SS. Denis, Bishop and Martyr, and His Companions, Martyrs

St. Denis is today regarded as the patron of France and is said to have been the first bishop of Paris. Whatever is known of his life is had from what St. Gregory of Tours (538–93) wrote in his History of the Franks. About 250, Denis and six other bishops were sent by Pope Fabian (see January 20) as missionaries to evangelize Gaul (modern France). Denis established himself in the area now known as Paris. Because of his success in making converts to Christianity, Denis and his companions—Rusticus, a priest, and Eleutherius, a deacon—were arrested, imprisoned for a time, and finally beheaded. Their martyrdom took place in 258 on the outskirts of modern Paris, now known as Montmartre (Mountain of Martyrs), during the persecution of Valerian (emperor 253–59). In 475 or thereabouts, St. Genevieve built a basilica over St. Denis’s tomb, and later (624) the Abbey of St. Denis was founded next to the basilica. St. Denis’s relics were transferred to the abbey on October 9. Legend has it that after his martyrdom he picked up his head and walked with it for two miles, indicating where he wanted to be buried.

St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

St. John Chrysostom was born in Antioch (now Antakya, Turkey), in about 349. His early education trained him in law and oratory. He was baptized when he was eighteen years of age, and he thought of becoming a monk. This dream, however, was not realized until 373, when he joined a group of hermits living in the mountains near Antioch. Seven years later, he returned to the city and began his studies for the priesthood. Shortly after his ordination in 386, he was assigned to preach. He became an outstanding preacher, and for twelve years he preached regularly to the people of Antioch. His homilies, which were commentaries on the Scriptures, were published, and it is because of these and his other writings that he was later declared a doctor of the Church. John was made Bishop of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) in 398, and he immediately instituted much-needed reforms in his diocese, opened hospitals, and saw that the poor were given the help they needed. His honesty and frankness in speaking out against the luxury of the imperial court and its laxity in morals earned him the hatred of the wealthy and influential, and thus he was forced into exile in June 404.

John spent three years at a frontier outpost in Armenia, but because he still had some influence in Constantinople by means of his letters, he was moved further away. On his way to his new place of exile, he was forced to walk the entire distance, over mountains, through rain, and under the burning sun. Finally, his health broke, and he died at Comana on the Black Sea on September 14, 407. From 438 on, a liturgical feast was celebrated in his honor, and ten years later his body was brought to Constantinople’s Church of the Apostles. By the sixth century, the name “Chrysostom,” a Greek word meaning “golden-tongued” that alludes to his eloquence, had been added to his Christian name. Then, in 1568, Pope Pius V (see April 30) declared him a doctor of the Church. The prayer in today’s Mass also speaks of his eloquence and heroic sufferings.

St. Paphnutius, Bishop

THE holy confessor Paphnutius was an Egyptian, and after having spent several years in the desert, under the direction of the great St. Antony, was made bishop in Upper Thebais. He was one of those confessors who, under the tyrant Maximin Daia, lost their right eye, and were afterward sent to work in the mines. Peace being restored to the Church, Paphnutius returned to his flock. The Arian heresy being broached in Egypt, he was one of the most zealous in defending the Catholic faith, and for his eminent sanctity and the glorious title of confessor (or one who had confessed the faith before the persecutors and under torments) was highly considered in the great Council of Nice. Constantine the Great, during the celebration of that synod, sometimes conferred privately with him in his palace, and never dismissed him without kissing respectfully the place which had once held the eye he had lost for the faith. St. Paphnutius remained always in a close union with St. Athanasius, and accompanied him to the Council of Tyre, in 335, where they found much the greater part of that assembly to be professed Arians. Seeing Maximus, Bishop of Jerusalem, among them, Paphnutius took him by the hand, led him out, and told him he could not see that any who bore the same marks as he in defence of the faith should be seduced and imposed upon by persons who were resolved to oppress the most strenuous assertor of its fundamental article. We have no particular account of the death of St. Paphnutius; but his name stands in the Roman Martyrology on the 11th of September.

Reflection.—If to fight for our country be glorious, “it is likewise great glory to follow the Lord,” saith the Wise Man.

