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February 2012
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1
*
St Brigid
St Brigid
Virgin, Secondary Patron of Ireland, Feast (white)
* Glenstal Martyrology
St Brigid, Abbess. About the year 470 she founded a double monastery at Cill-Dara (Kildare) where she was Abbess. The foundation developed into a centre of learning and spirituality, and around it grew up the Cathedral city of Kildare. She founded a school of art at Kildare and its illuminated manuscripts became famous, notably the Book of Kildare, which was praised as one of the finest of all illuminated Irish manuscripts before its disappearance three centuries ago. Brigid was one of the most remarkable women of her times, and despite the numerous legendary, extravagant, and even fantastic miracles attributed to her, there is no doubt that her extraordinary spirituality, boundless charity, and compassion for those in distress were real. According to tradition she died at Kildare on February 1st.
2
*
Presentation of the Lord
Presentation of the Lord
Feast (white)
* Glenstal Martyrology
The Presentation of the Lord. On February 2nd all of the Christian churches celebrate the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. This feast reminds us that forty days after the birth of her firstborn son, Mary took the baby to the Temple to offer him to the Lord with a sacrifice of two turtledoves or pigeons, in accordance with the Law of Moses. This fulfilment of the Law is also Jesus' first official encounter with his people, in the person of the elderly Simeon & Anna. For this reason the Orthodox churches call today's feast the Lord's Holy Meeting (Hypapanté). It is a meeting and a manifestation, because Mary enters the Temple "to reveal to the world the one who gave the Law and fulfils it," and to accompany the Son in his first act of offering to the Father. The feast of the Presentation originated in Jerusalem, and is attested there as early as the fourth century. The church of Jerusalem's liturgy included a candlelit procession, which was later incorporated into Western liturgies and is still practiced today. It is inspired by the song of the elderly Simeon who, taking the infant Jesus in his arms, gives thanks to God and recognizes in the baby the "light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel."
3
*
St Blaise
St Blaise
Bishop & Martyr, Memorial (red)
* Glenstal Martyrology
St Blaise, Martyr. Many Catholics remember Saint Blaise's feast day because of the Blessing of the Throats that takes place on this day. Two candles are blessed, held slightly open, and pressed against the throat as the blessing is said. Saint Blaise's protection of those with throat troubles apparently comes from a legend that a boy was brought to him who had a fishbone stuck in his throat. The boy was about to die when Saint Blaise healed him. Blaise was a bishop of Sebastea in Armenia who was martyred under the reign of Licinius in the early fourth century.
4
*
BVM Memorial
BVM Memorial
Week 4 Cycle II
* Glenstal Martyrology
St Rembert, Bishop. Born near Bruges, Flanders, Belgium, he entered the monastery of Turholt. Rembert assisted St Ansgar in his missionary labors in Scandinavia, and succeeded him as bishop of Hamburg Bremen, Germany, in 865, with jurisdiction over Denmark, Sweden, and parts of Germany.
5
*
5 SUN of the YEAR
5 SUN of the YEAR
Week 5 Year B (green)
* Glenstal Martyrology
St Agatha, Martyr. Although we have evidence that Agatha was venerated at least as far back as the sixth century, the only facts we have about her are that she was born in Sicily and died there a martyr.
6
*
Sts Paul Miki & Comps
Sts Paul Miki & Comps
Martyrs, Memorial (red)
* Glenstal Martyrology
St Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs. In February 1597 the Japanese Jesuit Paul Miki and twenty-six other Christians were crucified on a hill near Nagasaki. Paul Miki, the first Japanese Jesuit and an impassioned preacher, was arrested together with his companions. The authorities began to lead them from town to town as a warning to the population, but wherever they were led, they announced the Gospel and responded with songs of praise to the torture to which they were subjected.
*
GM
GM
*
Glenstal Menologium:
Fr Columba Breen. Born 1917, profession Glenstal 1941, died 2000
7
*
Ferial
Ferial
Week 5 Cycle II
* Glenstal Martyrology
St Mel, Bishop, He is said to have been the son of Conis and Darerca, the sister of St Patrick, whom he accompanied to Ireland and helped to evangelize in that country. According to the Life of St Brigid, he is said to have had no fixed See, which might fit in his being a missionary. St Patrick himself built the church at Ardagh and to this he appointed his nephew, Mel.
