St. Hugh of Grenoble

Today's Catholic saint is St. Hugh of Grenoble.  Unfortunately, I was unable to find much information on him today.  My two main sources, americancatholic.org, and newadvent.org, had little information available.  In fact, I was unable to find anything on Hugh of Grenoble at newadvent.org.  (There were several other Hugh's, though.)

St. Hugh was a reluctant reformer.  Here is his biography from americancatholic.org:

Today’s saint could be a patron for those of us who feel so overwhelmed by all the problems in the world that we don’t know where to begin.Hugh, who served as a bishop in France for 52 years, had his work cut out for him from the start. Corruption seemed to loom in every direction: the buying and selling of Church offices, violations of clerical celibacy, lay control of Church property, religious indifference and/or ignorance. After serving as bishop for two years, he’d had his fill. He tried disappearing to a monastery, but the pope called him back to continue the work of reform.
Ironically, Hugh was reasonably effective in the role of reformer—surely because of his devotion to the Church but also because of his strong character. In conflicts between Church and state he was an unflinching defender of the Church. He fearlessly supported the papacy. He was eloquent as a preacher. He restored his own cathedral, made civic improvements in the town and weathered a brief exile.
Hugh may be best known as patron and benefactor of St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusian Order.
Hugh died in 1132. He was canonized only two years later.

A Return

After a long hiatus, I am considering a return to this blog.  I still enjoy the underpinning idea of this blog, but I believe that I bit off more than I can chew by trying to do both the Catholic and Greek Orthodox saints each day.  I believe it is possible to do both, but probably not as beneficial as focusing on just one tradition at a time.

Therefore, should I return to regular posting, I will likely only continue to follow the Catholic calendar of saints for the remainder of this year, then switch to Greek Orthodox saints in 2011.  As I stated in my very first post, I am not a member of either of these faith traditions.  I do however find them very interesting and seek to understand them more.  I find exploring these themes very edifying, and I hope you do too.

St. Agatha (Catholic & G.O.)

Today's saint is the same in both traditions.  Below is the text from the American Catholic website regarding St. Agatha:

As in the case of Agnes, another virgin-martyr of the early Church, almost nothing is historically certain about this saint except that she was martyred in Sicily during the persecution of Emperor Decius in 251.Legend has it that Agatha, like Agnes, was arrested as a Christian, tortured and sent to a house of prostitution to be mistreated. She was preserved from being violated, and was later put to death.
She is claimed as the patroness of both Palermo and Catania. The year after her death, the stilling of an eruption of Mt. Etna was attributed to her intercession. As a result, apparently, people continued to ask her prayers for protection against fire.

There are also rather interesting pages on Wikipedia and Catholic Encyclopedia pages about St. Agatha worth checking out.

Sorry for the drop-off

I've had a rough past couple of weeks as far as my schedule goes, and couple that with problems on my laptop and you get two weeks where I don't post anything.  So sorry.  I hope to be back up and running starting tomorrow.

See you then.

1/20: Righteous Euthymios the Great (G.O.)

I was unable to find any other sources for the biography of the Greek Orthodox Saint Euthymios apart from the Greek Orthodox calendar I use as my main reference.  Here is the full quotation of his biography, which is rather long, which comes from here:

"This Saint, who was from Melitene in Armenia, was the son of pious parents named Paul and Dionysia. He was born about 377. Since his mother had been barren, he was named Euthymius-which means "good cheer" or "joy"-for this is what his parents experienced at his birth. He studied under Eutroius, the Bishop of Melitene, by whom he was ordained and entrusted with the care of the monasteries of Melitene. Then, after he had come to Palestine about the year 406, he became the leader of a multitude of monks. Through him, a great tribe of Arabs was turned to piety, when he healed the ailing son of their leader Aspebetos. Aspebetos was baptized with all his people; he took the Christian name of Peter, and was later consecrated Bishop for his tribe, being called "Bishop of the Tents." Saint Euthymius also fought against the Nestorians, Eutychians, and Manichaeans. When Eudocia, the widow of Saint Theodosius the Younger, had made her dwelling in Palestine, and had fallen into the heresy of the Monophysites which was championed in Palestine by a certain Theodosius, she sent envoys to Saint Symeon the Stylite in Syria (see Sept. 1), asking him his opinion of Eutyches and the Council of Chalcedon which had condemned him; Saint Symeon, praising the holiness and Orthodoxy of Saint Euthymius near whom she dwelt, sent her to him to be delivered from her error (the holy Empress Eudocia is commemorated Aug. 13). He became the divine oracle of the Church, or rather, "the vessel of divine utterance," as a certain historian writes. He was the instructor and elder of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified. Having lived for ninety-six years, he reposed in 473, on January 20."

Euthymios' Catholic counterpart, St. Sebastian, is a patron saint of archers, physicians, soliders, and several police associations.  He is known for his martyrdom under Diocletian, and is widely represented in artistic iconography.  Not much is solidly known about St. Sebastian, but his story of martyrdom was very popular and influential even immediately following the time of his death.  Sebastian reportedly enrolled in the Roman army in an effort to relieve the persecution of believers in secret.  However, he was found out, and this is what led to him being tied up and shot with arrows.

