon returning to his native Piedmont he
was made a senator. As long as his mother was alive he did not join a
religious order and immersed himself in his magisterial duties. But when
his mother died he divided his possessions between his elder brother and
the poor, and retired to a Franciscan friary at Genoa. Catherine of Genoa
consulted him and Charles I, Duke of Savoy chose him to be his confessor.
(I'm sure his mother would have been proud.)
Carolyn Muessig
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