A daily study of the Network’s diverse faiths
Santa Rosa de Lima (St Rose of Lima TOSD, Isabel Flores de Oliva) (1586-1617). Commemoration of the death of the noble first canonised saint of the New World, born in Lima in the Viceroyalty of Peru during the first century of South American evangelisation and who took St Catherine of Siena as her model. A virgin and penitent who was not permitted by her father to enter a convent, she continued at home her life of severe asceticism, penance and solitude as a lay member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, caring for homeless children, the elderly and the sick and starting social services in Peru. She became known for both her life of cultivation of beauty and her care of the poverty-stricken of the city through her own private efforts. She had a love of God so ardent that it withstood ridicule from without, violent temptation and lengthy periods of sickness. She prophesied the date of her death of 24 August in Lima and her funeral was held in the Cathedral, attended by all the public authorities of the city and with prominent men taking turns to carry her coffin. Venerated in Catholic Church, Anglican Communion. Major shrine Basilica of Santo Domingo, Lima. Feast Day 23 August, 30 August in some Latin American countries and pre-1970 General Roman Calendar. Primary patroness of Peru and of the local people of Latin America, and co-patroness of the Philippines along with St Pudentiana. Patron of Lima, the resolution of family quarrels, embroidery, embroiderers, sewing lace, gardening, gardeners, cultivation of blooming flowers, florists, people ridiculed for their piety, indigenous peoples of the Americas, India, Villareal, Santa Rosa, California, Alcoy, Cebu, Arima, Trinidad and Tobago, against vanity. Image: worldbanknotescoins.com.
Prayer Gracious God, You filled the heart of St Rose with charity, missionary zeal and the desire to make You known among all peoples. Fill those who honour her memory today with that same love and zeal to extend Your kingdom to the ends of the earth, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen
St Bartholomew the Apostle (Βαρθολομαῖος, Bartholomaeus, ܒܪ ܬܘܠܡܝ, Բարթողիմէոս, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ, בר-תולמי,, بَرثُولَماوُس, Nathanael). Western Christianity Feast Day with Church of England Festival and Lutheran Lesser Festival for one of the Twelve First-Century Apostles of Jesus who was a witnesses of the Ascension. Bartholomew (Nathanael) was born in Cana, Galilee and martyred by skinning alive and beheading in Albanopolis north of Tirana for having converted Polymius, King of Armenia, to Christianity. Nathanael was summoned to Jesus by Philip and Jesus paid him a great compliment: “Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him.” When Nathanael asked how Jesus knew him, Jesus said: “I saw you under the fig tree,” and Nathanael exclaimed: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus countered with: “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” Nathanael was one of those to whom Jesus appeared on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias after his resurrection when they had been fishing all night without success. In the morning, they saw someone standing on the shore though no one knew it was Jesus. He told them to cast their net again and they made so great a catch that they could not haul in the net. Then John cried out to Peter: “It is the Lord.” When they brought the boat to shore, they found a fire burning with some fish laid on it and some bread. Jesus asked them to bring some of the fish they had caught and invited them to come and eat their meal. John relates that although they knew it was Jesus none of the Apostles presumed to enquire who he was, this being the third time Jesus appeared to the Apostles. Venerated in all Christian denominations that venerate saints. 11 June Feast Day with Barnabas the Apostle in Eastern Christianity with Lutheran Lesser Festival for Barnabas (ܒܪܢܒܐ, Βαρνάβας, Joseph). Martyrdom commemorated on the first day of the Coptic calendar, the first day of the month of Thout, which currently falls on 11 September, corresponding to 29 August in the Julian calendar. Major shrines: Saint Bartholomew Monastery, Armenia; relics at Basilica of San Bartolomeo in Benevento, Italy; Saint Bartholomew-on-the-Tiber Church, Rome; Canterbury Cathedral; the Cathedrals in Frankfurt and Plzeň; and San Bartolomeo Cathedral in Lipari. The Crewkerne Charter Fair, successor to the 519 St Bartholomew’s Fair, is an annual event held in Crewkerne on the first Friday and Saturday of September with a street market and funfair organised entirely by volunteers and a new Sunday 5 September event this year. Patron of Armenia, bookbinders, butchers, Florentine cheese and salt merchants, Gambatesa, Italy, Catbalogan, Samar, Magalang, Pampanga, Malabon, Metro Manila, Nagcarlan, Laguna, San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija, the Philippines, Għargħur, Malta, leather-workers, neurological diseases, skin diseases, dermatology, plasterers, shoemakers, curriers, tanners, trappers, twitching, whiteners, Los Cerricos, Spain, Barva, Costa Rica. The Armenian Apostolic Church honours Saint Bartholomew along with Saint Thaddeus as its patron saints. Image: catholicnewsagency.com.
Notre-Dame de Benoite-Vaux (Our Lady of Benoite-Vaux, Comforter of the Afflicted, Queen of Peace). The original statue of the Blessed Virgin at Benoite-Vaux (Blessed Valley), Verdun is said to have been found, standing at the foot of an oak tree near to a river, by foresters working in a wood, after they heard angels singing the Ave Maria in what was originally a place of worship in Christianised Gaul as early as the Fifth Century. Around 1157, the Bishop of Verdun gave what had been the Augustinian monastery to the Norbertines (White Canons) who later cared for the pilgrims who travelled there, as they had for centuries. It is known that there were organised pilgrimages during the time of the Thirty Year’s War when people desired to moderate heaven’s displeasure which seemed to have struck them. In 1638, as the Thirty Year’s War was raging, the statue was taken to the castle of Neuvill-en-Verdunois for safekeeping. The shrine was eventually destroyed but rebuilt in 1698 and the statue returned. The shrine was once again destroyed in 1793, this time with the miraculous statue, during the French Revolution. The shrine was restored in 1830 and in 1849 the Marists who had been miraculously preserved from a flood started a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Benoite-Vaux, having installed a very old successor bearing a close resemblance to the original statue that is still venerated there and was crowned in 1875. The statue continues to be famous for miracles and is still a centre of pilgrimage, particularly during the first week of September. There was once a miraculous Benoite-Vaux fountain that cured many maladies, the Stations of the Cross having now been carved in stone nearby and a Norbertine retirement home built. There is another shrine of the same name in the diocese of Lyons. Image: pinterest.com.