8
*
Ferial
Ferial
Week 5 Cycle II
* Glenstal Martyrology
St Honoratus, Bishop. Bishop of Milan, Italy, who suffered from Arian and Lombard aggressions. He became the bishop of Milan in 567. Arians disputed his election, and the Lombards invaded the region forcing him into exile, where he died.
9
*
Ferial
Ferial
Week 5 Cycle II
* Glenstal Martyrology
St Alto, Abbot. Hermit and missionary, recorded as an Irishmen or possibly an Anglo-Saxon. He lived near Augsburg, Germany, arriving in the region circa 743. Living in a simple hut in wild lands, Alto soon achieved a reputation for holiness and austerity. Word of his good works reached King Pepin, who gave him a parcel of land near Altmunster, in modern Friesling Diocese in Bavaria. Alto cleared the land and founded an abbey. St Boniface came in 750 to dedicate the abbey church. The monastery was ravaged by the Huns but was restored in 1000 and made a Benedictine house.
10
*
St Scholastica
St Scholastica
Virgin, Feast (white)
* Glenstal Martyrology
St Scholastica, Abbess. Today the Eastern and Western churches commemorate Scholastica, the sister of Benedict of Norcia. She is a figure shrouded in mystery. We know no more about her than what Benedict's biographer, Gregory the Great, wrote in the second book of his Dialogues. Scholastica was consecrated to religious life from her childhood, and every year she went to visit her brother Benedict at Montecassino. In one of the most beautiful pages of the Dialogues, Gregory describes their last meeting. At sunset, Benedict wanted to return to his own monastery as his Rule prescribed, but Scholastica, who sensed that she was nearing the end of her life, asked God to allow her to spend the entire night in conversation and prayer with Benedict. Legend has it that a sudden storm granted Scholastica's prayer. Gregory comments that her request prevailed over Benedict's reluctance because Scholastica had shown greater love than her brother.
11
*
St Benedict of Aniane
St Benedict of Aniane
Abbot, Feast (white)
* Glenstal Martyrology
St Benedict of Aniane, Abbot. Today the Western monastic calendar commemorates Benedict of Aniane, a reformer of monastic life who lived in the Carolingian era. Born in the middle of the eighth century in southern France, near the Spanish border, he was baptized Vitiza and brought up at the court of Charlemagne, where he carried out important duties for the king. His attempt to bring into being a form of monastic life worthy of the Rule of Benedict favoured the political plans of Charlemagne and his successor Ludwig the Pious. The two rulers made Benedict the leader of a comprehensive reform of Western monasticism. As a step in this reform, all monasteries in the West were required to adopt the Rule of Benedict in 817. Benedict of Aniane died on February 11, 821 in the monastery of Inda, which Ludwig had ordered built for him near the court of Aquisgrana.
12
*
6 SUN of the YEAR
6 SUN of the YEAR
Week 6 Year B (green)
* Glenstal Martyrology
St Damian, Martyr. Two saints honoured on the same feast day. One is a martyred soldier in Africa, probably in Alexandria, Egypt; the second a Roman martyr whose relics were discovered in the catacombs of St Callistus and sent to Spain.
13
*
Ferial
Ferial
Week 6 Year A
* Glenstal Martyrology
St Benignus, Martyr. He was a Martyr of Todi, in Umbria, Italy. He was executed during the persecutions conducted by Emperor Diocletian in 303.
14
*
Sts Cyril & Methodius
Sts Cyril & Methodius
Monk & Bishop, Patrons of Europe, Feast (white)
* Glenstal Martyrology:
Tradition tells us that the brothers Methodius and Constantine (he did not take the name Cyril until just before his death) grew up in Thessalonica as sons of a prominent Christian family. Because many Slavic people settled in Thessalonica, it is assumed Constantine and Methodius were familiar with the Slavic language. In 860 Constantine and Methodius went as missionaries to what is today the Ukraine. When the Byzantine emperor decided to honour a request for missionaries by the Moravian prince Rastislav, Methodius and Constantine were the natural choices; they knew the language, they were able administrators, and had already proven themselves successful missionaries. Constantine and Methodius were dedicated to the ideal of expression in a people's native language. Throughout their lives they would battle against those who saw value only in Greek or Latin. Before they even left on their mission, tradition says, Constantine constructed a script for Slavonic - a script that is known today as glagolithic.
