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- Written by: Ratovoarivelo Ndrasantsoa Marie Frédeline
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Many Saint has the name Julian but today 9th of January we celebrate Saint Julian of Antioche the husband of St Basillisse. We call them virgin spouses and religious martyrs.
Coming from a wealthy family, Julien's parents wanted him to marry, but he wanted to preserve his purity. Eventually, he took a wife, and with his wife, they promised to respect each other and live separately. When their parents died, they sold all their possessions and devoted all the proceeds to charity. Many young men followed Julian to accomplish his work, as well as young girls who took Basilisse as an example and followed her as well.
Emperor Maximin II continued the persecution of Christians by Diocletian. He sent Marcian to Antioch, a cruel officer, in pursuit of Julian. In court, the judges could do nothing and Marcian had the place burned down, but Julian escaped unharmed. In another court, Julien was hit with a rope tied at the end, one of the soldiers was accidentally hit in the eyes and lost his sight, but Julien healed him. Marcien had him chained up and dragged into the street. At that moment, Selze, Marcien's seven-year-old son, saw the cruelty and was touched by Julien's courage. He publicly declared that he wanted to be part of the Lord's community. Marcian took Selze and Julian and threw them into a pit, but as soon as they were at the bottom, the light from heaven shone on them and the stinking smell that reigned there changed into a pleasant sweet fragrance. Witnessing these miracles, about twenty of the guards present were converted.
Marcian had a place prepared to burn Julian and his companions, and they coated it with oil and resin. At the same time, a pagan funeral procession passed by the place, Marcian ordered Julian to resurrect the dead man. After Julian's prayer to God, the dead man stood up and said, "Jesus Christ is the only God I want to serve. Unaware of this new miracle, Marcian still led him to the pyre, but there again the oil and resin turned into a spring. Dejected, Marcian had them thrown into prison. He sent his wife there to persuade Selze to reconsider his decision, but once in the dungeon, it was she who asked to be baptized. Stubbornly, Marcian had Julian and his companions thrown into the animal pit, but the animals didn't even touch them. As a last resort, he had them beheaded.
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- Written by: Ratovoarivelo Ndrasantsoa Marie Frédeline
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Originally from a Roman family, he was called Lucius like his father but changed to Lucien during the preaching of St. Peter. He then travelled all over Italy to preach.
Victim of persecution during his stay in Parma, he was imprisoned and escaped the same evening.
Around 250, he was ordained bishop by the pope who sent him to Gaul with Saint-Denis and Saint Rieul.
He travelled all over France and settled in Caesaromagus, now Beauvais.
His virtues, his deeds of the flesh and the miracles he performed in the region would have contributed to the conversion of nearly 30,000 men.
Around 290, the emperor Diocletian opposed to Christianity sent Latinus, Jarius and Antor to kill Lucien who warned of the danger, took refuge with his two companions Maxien and Julien in Montmille. Found by the Romans, his companions are beheaded, Lucien is beaten with yards and finally beheaded. The probable place of martyrdom is called La Rosière.
After his death, Lucien's body would have been "surrounded by light" and those present would have heard "Courage, good and faithful servant, who was not afraid to spill your blood for me, come and receive the crown promised to you." So Lucien got up, took his head and walked to Beauvais. He stopped near the town where his body was buried and where the Abbey of Saint-Lucien was later built. He is one of the holy cephalophores.
The existence of his relics is uncertain: indeed, part of them was destroyed in a fire in 1793. But another part of his remains could be at Notre-Dame du Thil in Beauvais, following a translation made before the fire by the revolutionaries.
His motto is: "I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God".
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Saint Raymond de Penyafort, born in Vilafranca del Penedès, near Barcelona, around 1175, and died in 1275, was a friar preacher (Dominican).
He is best known for having collected, at the request of Gregory IX, the multiple laws and decrees of the Church by systematizing them. This canonical codification, the first officially promulgated by a pope, is known as the Decrees of Gregory IX (1234). Canonized in 1601 by Clement VIII, it is liturgically commemorated on 7 January.
He studied at the University of Barcelona and then went to the University of Bologna to perfect his law studies, where he was awarded a doctorate in utroque jure. From 1195 to 1210 he taught canon law. In 1210, he left to teach in Bologna, where he remained until 1222, occupying the chair of canon law for three years. On his return to Barcelona in 1222, he entered the Order of Friars Preachers.
