Saint of the Day
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(Regional Memorial) July 28
Acacius of Miletus M (RM)
Blessed Antony della Chiesa, OP (AC) Here he distinguished himself for both sanctity and learning. Being a good preacher, he was for some years the companion of Saint Bernardine of Siena, in his missionary journeys through Italy. Antony was prior at the friaries of Como, Savona, Florence, and Bologna. Antony gives us a picture of one who followed the Dominican life perfectly, managing, most of the time, to escape public notice. There is in his life very little of the glamorous or the unusual. He kept the rule, was a good superior, and a just administrator. Shunning applause, he was always serene. The legends mention that he was particularly devoted to Our Lady, which is something one takes for granted in a Dominican, and that he conversed with her, in ecstasy, several times. He had the gift of reading hearts and was a sought-after director of souls. He also healed many sick people with his blessing. However, if any miracles are ordinary ones, these may be so described; they could be given as typical of most of early Dominicans. At one time, Antony was on a ship that was captured by pirates, but at his prayer, the pirates spared the passengers and brought them safely to land. One of the very few things of unusual nature that in Antony's life is a legend told of him when he was prior of Savona. It makes a lovely ghost story, and it also provides food for thought. According to the story, Antony was praying one night in the church. Disturbed by the sound of horses hooves clattering on the flagstones outside, he went to see who could possibly be there at such a late hour. There were several horsemen, all mounted on black horses. He addressed them, but received no answer. Thinking that they might be foreigners, he tried several languages, and still there was no response. Aware, then, that something was wrong, he commanded them in the name of the Lord to tell him who they were and where they were going. They said that they were devils, and that they were on their way to meet the soul of a dying sinner, a usurer, and escort him to hell. "I will pray for him," said Antony. The demons laughed and told him he was too late. "Then at least come back and tell me whether you succeed or not," said the prior. A short while later, the group returned, and they had succeeded. They held the unhappy usurer captive, and, while the prior watched in horror, they bore him off. The man was screaming. The next day, the usurer's relatives came to arrange an elaborate funeral. "You would do much better to have Masses said for yourselves and other poor sinners," he said.
Antony died at Como and was buried there in the Dominican church Miracles at his tomb led to his beatification (Benedictines, Dorcy).
Arduinus of Ceprano (AC)
Botvid (Botwid) of Sweden M (AC)
Camelian B (AC)
Eustace (Eustathius) of Galatia M (RM)
Innocent I, Pope (RM)
Lucidus of Aquara, OSB Hermit (AC)
Nazarius and Celsus MM (RM) Undeterred, Nazarius went to Gaul. He was asked to look after a child called Celsus, baptized him, and travelled further, reaching Trier, Germany, always preaching the Gospel. Celsus went with him, supporting Nazarius in every way he could. At Trier, they were tried by Nero who found them guilty of being Christians, and ordered that they be drowned. Both Christians were taken in a ship and thrown overboard, but a storm that suddenly arose frightened the sailors. Imagining that the storm was a punishment for their treatment of the two Christians, the sailors pulled Nazarius and Celsus back on board. They landed at Genoa, and Nazarius decided that they ought to try once more to convert the people of Milan. But the magistrates of Milan again caught Nazarius and Celsus with him. This time they were beheaded. The two saints were buried outside the walls of the city, close by the graves of Gervase and Protase. The only undisputed fact is that Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan, discovered the four bodies in a garden outside Milan and reverently enshrined them inside his great new church of the Apostles in 395. Reputedly, Nazarius's blood was still liquid and red when his body was exhumed by Saint Ambrose (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
In art, they are depicted as a man and boy walking on the sea (Roeder).
Peregrinus of Lyons, Hermit (RM)
Samson (Sampson) of Brittany B (RM) He was one of the greatest missionaries ever to come from Britain. His parents--Ammon, a lord of Glamorgan, and Anna of Gwent-- dedicated him to the service of God because he was a "child of promise" after his parents prolonged period of childlessness. According to his biography he was raised in the abbey of Llanwit Major in Glamorgan, which at that time was ruled by Saint Illtyd, who ordained him deacon and priest. After Samson's ordination an attempt was made on his life by two nephews of Saint Illtyd, who were jealous of his ordination. So Samson left the community and lived for a time under Piro on the island of Caldey (Ynys Byr) off the coast of Pembrokeshire, where he served as cellarer. His father and his uncle, Umbrafel, joined him there after his father had recovered from a serious illness during which he received the last rites from his son. When Piro died, Samson succeeded him as abbot of Caldey Abbey, but he resigned after a preaching tour to Ireland. He returned to Wales, where he lived as a hermit with his father and two others in a retreat near the mouth of the Severn River. Then he sojourned to Cornwall, where he was consecrated bishop of Saint Dyfrig (Dubricius), bishop of Caerleon, and appointed abbot of its monastery. Samson travelled throughout Cornwall where he worked as a missionary, founded monasteries and churches at Padstow, Saint Kew, Southill, and Golant, probably visited the Scilly Islands, and gathered to himself disciples, such as Saints Austell, Mewan, and Winnoc (which doesn't make sense because Winnoc died in 717). Finally, Samson crossed the Channel to Armorica, where he landed at the mouth of the Guyoult, to continue his missionary activities in Brittany. Privatus, a Gallo-Roman, gave him a stretch of land nearby on which to build a monastery c. 525, and this became the site of the future town of Dol. Under his leadership, Dol became the spiritual center of Brittany. A vigorous organizer and a zealous preacher, Saint Samson established numerous other abbeys, including Pental in Normandy, and spread the word of God far and wide. It appears that he exercised episcopal jurisdiction at Dol, although it was not a regular see until much later. He is probably the 'Samson peccator episcopus' who signed the acts of the Council of Paris (557). His concern for justice, as well as the temporal importance of his position as bishop and abbot, often involved him in political affairs. When Conomor (Conmor) murdered the king of Domnonia and usurped the throne that rightly belonged to the Breton ruler Judwal (Judual), Saint Samson journeyed to Paris where, with the support of Saint Germain the bishop of Paris, he enlisted the help of the Frankish King Childebert. On his return he travelled down the Seine and founded an establishment for penitents at Vernier. On a second visit to Paris he was granted lands in the region of Rennes and was also given jurisdiction over the Channel Islands-- and indeed it was from the Isle of Guernsey, where one town bears his name, that he and Judwal embarked on their campaign to depose the usurper Conomor. After three battles, Judwal won back his kingdom and Samson returned to his bishopric and monastery at Dol. Towards the end of his life, when he felt that his end was near, he undertook an extensive journey throughout the whole of Neustria, a journey of which the Breton bards have left us a moving account. Accompanied by seven monks, seven disciples and seven escorts, he travelled slowly from parish to parish, often stopping to preach or to celebrate the Divine Office, bringing his mission to an end only with his death. Many miraculous deed were attributed to Saint Samson, to which his anonymous biographer gives ample space. Recent research seems to demonstrate that Samson was the leading churchman of the colonists from Britain who founded Brittany, and a primary figure in the history of the evangelization of Cornwall and the Channel Islands. Some of his relics, including an arm and a crozier, were acquired by King Athelstan of Wessex (924-939), for his monastery at Milton Abbas in Dorset, which is why Samson's feast is kept in many places in England. In addition, there are six ancient dedications there to him, as well as others in Cornwall and Brittany. Samson's name is still revered throughout Brittany and Wales. Usuard entered his name into the Roman Martyrology (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Taylor).
In art, Samson is depicted with a cross or staff together with a dove and book (Farmer).
Victor I, Pope (RM)
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