15
*
Ferial
Ferial
Week 6 Cycle II
* Glenstal Martyrology
: St Faustus, Abbot. An abbot believed to be a disciple of St Benedict at Monte Cassino, Italy. He was the biographer of St Maurus, according to Abbot Odo of Glanfeuil.
16
*
Ferial
Ferial
Week 6 Cycle II
* Glenstal Martyrology:
St Julian of Egypt, Martyr. He was a martyr of Egypt, reportedly with five companions, most likely during the persecutions by the Roman Empire.
17
*
Ferial
Ferial
Week 6 Cycle II
* Glenstal Martyrology:
The seven founders of the Order of the Servants of Mary, Religious. The seven holy founders of the Order of the Servants of Mary, all prosperous Florentine wool merchants, were born at the turn of the thirteenth century. Probably close to the year 1240, they began to live together on the outskirts of Florence, in poverty, prayer and penance.
18
*
BVM Memorial
BVM Memorial
Week 6 Cycle II
* Glenstal Martyrology:
Fra' Angelico, Religious. In 1455 Fra' Giovanni di San Domenico, a Dominican better known today as the artist Fra' Angelico, died in the Roman convent of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. He entered the Dominican convent of Fiesole, which belonged to the progressive wing of the Order, and served his contemporaries as a silent and discreet preacher, a theologian, and a poet. But it was in his paintings above all that Fra'Angelico harmonized the discoveries of Renaissance art with the purity of heart of a true seeker of God. Michelangelo said that because of his artwork he "deserved heaven, so that he could contemplate all of the beauty he had depicted on earth."
19
*
7 SUN of the YEAR
7 SUN of the YEAR
Week 7 Year B (green)
* Glenstal Martyrology:
St Valerius, Bishop. Bishop of Antibes, France. He worked throughout southern France to evangelize the region and to increase the monastic presence. He died in 450.
20
*
Ferial
Ferial
Week 7 Cycle II
* Glenstal Martyrology:
St Amata, Nun. Poor Clare and niece of St Clare of Assisi. Amata was miraculously cured of an illness by St Clare. She entered a Poor Clare monastery as a result.
*
GM
GM
*
Glenstal Menologium:
The anniversary of the erection, by Pope Benedict XV, of the Belgian Abbeys into an independent Benedictine Congregation, under the title of the Annunciation of our Blessed Lady.
Abbot Marmion was greatly instrumental in bringing this about, and circumstances after the 1st World War had made it inevitable. Marmion not only suggested the title of the congregation, but won over the other monasteries and saw the matter through in Rome.
Since the General Chapter of 1966, the word 'Belgian' has been dropped, and the phrase 'Annunciation of our Blessed Lady' has been retained in the title of the Congregation - a witness to its international development.
21
*
St Peter Damian
St Peter Damian
Bishop & Doctor, Memorial (white)
Week 7 Cycle II
* Glenstal Martyrology:
St Peter Damian was born in Ravenna, Italy, in 1007. He lost his parents while he was still young, but was able to receive a classical education in Faenza and Parma with the help of his brother Damian. As a gesture of gratitude he added his brother's name to his own. He grew up surrounded by the enthusiasm for the eremitical life that the figure of Romuald had inspired, and when he was almost thirty years old he entered the hermitage of Fonte Avellana. Later, he became prior and wrote a rule for the community. During the years he spent at Fonte Avellana, he also wrote the Vita beati Romualdi, a document of fundamental importance for our understanding of eleventh-century monastic ideals.
*
GM
GM
*
Glenstal Menologium:
Br Raphael (Jack) Kennedy, Borrisoleigh. Born 1915, professed Glenstal 1946, died 2002.
22
*
ASH WEDNESDAY
ASH WEDNESDAY
Day of Fast & Abstinence (violet)Apostle, Feast, (white)
* Glenstal Martyrology:
The See of Saint Peter. On February 22, the ancient Romans honoured the memory of their dead and ate at their tombs, around the empty 'seat' reserved for deceased relatives as a sign of their presence in their family's midst. The Depositio Martyrum, the Church of Rome's oldest calendar, shows that in the year 354 this pagan feast had already been replaced by the memorial of the See of Peter - that is, the commemoration of the beginning of Peter's Roman episcopate. Today's feast, observed by the Catholic Church alone, was instituted so that Peter, like Paul, would have a second celebration recalling his specific mission in the church. The memorial of Peter's Roman episcopate allows the Catholic Church to emphasize two things: first, the Church of Rome's apostolic foundation, and second, the service of presiding in love that the ancient tradition recognized as the role of Peter and of his successors.