St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Aurelius Augustine was born in Tagaste, Numidia (today’s, Souk-Ahras, Algeria), Africa, on November 13, 354. His mother was St. Monica (see August 27), and his father was Patricius, a pagan. Augustine was enrolled among the catechumens as a child, and though his baptism was put off, he, nevertheless, had a Christian upbringing. He studied (372–75) rhetoric at Carthage (in modern Tunis), and while there he got into the habit of a disordered and dissolute life. For many years, he lived with a companion who was not his wife; their son Adeodatus (“Given by God”) was born in 372. Augustine subsequently opened a school of rhetoric (376–83) in Carthage; but being attracted by the Manichaeans, he joined them and followed their teachings for nine years. When Manichaeism was unable to answer all his questions, he separated from them. In 383, he went to Rome, where he taught rhetoric for a year, and then he moved (384) on to Milan, because he had won, through a competition, that city’s chair of rhetoric. Professional curiosity led him to attend the sermons of Bishop Ambrose (see December 7); he not only found them eloquent but also his heart soon was touched by what Ambrose said. He subsequently dismissed his companion, who returned to Africa, but kept his son with him. With his mother’s arrival in Milan, Augustine retired (386) to Cassiacum, near Milan, together with his son, who died shortly thereafter, and his brother Navigius. Augustine there devoted his time to penance and prayer, preparing himself for his new life. He was baptized by Ambrose during the Easter Vigil liturgy of April 24–25, 387.

St. Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop

St. Eusebius was born in Sardinia sometime in the early fourth century. After his father’s death, his mother took the family to Rome, where he studied and was ordained a priest during the pontificate of Pope Julius I (337–52). He was subsequently appointed the first Bishop of Vercelli, in Piedmont, Italy, in about 345. He and his clergy lived in community, in a manner similar to that later developed by the Canons Regular. Throughout his years as bishop, Eusebius was a strong opponent of the Arians, who denied Christ’s divinity, and firmly supported the teachings of St. Athanasius (see May 2) at the Council of Milan (355), at which he served as Pope Liberius’s legate. Because of Eusebius’s anti-Arian stand, Constantius II (emperor 337–61), who favored the heretics, ordered him sent into exile to Scythopolis in Palestine (today’s Bet She’an, Israel). He was released in 362, after Julian “the Apostate” (emperor 361–63) came to power, but only after suffering much maltreatment at the hands of the Arians. He returned to his diocese, where he continued to oppose the Arians and their doctrines. He died at Vercelli on August 1, 371. The Mass prayer today aptly recalls that St. Eusebius affirmed the divinity of Christ in his long conflict with the Arian heretics. He is especially venerated today for his persistence in supporting orthodox teaching.

St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

St. Alphonsus Liguori was born into a noble Neapolitan family in the small town of Marianella, Italy, on September 27, 1696. His early education was under the care of tutors, and at the age of thirteen years (1708), he began to study law at the University of Naples. He graduated in 1713 with a degree in both canon and civil law. He then practiced law for several years, until October 1723, when he set his practice and the world aside and began to study theology. After ordination in 1726, he devoted his time and efforts to preaching and hearing confessions. In 1732, he founded a group of priests, which eventually came to be known as the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, or more commonly as the Redemptorists. Alphonsus, being aware of the needs of the faithful of his time, directed his congregation toward preaching, giving missions, and instruction. In this way, he hoped to educate the people in the faith and win back those who had become lax in their practice of it. In 1762, he was appointed bishop of Sant’ Agata dei Goti; his interests now included the reform of the clergy and the upgrading of seminaries. As bishop, he put an end to certain abuses, restored churches, fostered good liturgy, and visited the many parishes in his diocese. In 1768, he was stricken with a rheumatic illness that eventually forced him to resign his see in 1775. He spent the rest of his life supervising the growth of his congregation and writing ascetical and theological books. His ascetical writings were the outpouring of his own rich spiritual life; he wrote on the mysteries of Christ’s life, the Mass, devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, on Mary, and prayer. In all of these, he opposed the then-current Jansenist teachings. He is especially remembered for his text in moral theology, which was used in seminaries throughout the world. He died at Nocera de’ Pagani, near Salerno, on August 1, 1787, and was canonized by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839. In 1871, Pope Pius IX declared St. Alphonsus Liguori a doctor of the Church, and in 1950 Pope Pius XII made him patron of moralists and confessors.

