Anastasius was born in Rome, the son of Maximus. His baptismal name may have been Innocentius, which according to the Liber Pontificalis was name of the father of Bp. Innocent I, his successor and of whom St. Jerome said Bp. Anastasius I was his father. Anastasius was elected in 399 to the see of Rome as the successor to Bp. Siricius. During his short episcopate, Bp. Anastasius took action on two doctrinal issues. Rufinus, a friend of St. Jerome, produced a Latin translation of Origen’s Peri Archon, making Origen’s philosophy more widely available. As Jerome found fault with the orthodoxy of Origen’s work, he and Rufinus came to dispute each other. The dispute elevated into an appeal to the then Bishop of Rome, Siricius, which in turn fell to Anastasius upon his succession. In 400, Anastasius called a council which found Origen’s work heterodox. Anastasius acted, condemning Origen and deprecating Rufinus’ translation.
Bp. Anastasius also supported the bishops in North Africa in their fight against the Donatist heretics. He also established a rule that any priest arriving from overseas must have a letter signed by five bishops before he could be received by the church in Rome. Bp. Anastasius reposed on December 19, 401 and was succeeded by his son Innocent I. He was buried in the Catacomb of Pontian.
Martyred citizens of Antioch, who were brought to Rome with St. Ignatius of Antioch and shared in his martyrdom during the reign of Emperor Trajan. They died two days before Ignatius by being thrown to the beasts in the arena.
Saint Winebald:
Winebald + Benedictine abbot and missionary. The brother of Sts. Willibald and Walburga, he was born in Wessex, England, and went on a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land with his brother and father. When their father died at Lucca, the brothers proceeded to Rome. Winebald remained in the Eternal City while his brother went on to the Holy Land. Winebald studied in Rome for seven years, went back to England, but then returned to Rome determined to enter the religious life. At the invitation of St. Boniface, he gathered together a group of English missionaries and went to Germany in 739. Winebald was ordained, labored in Thuringia and Bavaria, and then joined Wilibald in his missionary enterprise in Eichstatt, Frisia, Holland. With his brother, he founded the monastery of Heidenheim, Germany, where he served as abbot with his sister as abbess. He struggled against the local pagans and strove to make the monastery one of the leading ecclesiastical centers in Germany. Feast day: December 18.
Saint John of the Cross’ Story (June 24, 1542 – December 14, 1591)
John is a saint because his life was a heroic effort to live up to his name: “of the Cross.” The folly of the cross came to full realization in time. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34b) is the story of John’s life. The Paschal Mystery—through death to life—strongly marks John as reformer, mystic-poet, and theologian-priest.
Ordained a Carmelite priest in 1567 at age 25, John met Teresa of Avila and like her, vowed himself to the primitive Rule of the Carmelites. As partner with Teresa and in his own right, John engaged in the work of reform, and came to experience the price of reform: increasing opposition, misunderstanding, persecution, imprisonment. He came to know the cross acutely—to experience the dying of Jesus—as he sat month after month in his dark, damp, narrow cell with only his God.
Yet, the paradox! In this dying of imprisonment John came to life, uttering poetry. In the darkness of the dungeon, John’s spirit came into the Light. There are many mystics, many poets; John is unique as mystic-poet, expressing in his prison-cross the ecstasy of mystical union with God in the Spiritual Canticle.
But as agony leads to ecstasy, so John had his Ascent to Mt. Carmel, as he named it in his prose masterpiece. As man-Christian-Carmelite, he experienced in himself this purifying ascent; as spiritual director, he sensed it in others; as psychologist-theologian, he described and analyzed it in his prose writings. His prose works are outstanding in underscoring the cost of discipleship, the path of union with God: rigorous discipline, abandonment, purification. Uniquely and strongly John underlines the gospel paradox: The cross leads to resurrection, agony to ecstasy, darkness to light, abandonment to possession, denial to self to union with God. If you want to save your life, you must lose it. John is truly “of the Cross.” He died at 49—a life short, but full.
Reflection
In his life and writings, John of the Cross has a crucial word for us today. We tend to be rich, soft, comfortable. We shrink even from words like self-denial, mortification, purification, asceticism, discipline. We run from the cross. John’s message—like the gospel—is loud and clear: Don’t—if you really want to live!
St Lucy was an early Christian martyr who lived in the 200s-300s. She died during the persecution of Christians under Emperor Diocletian. She is one of eight female saints mentioned in the Canon of the Mass.
St Lucy suffered a brutal martyrdom with great courage. You can use this novena to seek intercession from this courageous martyr in your life!
St Lucy was probably born around the year 283. Her parents were members of the nobility and were wealthy.
Lucy’s father died when she was five years old. Her mother, who suffered from a bleeding ailment, feared that Lucy would soon have no one to care for her. Lucy’s mother quickly arranged a marriage for Lucy.
But Lucy had no desire to marry. Instead, she consecrated her virginity to God. She also hoped to have her dowry given away to the poor.
When Lucy learned about the arranged marriage, she began praying for a way to change her mother’s mind on the matter. She prayed frequently at the tomb of St Agatha, asking for assistance in this situation.
Lucy had a dream in which St Agatha appeared to her and told her that Lucy’s mother would be cured of her condition through faith.
Lucy’s mother was soon cured, and her mother agreed to allow Lucy to consecrate her virginity to God rather than marry. But the man to whom Lucy had been promised in marriage was very angry to hear that the match had been called off. He was even more angry when he learned that the dowry that had been promised to him had actually been given to the poor.
Lucy’s rejected bridegroom took revenge on her by betraying her Christian Faith to the governor, who was accustomed to persecuting Christians for their Faith.
The governor commanded Lucy to offer a sacrifice before an image of the emperor, but she refused. The governor then ordered her to be sent to a brothel as punishment. One tradition holds that the guards who attempted to bring Lucy to the brothel were unable to move her, because she had miraculously become too heavy to lift. Even a team of oxen was unable to move her.
Another tradition says that Lucy told the governor he would be punished for what he was doing. This made the governor so angry that he ordered her eyes to be gouged out.
When she was sentenced to death, the guards attempted to burn her by setting fire to wood that was stacked around her. But this did not work because the wood wouldn’t burn. Lucy was finally killed by a wound to the throat from a sword.
According to tradition, Lucy’s eyes were found to have been miraculously restored to her body when her body was being prepared for burial in her family’s mausoleum.
St Lucy is the patron saint of the blind. You can seek her intercession if you are blind or having problems with your eyesight. You can also ask her to pray for someone you know who is blind or is having problems with their eyesight.
You can also ask St Lucy for prayers if you are being persecuted for your Faith, since she suffered a lot for her Faith and eventually gave up her life in martyrdom. Or you can ask St Lucy to pray for someone you know who is being persecuted for their Faith.