23
*
...after Ash Wednesday
...after Ash Wednesday
(violet)
* Glenstal Martyrology:
Around the year 167 Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, was martyred in Asia minor. He was born sometime around the year 70 of the first century to Christian parents. Ireneus of Lyons, who was his disciple, tells us that Polycarp was personally acquainted with the apostle John and others who had seen the Lord. Around the year 100, Polycarp was named bishop of the church of Smyrna. He carried out his ministry with total dedication and with a love worthy of the teachings he had received from the apostle John, the 'beloved disciple.' When Ignatius, en route towards martyrdom in Rome, stopped in Smyrna, Polycarp gave him hospitality and encouraged him.
*
GM
GM
*
Glenstal Menologium:
Fr Peter (John) Gilfedder, Belfast. Born 1917, Professed 1938. died 2002.
24
*
...after Ash Wednesday
...after Ash Wednesday
(violet)
* Glenstal Martyrology:
St Adela, Holy Woman. Benefactor and English princess. Adela was the youngest daughter of William the Conqueror. In 1080 she married Stephen of Blois. Throughout her life, Adela had an active role in English politics. She was famed for endowing churches and monastic institutions.
25
*
...after Ash Wednesday
...after Ash Wednesday
(violet)
* Glenstal Martyrology:
St Donatus, Martyr. Donatus was a third century martyr with Herena, Justus, and companions. They were martyred in Africa under Emperor Decius
26
*
1 SUN LENT
1 SUN LENT
(violet)
* Glenstal Martyrology:
St Victor, Hermit. A recluse in the area of Arcissur-Aube, in Champagne, France, he was much venerated by the Benedictines of Montiramey who asked St Bernard of Clairvaux to compose a hymn in Victor's honour. He died in 995.
27
*
Ferial Lent
Ferial Lent
Lent Week 1 Cycle II
* Glenstal Martyrology:
St Anne Line, Martyr. English martyr from Dunmow, Essex. The daughter of William Heigham, she was disowned by him when she married a Catholic, Roger Line. Roger was imprisoned for being a Catholic and was exiled and died in 1594 in Flanders, Belgium. Anne stayed in England where she hid Catholic priests in a London safe house. In this endeavour she aided Jesuit Father John Gerard until her arrest. Anne was hanged in Tyburn on February 27, 1601
28
*
Ferial Lent
Ferial Lent
Lent Week 1 Cycle II
St Macarius, Martyr. Martyr with Justus, Rufinus, and Theophilus in 250. Reportedly potters by trade, these martyrs died at Alexandria, Egypt, or in Rome.
*
GM for 29th
GM for 29th
* Glenstal Menologium
Fr John Dupiéreux, Born 1888, Professed monk of Maredsous 1910, came to Glenstal in the 1930's died Feb 29th 1956. Buried in Glenstal.
Br Mungo Gattens, Born 1895 Glasgow, Professed 1937, died 29th Feb 1968.
29
*
Ferial Lent
Ferial Lent
Lent Week 1 Cycle II
* Glenstal Martyrology:
No saint is assigned to this day in the Roman calendar. The Church in the West follows the Gregorian calendar which has the institution of the leap year. The leap year is calculated according to three simple rules; every year that is evenly divisible by four is a leap year; of those years, if it can be evenly divided by 100, it is not a leap year, unless the year is evenly divisible by 400. Then it is a leap year. While this calendar is an improvement on the older Julian calendar it is not perfect. The Gregorian calendar is 26.3 seconds longer than the solar year and so it will take until the year 4316 before it gains as much as one day on the sun. This lack of perfection in our calculations is itself a reminder that all time belongs to Him and all the ages. To Christ, the Lord of time and of history, be endless praise forever.
Category Key
General
Green
Purple
Red
White
Calendar developed and supported by
Kieran O'Shea
