Jmj

Today, January 6, we members of the Catholic Church family celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord Jesus. (The feast is transferred to the Sunday between January 2 and 8 in some countries.)
We also honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- saints whose souls are now in heaven:

Bl. André Bessette [baptized Alfred] (Canadian, Holy Cross brother for 67 years, miracle worker through intercession of St. Joseph, d. 1937 [beatified 1982])
St. Anastasius (Pannonian [Hungarian], martyred c. 4th century)
St. Diman Dubh of Connor (Irish, abbot, bishop, d. 658)
St. Edeyrn (French, hermit, 6th century)
St. Eigrad (English, 6th century)
St. Erminold of Prüfening (German, Benedictine abbot, d. 1121)
Bl. Frederick of Saint-Vanne (French, Benedictine prior, d. 1020)
Bl. Gertrude van Oosten (Dutch, serving girl, beguine, mystic, stigmatist, d. 1358)
St. Guarinus of Sion [Guerin] (French, Cistercian abbot in Switzerland, bishop in France, d. 1150)
St. Hywyn of Aberdaron [also known as Owen] (Welsh, missionary, c. 516)
St. John of Ribera [Juan de Ribera] (Spanish, duke's son, archbishop for 42 years, d. 1611 [canonized 1959])
St. Macra of Rheims (French, virgin, tortured and martyred in 287)
Holy Martyrs of Africa (of uncertain number and anonymous, martyred by burning c. 210)
St. Merinus (Irish, hermit in Wales, 6th century)
St. Peter of Canterbury (Italian, Benedictine abbot in England, c. 608)
St. Raphaela of the Sacred Heart of Jesus [baptized Rafaela Maria Porras y Ayllon] (Spanish, co-foundress and mother general of Handmaids of the Sacred Heart, died in Italy in 1925 [canonized 1977])
St. Schottin (Irish, hermit, 6th century)
St. Wiltrudis of Bergen (Bavarian, duchess, widow, Benedictine abbess, c. 986)
Some people celebrate this day (or other days in January) as a commemoration of the Magi, traditionally known as Sts. Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar.

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), January 06, 2002

Answers

-- (_@_._), January 06, 2002.

John, do you happen to know where and by whom were the names of the Magi made known since the Gospels or any of the books in the NT don't give them?

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), January 07, 2002.

Jmj

That's an interesting question, Enrique.
In fact, not only do the gospels not give the names of the Magi, they do not even relate that there were precisely three of them. There could have been two, or there could have been more than three ... but people have always spoken of three, either because Our Lady passed this down by word of mouth, or simply because there are three gifts named in the gospel.

One of my favorite sources of miscellaneous information, Fr. William Saunders, published a diocesan newspaper article on the subject of the Magi. Here is what he says in reply to your specific question:

"Since the seventh century in the Western Church, the Magi have been identified as Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. A work called the 'Excerpta et Collectanea,' attributed to St. Bede (d. 735) [states], 'The Magi were the ones who gave gifts to the Lord. The first is said to have been Melchior, an old man with white hair and a long beard... who offered gold to the Lord as to a king. The second, Gaspar by name, young and beardless and ruddy complexioned ... honored Him as God by his gift of incense, an oblation worthy of divinity. The third, black-skinned and heavily bearded, named Balthasar. .. by his gift of myrrh testified to the Son of Man who was to die.' An excerpt from a Medieval saints calendar printed in Cologne read, 'Having undergone many trials and fatigues for the Gospel, the three wise men met at Sewa (Sebaste in Armenia) in AD 54 to celebrate the feast of Christmas. Thereupon, after the celebration of Mass, they died: St. Melchior on January 1, aged 116; St. Balthasar on January 6th, aged 112; and St. Gaspar on January 11th, aged 109.' The Roman Martyrology also lists these dates as the Magi's respective feast days." [The full article is here.]

Enrique, we don't know how much of this is fact and how much is legend (including the names). Here is what the old Catholic Encyclopedia has to say:
"The names of the Magi are as uncertain as is their number. Among the Latins, from the seventh century, we find slight variants of the names, Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar ... The Syrians have Larvandad, Hormisdas, Gushnasaph, etc.; the Armenians, Kagba, Badadilma, etc."

Holy Magi, pray for us.
God bless you.
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), January 07, 2002.

Thank you, John. Very fine information!

Enrique

-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), January 08, 2002.

You're welcome, Enrique. It was a pleasure.
JFG

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), January 08, 2002.

A very strange and wonderful thing happened to me on 1-6-02 and I had the intercession of St. Dimas although I was unaware of the significance. I would love to have any biographical information that you may have on him. I am having difficulty locating anything of substance and would be happy if you could provide a resource, link or actual information.

Peace, Tiffany Broyles

-- Tiffany Broyles (tbroyles@cfi.org), November 17, 2003.

Tiffany, there is not much information available about St. Dimas -- also known as St. Diman Dubh (Diman the Black) of Connor

I did learn that he "was the son of Aengus of the Dalcassian royal family," and you can read a few more things about him here.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), November 17, 2003.

Jmj

On January 6, we members of the Catholic Church family celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord Jesus. (The feast is transferred to the Sunday between January 2 and 8 in some countries, including the United States.)
We also honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- saints whose souls are now in heaven:

Bl. André Bessette of Saint-Gregoire [baptized Alfred] (Canadian [Quebeçois], Holy Cross brother for 67 years, miracle worker through intercession of St. Joseph, d. 1937 [beatified 1982]) [On U.S. “particular calendar”]

Holy Martyrs of Africa (of uncertain number and anonymous, martyred by burning c. 210)
St. Anastasius (Pannonian [Hungarian], martyred c. 4th century)
St. Diman Dubh of Connor (Irish, abbot, bishop, d. 658)
St. Edeyrn of Armorica (French, hermit, 6th century)
St. Eigrad of Glamorgan (Welsh, 6th century)
St. Erminold of Prüfening (German, Benedictine abbot, d. 1121)
Bl. Frederick of Saint-Vanne [Frédéric] (French, Benedictine prior, d. 1020)
Bl. Gertrude van Oosten of Delft [Geertje] (Dutch, serving girl, beguine, mystic, stigmatist, d. 1358)
St. Guarinus of Sion [Guerin] (French, Cistercian abbot in Switzerland, bishop in France, d. 1150)
St. John of Ribera [Juan] (Spanish, duke's son, archbishop for 42 years, d. 1611 [canonized 1959])
St. Macra of Rheims (French, virgin, tortured and martyred in 287)
St. Merinus (Irish, hermit in Wales, 6th century)
St. Owen of Aberdaron [Hywyn] (Welsh, missionary, c. 516)
Bl. Peter Bonilli of San Lorenzo di Trevi [Pietro] (Italian, parish priest, founded Religious of the Holy Family of Spoleto, d. 1935 [beatified 1988])
St. Peter of Canterbury (Italian, Benedictine abbot in England, c. 608)
St. Raphaela of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Porras y Ayllón of Pedro Abad [Rafaela del Sagrado Corazón de Jesus] [baptized Rafaela Maria] (Spanish, co-foundress and mother general of Handmaids of the Sacred Heart, died in Italy in 1925 [canonized 1977])
St. Schottin of Mt. Mairge (Irish, hermit, 6th century)
St. Wiltrudis of Bergen (Bavarian, duchess, widow, Benedictine abbess, c. 986)
[Many Christians celebrate this day (or other days in January) as a commemoration of the Magi, traditionally known as Sts. Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar.]

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), January 06, 2004.