March 17 -- today's saintsgreenspun.com : LUSENET : Catholic : One Thread |
JmjToday, March 17, we members of the Catholic Church family honor, in a special way, the following friends of God -- saints whose souls are now in heaven:
St. Patrick [born Maewyn Succat] [baptized Patricius] ["Apostle of Ireland"] (probably Scottish, slave shepherd in Ireland, escaped to Scotland, missionary bishop in Ireland for 33 years, c. 461)
St. Agricola of Châlon (French, bishop for 50 years, d. 580)
Sts. Alexander and Theodore (early martyrs)
St. Ambrose of Alexandria (Egyptian, nobleman, patron of Origen, c. 250)
St. Gertrude of Nivelles (Grench, Benedictine abbess, mystic, d. 659)
St. John Sarkander [Jan] (Silesian [Czech], widower, Jesuit parish priest, refused to reveal secrets of the confessional, tortured [racked, branded] and martryed [covered with tar and burned] in 1620 [canonized 1995])
St. Joseph of Arimathea (Israelite, member of Jewish Sanhedrin, sympathetic to Jesus, allowed his tomb to be used for Christ's burial, 1st century)
Holy Martyrs of Seramis (d. 390)
St. Paul of Cyprus (Cypriot, monk, tortured and martyred [hanged upside down over slow fire] by iconoclasts in 777)
Bl. Peter Lieou (Chinese, layman, martyred by strangling in 1834)
Bl. Stephen of Palestrina (French, Cistercian monk, cardinal archbishop in Italy, d. 1144)
St. Thomasello (Italian, Dominican friar, d. 1270)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), March 17, 2002
[Here is one of the versions of the prayer known as St. Patrick's "Breastplate" or "Faeth Fiadha" (Deer's Cry). The Gaelic name is based on the legend that St. Patrick and his eight companions were miraculously turned into deer to be able to pass unnoticed by the king's guards who had been sent to intercept them:]"I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with his Baptism,
The virtue of His Crucifixion with his burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgment Day.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of the seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of the sea,
The stability of the earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God's power to guide me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to teach me,
God's eye to watch over me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to give me speech,
God's hand to guide me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to shelter me,
God's host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or many.
I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile, merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man and woman.
Christ, protect me today
Against poison,
Against burning,
Against drowning,
Against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
Christ be with me,
Christ be before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ be with me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ at my right,
Christ at my left,
Christ be in the fort,
Christ be in the chariot,
Christ be in the ship,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity.
I believe the Trinity in the Unity,
The Creator of the Universe. Amen."
-- (_@_._), March 17, 2002.
John, Thanks for the special attention, and for the work you do with our holy Catholic saints. God bless you. David S
-- David S (asdzxc8176@aol.com), March 17, 2002.
JmjOn March 17, 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. Patrick [name as pagan: Maewyn Succat] [baptized Patricius] ["Apostle of Ireland"] (probably Scottish, slave shepherd in Ireland, escaped to Scotland, missionary bishop in Ireland for 33 years, c. 461)
St. Agricola of Châlon (French, bishop for 50 years, d. 580)
Sts. Alexander and Theodore (early martyrs)
St. Ambrose of Alexandria (Egyptian, nobleman, patron of Origen, c. 250)
St. Gertrude of Nivelles (Grench, Benedictine abbess, mystic, d. 659)
Bl. Guy Mary Conforti of Casalora [Guido Maria] (Italian, archbishop, founded Pious Society of St. Francis Xavier for Foreign Missions, d. 1931 [beatified 1996])
St. John Sarkander of Skotschau [Jan] (Silesian [Czech], widower, Jesuit parish priest, refused to reveal secrets of the confessional, tortured [racked, branded] and martryed [covered with tar and burned] in 1620 [canonized 1995])
St. Joseph of Arimathea (Israelite, member of Jewish Sanhedrin, sympathetic to Jesus, allowed his tomb to be used for Christ's burial, 1st century)
Bl. Marcel Callo of Rennes (French, single layman, martyred [malnutrition/dysentery] in Mauthausen camp in Germany at age 24 in 1945 [beatified 1987])
St. Paul of Cyprus (Cypriot, monk, tortured and martyred [hanged upside down over slow fire] by iconoclasts in 777)
St. Peter Liu Wen-yuan (Chinese, layman, martyred at age 74 by strangling in 1834 [canonized 2000])
Holy Martyrs of Seramis (d. 390)
Bl. Stephen of Palestrina [Etienne / Stefano] (French, Cistercian monk, cardinal archbishop in Italy, d. 1144)
St. Thomasello of Etruria (Italian, Dominican friar, d. 1270)If you have anything to share about these 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/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
[Please scroll up to see the prayer known as St. Patrick's "Breastplate."]
-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), March 17, 2003.
Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, pray for us!
-- Ed (catholic4444@yahoo.ca), March 17, 2004.
Just a curious note: On this St. Patrick's Day it could be nice to remember the heroic Batallion that bore St. Patrick's name (HEROICO BATALLON SAN PATRICIO) and had such sad end in Mexico:"The story goes that it was made up of Irish immigrants who had come to the US to escape British oppression and didn't really know why the US was at war with Mexico. When they figured out that the US was doing the same thing in Mexico as England was doing in Ireland, they deserted or actually switched sides. They were turned over to US forces as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1847) and executed en masse."