He is the confessor of the King of Aragon, James I. Contacted by Pierre Nolasque, he obtained the king's support for the foundation in 1218 of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the redemption of Christians kidnapped by the Muslims.
In 1230, he was called to Rome by Pope Gregory IX, who charged him with the task of gathering together and harmonising the decisions taken by the popes over the past century1. 1 He brought together the Decretales Gregorii, promulgated by the Bull "Rex pacificus" (5 September 1234), the first official collection of ecclesiastical law. This collection continues and completes the compilation known as the Gratian Decree of 1150.
On his return to Barcelona, he was elected Master General of the Dominicans by the General Chapter of the Order meeting in Bologna at Pentecost 1238. He published the Constitutions of the Order which remained in force until 1924. He resigned from his office in 1240.
In 1242 he edited the first manual of the Inquisition. To train missionaries, he founded the Arab school in Tunis (1245) and the Hebrew school in Murcia (1266).
He died on January 6, 1275. From the end of the 13th century, then under John XXII, there is talk of canonizing him, which will be achieved by Clement VIII in 1601, after several unsuccessful attempts.
He is best known for having collected, at the request of Gregory IX, the multiple laws and decrees of the Church by systematizing them. This canonical codification, the first officially promulgated by a pope, is known as the Decrees of Gregory IX (1234). Canonized in 1601 by Clement VIII, it is liturgically commemorated on 7 January.
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On this day of January 06, the church celebrates the manifestation in the eyes of the world of Jesus, Son of God, the Messiah, the incarnate Word, before whom the Magi from the East have come to bow down: It's the Epiphany. In general, this date is a working day, so the celebration of the second Sunday of the nativity in some countries.
This feast is also called "theophany" which means "manifestation of God". In the greek culture, we call "Epiphanes" the divinity such as Zeus, Athena, Hermes and Poseidon... who barge in the sight of men. But for us Christians it is Christ God who reveals Himself to the world according to the stories of Matthew 2, 1. 2. 10-12 that we celebrate. He manifests Himself in the form of a newborn baby at a moment in the history of the Jewish people; first with the simple people, the shepherds, then throughout the world in its diversity in the person of the Magi who are, according to the stories of different origins.
In the account of St. Matthew no name or number is attributed to these Magi, only the present three, hence the idea of the three Magi.
It is only in the 8th century that the first Latin text naming these Magi was discovered, a text presumably translated from a Greek text from Alexandria dating from the 6th century. Bede the Venerable, an English Benedictine, born in the 7th century, is credited with naming and describing the Magi. According to Bede, these three Magi represent the three known continents, including Asia, Africa and Europe. The first is Melchior, an old man with a beard and hairy, white skin, he presented gold as a sign of royalty. Then Gaspar, a young man with red skin, still hairless, who presented incense as a symbol of divinity. The third is Balthazar, a bearded man with black skin who presented myrrh as a reminder that the Son of Man must pass through death.
It was not until the 12th century that this visit of the Magi was celebrated in the Church. Relics from Milan have been identified as belonging to the Magi and those Frederick Barbarossa who moved them to Cologne. These relics are still kept in Cologne Cathedral.
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We celebrated Saint Edward on January 05. Edward was born between 1002 and 1004. The Danish Invasion in 1003, Emma took her sons, Edward and Alfred, seek refuge nearby Richard II of Normandie. In 1041 Edward returned to England.
At the death of Knut the Great on June 08th 1042, Edward retook the Kingdom and was crowned at Winchester Cathedral on April 3, 1043. He was the last king of England to reign before the Norman conquest of William the Conqueror.
The Reign of Edward has been marked by a period of order and peace after the failure of the Danish Invasion. With humility, wisdom and skill he restores the crown by seeking understanding and reconciliation. On January 23, 1045, he married Edith.
He made sure that his reign was as just and charitable as possible. He lived in London and Westminster where he built a cathedral. He died on January 5, 1066, shortly after his dedication.
The name Edward come from the german "ed": richness and "warden": to wait. The Edward 's are calm, not very talkative and shy. They like the quest for new things in a new place just as much as they like change. In permanent expectation of freedom and autonomy, the Edwards are not afraid to change place or activity.