December 22 -- today's saints

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Jmj

Today, December 22, we members of the Catholic Church family honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- saints whose souls are now in heaven:

Bl. Adam of Saxony (German, Cistercian priest, c. 1210)
St. Amaswinthus of Málaga (Spanish, abbot, d. 982)
Sts. Chaeremon, Ischyion, and companions (Egyptian ... bishop, official, and others ... martyred c. 250)
Sts. Demetrius, Honoratus, and Florus (Italian, early martyrs)
St. Flavian of Acquapendente (Roman, prefect later enslaved, martyred in 362)
St. Hunger of Utrecht (Dutch, bishop, d. 866 in Germany)
Bl. Jacopone Benedetti da Todi (Italian, nobleman, lawyer, widower, Franciscan brother, writer of hymns, d. 1306)
Bl. Jutta of Diessenberg (German, Benedictine abbess, d. 1136)
Bl. Marianus Scotus [baptized Muirdach MacRobartaigh] (Irish, Benedictine abbot, d. 1096 in Germany)
St. Zeno of Nicomedia (from Asia Minor [Turkish], soldier, martyred by beheading in 303)

If you have anything to share about these holy people, please reply now -- biographical episodes, prayers through their intercession, the fact that one is your patron saint -- whatever moves you. If you are interested in one of these saints and want to find out more about him/her, please ask. Information is sometimes available on the Internet.

All you holy men and women, saints of God, pray for us.
God bless you.
John


-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 22, 2001

Answers

[Here is Bl. Jacopone da Todi's most famous hymn (in English translation):]

Stabat Mater

At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
All His bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword had pass'd.

Oh, how sad and sore distress'd
Was that Mother highly blest
Of the sole-begotten One!

Christ above in torment hangs;
She beneath beholds the pangs
Of her dying glorious Son.

Is there one who would not weep,
Whelm'd in miseries so deep
Christ's dear Mother to behold?

Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain,
In that Mother's pain untold?

Bruis'd, derided, curs'd, defil'd,
She beheld her tender child
All with bloody scourges rent.

For the sins of His own nation,
Saw Him hang in desolation,
Till His spirit forth He sent.

O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above;
Make my heart with thine accord.

Make me feel as thou hast felt;
Make my soul to glow and melt
With the love of Christ our Lord.

Holy Mother! pierce me through;
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.

Let me share with thee His pain,
Who for all my sins was slain,
Who for me in torments died.

Let me mingle tears with thee,
Mourning Him who mourn'd for me,
All the days that I may live.

By the cross with thee to stay,
There with thee to weep and pray,
Is all I ask of thee to give.

Virgin of all virgins best,
Listen to my fond request
Let me share thy grief divine.

Let me, to my latest breath,
In my body bear the death
Of that dying Son of thine.

Wounded with His every wound,
Steep my soul till it hath swoon'd
In His very blood away.

Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
Lest in flames I burn and die,
In His awful Judgment day.

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
Be Thy Mother my defense,
Be Thy cross my victory.

While my body here decays,
May my soul Thy goodness praise,
Safe in Paradise with Thee.



-- (_@_._), December 22, 2001.


Besides knowing that he composed the STABAT MATER, that he invented the musical tetragram it seem that he was never beatified:

The date, 25 March, 1296, is however obviously erroneous. Jacopone is often called blessed, and has been considered a "blessed" or a "saint", in the technical sense of the words, by different authors. As a matter of fact, Jacopone has not been beatified or canonized by the Church, although various efforts have been made in this direction -- for example, by the municipal council of Todi in 1628, and by the chapter of the cathedral of Todi in 1676. Lastly, in the years 1868 and 1869 the postulator of the causes of saints of the Friars Minor collected call the documents proving the cultus ab immemorabili paid to Jacopone, in order to obtain its official confirmation [see "Tudertina Confirmationis Cultus ab immemorabili tempore praestiti Jacobo a Tuderto Ord. Min. S. Francisci, Beato Jacopone vulgo nuncupato (Rome, 1869), in archives of the postulator general O.F.M.]. The chief obstacle to the confirmation of the cultus lies in the part Jacopone took against Boniface VIII and the satires he wrote against this much calumniated pope.

TAKEN FROM THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), December 23, 2001.


Thanks, Enrique.
I don't know if the Jacopone's status has changed since that Encyclopedia article was written (around 1913).
The sources that I use occasionally list men and women who have not been formally recognized by the Church. I try to avoid listing them, but sometimes I make mistakes.
It appears that Blessed (?) Jacopone is commemorated in some places on Christmas Day itself. The source from which I copied the above translation of "Stabat Mater" had this to say about Jacopone's troubles:
"Jacopone was excommunicated and imprisoned [during the reign of Boniface VIII] at age 68. Jacopone acknowledged his error, but was not released until Benedict XI became pope five years later. He accepted his imprisonment as penance. He spent his last three years giving himself to completely to spirituality, weeping 'because Love is not loved,' and writing, including the famous Latin hymn, 'Stabat Mater.'"

God bless you.
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), December 24, 2001.


Jmj

On December 22, we members of the Catholic Church family honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- saints and blesseds whose souls are now in heaven:

St. Abban of New Ross (Irish, founder of abbey, missionary)
Bl. Adam of Saxony (German, Cistercian priest, c. 1210)
St. Amaswinthus of Málaga (Spanish, abbot, d. 982)
St. Chaeremon and companions, of Nilopolis, and St. Ischyrion of Alexandria (Egyptian ... bishop and flock, and procurator ... martyred c. 250)
Sts. Demetrius, Honoratus, and Florus, of Ostia (Italian, early martyrs)
St. Flavian of Acquapendente (Italian, prefect later enslaved, martyred in 362)
St. Hunger of Utrecht (Dutch, bishop, d. 866 in Germany)
Bl. Jacopone Benedetti da Todi (Italian, nobleman, lawyer, widower, Franciscan brother, writer of hymns [e.g., "Stabat Mater"], d. 1306)
Bl. Jutta of Spanheim (German, teacher of children [including St. Hildegard of Bingen], hermitess, Benedictine abbess, d. 1136)
Bl. Marianus MacRobartaigh of Donegal [baptized Muirdach] (Irish, Benedictine abbot, d. 1096 in Germany)
St. Zeno of Nicomedia (from Asia Minor [Turkish], soldier, martyred by beheading in 303)

If you have anything to share about these holy people, please reply now -- biographical episodes, prayers through their intercession, the fact that one is your patron -- whatever moves you. If you are interested in one of these saints or blesseds and want to find out more about him/her, please ask. Information is sometimes available on the Internet.

All you holy men and women, saints of God, pray for us.
God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@Hotmail.com), December 22, 2003.


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