In Mexico City there is a monument with the names of all these brave Irish soldiers and it is visited by Mexican authorities and people as well in gratitude for their heroic deeds.
Enrique
-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), March 17, 2004.
For those interested on more facts about HEROICO BATALLON SAN PATRICIO please read the following:SAN PATRICIOS - THE IRISHMEN WHO DIED FOR MEXICO by John Vincent An Irish Batallion unique in military history. Anyone who is Irish or of Irish descent and who has lived or travelled in Mexico will no doubt be familiar with one of the best kept secrets in the colourful world of Irish emigrants. The famous Saint Patrick’s Battalion of the Mexican Army during the US-Mexican War has placed the Irish as a revered race in Mexico; even to this day, an Irish person in Mexico will be told a countless number of times about the famous ‘Irish Martyrs’ who defected from the US Army and gave their lives trying to save Mexico from US aggression from 1846-1848. The legend of the Saint Patrick’s Battalion, or ‘los San Patricios’ as they are referred to in Spanish, has been widely written about in Mexico over the last 150 years. Articles in historical magazines and journals have appeared in the US, as well as a romanticized play about this famous battalion, but not until the recent publication of Shamrock and Sword: The Saint Patrick’s Battalion in the US-Mexican War, by Robert Ryal Miller, a professor of Mexican history at California State University at Hayward, has a major study of the San Patricios been done in the English language. Since the Saint Patrick’s Battalion was made up of deserters from the US Army, it only seems natural that they have been erased from American history. Professor Miller spent more than two years researching this story in Mexico, the US and Ireland. First and foremost, his book tells the compelling story of this forgotten band of Irish renegades; however, Miller also provides readers with a thorough history of the US-Mexican War, which traditionally has been considered less significant in American history than the Revolutionary War which preceded it and the Civil War which followed shortly afterward. On the other hand, in Mexico this war has been taught, in a doctrinaire manner, as the most devastating event in Mexican history. Excluding Texas, which had won independence from Mexico a few years earlier, Mexico lost one-half of its total land, which now accounts for the US states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Montana; this, more than half a million square miles that Mexico was forced to cede to the US, represents an area larger than France, Spain and Italy combined. Small wonder that this war continues to be a sore point for Mexican attitudes towards the US, especially in light of the fact that the subsequent discovery of rich gold and silver deposits in California and Nevada sparked an economic boom and the westward expansion of the US into a bi-coastal nation. John Riley The story of this famed group begins with the founder and chief conspirator, John Riley, a Galway native born in 1817. Riley deserted from the British army while stationed in Canada and went to Michigan, where he later enlisted in the US Army in 1845. He was able to defect to the Mexican Army when his commander granted him permission to cross into Mexico to attend mass. It was there, in Matamoros, Riley joined the Mexican Army as a lieutenant, which resulted in his pay rising from seven dollars per month to 57 dollars per month. While desertion from the US armed forces was punishable by death, Riley was not deterred in capitalizing on the dis-satisfaction of many Irish-born US soldiers with their adopted country. Aided by his second-in-command, Patrick Dalton, who was from the parish of Tirawley, near Ballina, County Mayo, Riley at first was successful in persuading 48 Irishmen to defect, and these men made up the original Saint Patrick’s Battalion. In addition to more Irishmen joining, they welcomed other foreign-born US deserters, as well as American-born deserters. Also, some Irish-born civilian residents of Mexico were persuaded to join the struggle. Even when the number of San Patricios rose to more than 200, Irish- born members still represented nearly 50 per cent. Miller describes in detail the ways that Riley and Dalton collaborated with Mexican generals to distribute handbills urging Irish and other foreign-born Catholic soldiers to defect. For instance, one such handbill read: Irishmen! Listen to the words of your brothers, hear the accents of Catholic people . . . Is religion no longer the strongest of human bonds? . . . Can you fight by the side of those who set fire to your temples in Boston and Philadelphia? Are Catholic Irishmen to be the destroyers of Catholic temples, the murderers of Catholic priests . . ? Come over to us; you will be received under the laws of that truly Christian hospitality and good faith which Irish guests are entitled to expect and obtain from a Catholic nation . . .May Mexicans and Irishmen, united by the sacred tie of religion and benevolence, form only one people. Motivation While it is widely perceived in Mexico that the San Patricios defected solely on the issue of religion, this myth is examined in a later chapter entitled ‘Why they Defected’. The fact that there was rampant anti-Catholic bigotry in the US at that time does not play as great a role in the formation of the unit as is believed in Mexico. Miller posits that the religious bond was not a main reason why many defected. The attractive offer of high pay in the Mexican Army and the promise of land grants to defectors after the war outweighed the fraternal bond over religion, according to Miller. A main reason for their hero status in Mexico is derived from their exemplary performance in the battlefield. The San Patricios ultimately suffered severe casualties at the famous battle at Churubusco, which is considered the Waterloo for the Mexican Army in this war. Mexican President Antonio Lopez Santa Anna, who also commanded the armed forces, stated afterwards that if he had commanded a few hundred more men