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On September 16, 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:

Pope St. Cornelius (Italian, 21st pope, reigned 251 until death by martyrdom in 253)
St. Cyprian of Carthage [full name: Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus] (North African, bishop, Father of the Church, martyred by beheading in 258)

Sts. Abundantius, Abundius, Marcian, and John, of Rome (Italian ... deacon, priest, senator and his son ... tortured and martyred by beheading c. 304)
St. Curcodomus of Maroilles (French, Benedictine abbot, d. 680)
St. Dulcissima (Italian, virgin, early martyr)
St. Edith of Wilton (British, princess, Benedictine nun from age 15, died at about age 23 in 984)
Sts. Geminian and Lucy of Rome (Italian, catechist and widow, martyred in 300)
Bl. John Baptist and Bl. Hyacinth of the Angels, of San Francisco Cajonos [Juan Bautista and Jacinto de los Ángeles] (Mexican, attorneys, martyred by non-Christians both at about age 40 in 1700 [beatified 2002])
Bl. Louis Allemand of Arles (French, cardinal archbishop, repented of his support for an antipope, d. 1450)
St. Ludmila of Mielnik (Bohemian, duchess, grandmother of St. Wenceslas, martyred by strangling at about age 61 in 921)
Bl. Michael and Bl. Paul Fimonaya (Japanese, father and son, Dominican tertiaries, martyred by beheading at Nagasaki in 1628 [beatified 1867])
St. Ninian of Cumbria (British, missionary bishop in Scotland, miracle worker, died at about age 72 c. 432)
Sts. Rogellus and Servus Dei of Cordoba (Spanish, monk and student, martyred by Moslems in 852)
Bl. Victor III of Benevento [baptized Dauferius] [monastic name: Desiderius] (Italian, son of a prince, Benedictine abbot, cardinal, elected to papacy in 1086, reigned until death at about age 60 in 1087 [beatified 1887])

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. Additional 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), September 16, 2004

Answers

"You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church for your mother.... God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is one. One is the faith, and one is the people cemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body."
----- St. Cyprian, from "The Unity of the Catholic Church" (written before the year 260)

-- ("jfgecik@hotmail.com), September 16, 2004.

"You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church for your mother" -St. Cyprian

John, thanks for the quote and information. Yesterday I had the priviledge of visiting an abbey where monks live. We went to mass and vespers, at which they sang a beautiful Gregorian chant. It was so peaceful!

Anyway, during the homile, the priest quoted the above phrase also. Can anyone elaborate on what it might mean? I would have thought it should be more like "You cannot have Jesus for your Brother if you do not have Mary as your mother." How then is the Church our mother? I have heard this before but I would appreciate some thoughts on the matter. Thanks and God bless!

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), September 17, 2004.

I'm sure there can be many answers offered to that question, but I think that the expression "having Mary as your mother" is essentially another way of saying "being Catholic". Who else claims Mary as their mother? I do think Cyprian overstated the case a bit. Surely people other than Catholics can "have God as their Father". On the other hand, how can anyone come to know God as accurately and intimately as possible except through the means God Himself has provided? And the Church He personally founded for all men, with its sacramental life, is the means God has provided for coming to know Him.

It's sort of like what might happen in a human family. One child might remain in the family, interacting with the father and mother on a daily basis until adulthood. Another might run away at an early age, seeking a different living situation that is more to his liking. Both may grow up as good people, and both are still children of the father and the mother; but by rejecting his identity as a member of the home the parents have provided for his well-being, the child who left forfeits any chance for full relationship with his mother, the heart of the home, or his father, the head of the home, even if he still "keeps in touch" and tries to live by the values he has learned from them. As the two children reach adulthood, which can claim to know the father better? The one who has remained faithful and has lived in intimate physical contact with him day by day? Or the one who has lived apart, while maintaining whatever contact with the father is possible under the circumstances of division and separation?

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), September 17, 2004.

Paul M., thanks for your answer. I don't understand how the Church can be at once the Bride of Christ and our Mother, if we as Christians comprise the Church. Perhaps the institution of the Church is our Mother, while its people are the Bride of Christ, and thus the Church's daughters??

So Mary is the spouse of the Holy Spirit, the Church (people) is the Bride of Christ, and the Church (institution) is the Bride of the Father?? I am just speculating here trying to figure this out. Thanks.

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), September 17, 2004.

I was reading in a book that the Church is both Virgin and Mother. This makes a bit more sense to me. But I still have a question. If the Church is the Bride of Christ, is she also Mother in relation to God the Father?

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), September 21, 2004.

Emily,

Pray for stronger faith.

You will never be able to understand. " For those that believe there is no explanation necesaarry, and for those that do Not believe there is no explanation possible."

May God bless you and yours.

-- - (David@excite.com), September 21, 2004.

David said: Pray for stronger faith.... You will never be able to understand.

David, while I appreciate your thoughts and prayers, I also seek understanding, because it is what strengthens my faith. If I did not seek Truth, I would not even be Catholic. If I did not question things like this, I would still be Protestant or perhaps nothing at all. It was my study and questions that led me to the Truth, so I will never give that up. I am eager to learn all the more truths that God will show me!

I have faith to believe it because I trust God. However, I also wish to understand. God bless you too!

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), September 22, 2004.

Emily,

Amen to that young Lady.

Blessed be God a million, million, million times.

May God bring Olly and Jesse back home.

-- - (David@excite.com), September 26, 2004.

David, who is Jesse?

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), September 26, 2004.

Hi, Emily

Jesse is Olly's bride.

I rember Olly posting when they were married .8-)

God bless them both and your family as well.

-- - (David@excite.com), September 29, 2004.