St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

St. Peter Chrysologus was born in Imola, Italy, in about 400, and in about 431 he became bishop of Ravenna, at that time the imperial capital of the West. He was an acquaintance of Eutyches (371?–455), the originator of the Monophysite heresy (i.e., that there are not two natures, divine and human, in Christ, but only one, divine). When Eutyches asked Peter to speak out in his favor, Peter wrote to Eutyches insisting that in the matters of faith it is always necessary to adhere to the teaching of the Bishop of Rome. Eutyches’s teaching was eventually condemned at the Council of Chalcedon (451). During his life, Peter gained a reputation for being an exceptional preacher, as today’s opening Mass prayer affirms. There are 183 extant sermons attributed to him, and many of them deal with Christ’s Incarnation. Because of his eloquence, he was given the additional name Chrysologus, or “golden-worded.” This epithet first originated in the seventh century and most probably in imitation of the epithet given to St. John Chrysostom (see September 13), that is, “golden-tongued.” Peter Chrysologus is thought to have died, perhaps at Imola, on July 31, in about 450. Pope Benedict XIII proclaimed him a doctor of the Church in 1729.

St. Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr

Very little is known with certainty about the life of St. Apollinaris, the first Bishop of Ravenna. St. Peter Chrysologus (see July 30), who was Bishop of Ravenna from 431 to 450, once preached a sermon (No. 128) about his predecessor. From this sermon, we learn that Apollinaris was the first bishop of that see, that he had labored there for many years, and on different occasions had suffered much and had often shed his blood, and though his was not a violent death, nevertheless, he should be considered a martyr. There is also the witness of St. Severus, who, as bishop of Ravenna, attended the Council of Sardica (342–43), and at which he mentioned that the first bishop of his see flourished around the middle of the second century.

When historical details are lacking, legend easily fills them in. In the seventh century, there appeared a Passion of St. Apollinaris, and according to this historically unreliable document, we are told that Apollinaris came from Antioch (today’s Antakya, Turkey), and arrived in Rome with St. Peter (see June 29), who then sent him to evangelize Ravenna. Because of his success in making converts, Apollinaris twice suffered mistreatment at the hands of nonbelievers and was forced to leave the city. He traveled to Corinth, Greece, and then preached in Thrace (part of today’s Balkan Peninsula). He once again suffered violence and was forced to leave. He returned to Ravenna at the time when Vespasian’s (emperor 69–79) persecution against the Christians was in effect. Apollinaris was subsequently arrested and placed under the care of a centurion. Because that centurion happened to be a Christian, he permitted the bishop to escape. He was then pursued by the raging populace, who attacked and severely wounded him and left him for dead. The bishop was later found by Christians and died seven days later (July 23) as a result of his wounds. Apollinaris had been bishop of Ravenna for about twenty years, and the year of his death is sometimes given as 70. However, the latest edition of the Martyrologium Romanum (2001) agrees with St. Severus and gives his death as occurring sometime in the second century. Ursicinus, the Bishop of Ravenna (532–36), began a church in his honor, which was later dedicated by his successor Maximian in 549. It was then that the saint’s body was translated there. That church, now known as San Apollinare in Classe, still stands and because of its magnificent sixth-century mosaics is one of the wonders of Ravenna.

St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop

St. Augustine of Canterbury is referred to as the “Apostle of England.” He was prior of the monastery of St. Andrew on Rome’s Coelian Hill when Pope St. Gregory the Great sent (596) him and about thirty monks to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons. Augustine and his monks landed in Kent during the summer of 597. Because Bertha, the wife of Ethelbert, the king of Kent, had been a Christian before her marriage, the king readily permitted the missionaries to preach in his kingdom. The king likewise gave the monks a house and a church in Canterbury. Through Augustine’s preaching, Ethelbert became a Catholic (597) as did many of his subjects. Augustine established his see at Canterbury—the only Christian Anglo-Saxon kingdom on that island—built the first cathedral there, and sent missionaries and bishops to other parts of England. Augustine’s ministry in England lasted only seven years; he died on May 26, 604 or 605. Because he planted the seeds of the Catholic Church in England, St. Augustine is also known as the Father of the Church in England.