like the San Patricios, Mexico would have won that ill-famed battle. Each San Patricio who deserted from the US side was interned after the war in Mexico and subsequently given an individual court-martial trial. Many of the Irish were set free, but some paid the ultimate price. Roughly half of the San Patricio defectors who were executed by the US for desertion were Irish. Those Irish who were released by American authorities did not return to the US; some stayed in Mexico while most returned to Ireland, including John Riley who, surprisingly, was spared execution. Unique In addition to the interesting story of how the Saint Patrick’s Battalion was formed and their significant role for Mexico in the war, Miller makes it clear from the beginning how truly unique the San Patricios are in history. He points out that although many famous generals in world history — such as Augustus Caesar, George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte — made use of foreign legions or alien mercenaries, these foreign brigades were not made up of deserters from the enemy army. Similarly, they cannot be compared to other Irish foreign brigades such as the Royal Irlandais, the Irish contingent that fought with the French at the battle of Malplaquet in 1709; nor to the Irish brigade formed in 1803 that fought with Napoleon Bonaparte; nor to the Irish regiments of Irlanda, Waterford and Ultonia that formed a part of the Spanish Army in the eighteenth century; nor to the famed Irish Legion of several thousand men that aided Simon Bolivar in the liberation of South America; unlike the San Patricios, these groups did not consist of deserters from the enemy either. Furthermore, Miller makes it clear that the Irish deserters of the Saint Patrick’s Battalion were in no way representative of the Irish- born soldiers who made up one-fourth of all enlisted men in the US Army during the US-Mexican War. There were seventeen totally Irish companies who saw action in this war; many were highly decorated units such as the Emmet Guards from Albany, New York; the Jasper Greens of Savannah, Georgia; the Mobile Volunteers of Alabama; the Pittsburgh Hibernian Greens. Heroes Robert Miller relates in his book, Shamrock and Sword: The Saint Patrick’s Battalion in the US-Mexican War, the importance of these Irish renegades has not waned in Mexico over the years. In 1959, the Mexican government dedicated a commemorative plaque to the San Patricios across from San Jacinto Plaza in the Mexico City suburb of San Angel; it lists the names of all members of the battalion who lost their lives fighting for Mexico, either in battle or by execution. There are ceremonies there twice a year, on September 12 which is the anniversary of the executions, and on Saint Patrick’s Day. A major celebration was held there in 1983, when the Mexican government authorized a special commemorative medallion honouring the San Patricios. First there was a special mass at a nearby parish, then school children placed floral wreaths at the plaque; the Mexico City Symphony played the national anthems of both Mexico and Ireland; Mexican officials eulogized the Irish Martyrs, and a few words were spoken by Irish Ambassador Tadgh O’Sullivan. While the brave soldiers of Saint Patrick’s Battalion are not particularly well-known outside Mexico, it is clear in Miller’s book that their god-like status in Mexico is enough to compensate for the attention they failed to receive in other countries. This book is fascinating in content, and for the fact that it has taken so long for a major work to be written about the San Patricios in the English language. Fr Eugene Mc Namara During the trials, another significant event occurred when the apprehension and execution of Fr Eugene McNamara was called for. Fr McNamara was named as a principal conspirator. A native of Ireland who began working as an apostolic missionary in Mexico more than two years before the start of the war, McNamara plotted with the Mexican foreign minister on schemes to encourage Irish-born soldiers to defect from the US army. One plan was to offer them land in California after the war if they defected. Apart from his role in the war, Fr McNamara regularly visited California and even before the war was consulting with the Mexican government about a plan to bring ten thousand Irish immigrants to settle in the Sacramento Valley area. The priest’s plan was foiled because of the outbreak of the war and the fact that Mexico lost what is now the state of California to the US. However, had there not been a war and the ten thousand Irish had settled there, Mexico could have rivalled Argentina as the country with the largest Irish population outside of the English-speaking world. The great success that the Irish community in Argentina has had is a strong indication that the Irish settlers would have been successful in Mexico. While Fr Eugene McNamara did not see his plan become a reality, he was fortunate enough to escape execution by eluding the squads of US soldiers looking for him, and returning to Ireland. This Surname History is reproduced with the kind permission of Irish Roots Magazine in which it was first published as part of the feature article, Surnames of County Cavan, in Issue 1, 1993.
-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), March 17, 2004.
William: please go to the lower part of Catholic Top Level and you wil find a section called.Older Messages (by category)
There you'll see the answer to many of your questions.
Enrique
-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), March 17, 2004.
Sorry: this post should have been sent in another thread.Enrique
-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), March 17, 2004.
Late in 2003 and early in 2004, Pope John Paul II beatified sixteen servants of God. The following one was assigned this calendar day for yearly commemoration.Bl. John Nepomucene Zegrí y Moreno of Granada [Juan Nepomuceno] (Spanish, parish priest, chaplain to Queen Isabel II, founded Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy , died at age 73 in 1905 [beatified 2003])
-- (jfgecik@spamfreeHotmail.com), May 07, 2004.