(Recognize him?)  It is believed he survived this attempt on his life, and reportedly after recovering made it into the presence of the emperor, whom he chided for his persecution of Christianity.  The emperor was annoyed that Sebastian had survived his first attempted execution, and had Sebastian stoned.

1/19: St. Fabian (Catholic)

The information about today's saints is pretty sparse.

St. Fabian was one of the early popes of Rome.  He was a Roman layman that came into Rome as people and clergy were trying to decide on a new pope.  A dove landed on Fabian, and the church historian Eusebius and others noticed this, and he was elected unanimously to the papal station.  According to his Wikipedia page, he sent out several bishops into Gaul to spread the gospel, and was martyred under the persecution of the Roman emperor Decius on January 20, 250 A.D.  His feast day is celebrated tomorrow.

I was unable to find any biographical information on the Greek Orthodox saint that is remembered today, Makarios the Great of Egypt.  Here is the liturgy assigned for his remembrance:

1/18: Athanasios & Cyril, Patriarchs of Alexandria (G.O.)

There are two people remembered today in the Greek Orthodox tradition, listed below:

Athanasios (or Athanasius), c. 293-373.

Cyril of Alexandria, c. 376-444.

Athanasisus of Alexandria is one of the most influential early church fathers. He was the Bishop of Alexandria, and played a major role in disputing the teachings of Arius, after whom Arianism is named.  He was present at the First Council of Nicaea, where the first version of the Nicene Creed was agreed upon.  These councils played a major part in the development of the theology of the Trinity.  Athanasius is also credited with being the first person to identify the 27 books that are included in the New Testament.

Cyril of Alexandria was the Pope of Alexandria and was involved in his own theological controversy.  Throughout the history of the early church, there were competing philosophies developed in Antioch and Alexandria, and Cyril came into conflict with Nestorius, who although he was Archbishop of Constantinople, was from Antioch.  Their conflict spanned both Christology and Mariology, and I will include this lengthy quote from Wikipedia, which summarizes it better than I could.

Conflict with Nestorius

Another major conflict was between the Alexandrian and Antiochian schools of ecclesiastical reflection, piety, and discourse. This long running conflict widened with the third canon of theFirst Council of Constantinople which granted the see of Constantinople primacy over the older sees of Alexandria and Antioch. Thus, the struggle between the sees of Alexandria and Antioch now included Constantinople. The conflict came to a head in 428 after Nestorius, who originated in Antioch, was made Archbishop of Constantinople.^[9]

Cyril gained an opportunity to restore Alexandria's pre-eminance over both Antioch and Constantinople when an Antiochine priest who was in Constantinople at Nestorius' behest began to preach against calling Mary the "Mother of God". As the term "Mother of God" had long been attached to Mary, the laity in Constantinople complained against the priest. Rather than repudiating the priest, Nestorius intervened on his behalf. Nestorius argued that Mary was neither a "Mother of Man" nor "Mother of God" as these refered to Christ's two natures. Rather, Mary was the "Mother of Christ" which refered the the unified person of Christ. This however only stoked the fires. Eusebius of Dorylaeum went so far as to accuse Nestorius ofadoptionism. By this time, news of the controversy in the capital had reached Alexandria. At Easter 429 A.D., Cyril wrote a letter to the Egyptian monks warning them of Nestorius' views. A copy of this letter reached Constantinople where Nestorius preached a sermon against it. This began a series of letters between Cyril and Nestorius which gradually became more strident in tone. In retrospect it is obvious that both Patriarchs were as much interested in ecclesiastical politics as in the theology of the matter.^[10] Finally, Emperor Theodosius II convoked acouncil in Ephesus to solve the dispute. Ephesus was friendly to Cyril^{[citation needed]}, Cyril and his supporters started and concluded the Council of Ephesus (in 431) before Nestorius and his supporters had even got there; predictably, the Council ordered the deposition and exile of Nestorius.

However, when John of Antioch and the other pro-Nestorius bishops finally reached Ephesus, they assembled their own Council, condemned Cyril for heresy, deposed him from his see, and labelled him as a monster, born and educated for the destruction of the church^[11]. Theodosius, by now old enough to hold power by himself, annulled the verdict of the Council and arrested Cyril, but Cyril eventually escaped. Having fled to Egypt, Cyril bribed Theodosius' courtiers, and sent a mob lead by Dalmatius, a hermit, to besiege Theodosius' palace, and shout abuse; the Emperor eventually gave in, sending Nestorius into minor exile (Upper Egypt)^[11]. The events created a major schism, forming the Assyrian Church of the East.

Cyril died about 444, but the controversies were to continue for decades, from the "Robber Synod" of Ephesus (449) to the Council of Chalcedon (451) and beyond.

(Editorial note: if there is anyone reading this who knows of a better or more authoritative online source for this information than Wikipedia, please let me know!  I'd be happy to consult it instead if it exists.)

Alexandria, in retrospect, was the home of some very controversial figures and events!

In the Catholic church, today's saint is St. Charles of Sezze, who lived from 1613-1670.  St. Charles was a lay Franciscan, and lived a quiet and faithful life of service.  He did not hold any high stations, and yet was known well enough in his time to be sought out by the then-dying Pope Clement IX for a blessing.  Perhaps more than any other saint that I have written about here, his lifestyle is the most attainable and the most desired.  To live a life of simple service is an honor.