Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 15, 14 April 1904, Page 31

Friends at Court

QLEANINQS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR

April 17, Sunday.— Second Sunday after Easter. St. Anicetus, Pope and Martyr. „ 18, Monday.— St. John Damascene, Confessor and Doctor. „ 19, Tuesday.— St. Leo IX., Pope and Confessor. „ 20, Wednesday.— St. Isidore, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor. „ 21, Thursday.— St. Anselm, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor. „ 22, Friday.— SS. Soter and Cai^,s, Pdpes and Martyrs. „ 23, Saturday.— St. George, Martyr.

St. Anicetus, Pope and Martyr. St. Anicetus was Pope from 157 to 168. He was a Syrian by birth, and suffered martyrdom under Marcus Aurelius. He was visited at Rome by St. Polycarp of Smyrna. These two saints had some dispute in regard to the date of the feast of Easter, a discussion which did not alter their friendship. St. John Damascene, Confessor and Doctor. St. John Damascene, the last of the Fathers of the Church, was born towards the end of the seventh century at Damascus, from which city he received the surname ' Damascene.' By the SaracCns he was called ' Mansur,' and on account of his eloquence was siurnamed ' Chryssorrh»as ' (Gold-streaming). He received his education from * pious and learned monk named Cosmas, who was taken prisoner an,d brought to Damascus. Like his father, he held a high office under the Caliphs. His zeal in defending the sacred images against the Iconoclasts, exposed him to the resentment and persecution of the Emperor. He resigned his office, distributed his wealth among the poor, and retired into the laura of St. Sabas, where, after some time, he was ordained priest. He died about the year 754. John Damascene has left many works which, on account of their solid learning and great literary merit, have been held in high esteem in both the Latin and the Greek Churches. St. Leo IX., Pope and Confessor. St. Lelo IX. was Pope from 1048 to 1054. With his accession to the Papal throne began the dawn of better and brighter days for the Papacy. He resumed and carried on, with untiring zeal, the great work of reformation begun by Clement 11. His pontificate was one continued journey, undertaken for the purpose of everywheie enforcing ecclesiastical reform. He held numerous Councils and presided over them in person. Several laws were enacted for the extirpation of the then prevailing vices of simony and clerical incontinence. He was defeat e<d aiM captured by the Normans at Astagmim, near Ciwtella, June 18, 1053. The conquerors, beholding in their captive the Vicar of Christ, knelt before him, asked his blessing, and then set him at liberty. St. Isidore, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor. St. Isidore, who was born at Carthagena, in the South of Spain, about tdie middle of the sixth century, belonged to a most holy family, his two brothers, Lean)der and Fulgen'tius, and his sister, Florentina, being all niumbere'd among the saints. From his youth he was distinguished for virtue and learning, and having embraced the ecclesiastical state, devoted himself with his brother Leander to the conversion of the Visigoth's. This great work he had the happiness of seeing accomplished before the close of his apostolic career. Upon the death of his brother St. Lean'der, Isidore succeeded him in the See of Seville, which "he governed for 36 years, v St. Anselm, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor. St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, was born at Aosta (Italy), in 1033. Whilst Abbot of Bee in Normandy he was appointed to the See of Canterbury. In consequence of the English King not fulfilling certain promises and also to his refusal to recognise Urban 11. as Pontiff there was a rupture between him and St. Anselm, Avhich lasted for a considerable time. A reconcihatiojn took place eventually, but fresh aggressions compelled Anselm to have recouxse to the Holy See. Whilst on a visit to Rome he took part in the Councils of Lateram and Bari He remained a voluntary exile from England until 1100, when, >upon the accession of Henry 1., he rettorned to his See, but finding the new monarch obdurate with regard to the right of investiture, Anselm went into exile a second time. At last, through the good offices of the King's sister, a compromise was effected, and Anselm returned once more to England, where he resided until his death in 1109.