Santos de dia 24 de Junho

#Boafesta do Natal de #SãoJoãoBatista! Happy feast of #StJohnTheBaptist!

✓ Feast of the Birth (Nativity) of St John the Baptist, son of Zachary and Elizabeth, and precursor of our Lord Jesus Christ., and who, while yet in his mother's womb, was filled with the Holy Ghost in his mother's womb through Mary's intercession.

✓ Our Lady of Clos Evrard, Trier, Germany 1449

The shrine of Our Lady of Clos Evrard is in the city of Trier, which is called Treves in the English language. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded before the time of Christ. on the bank of the Moselle River. An image of the Blessed Virgin was fastened to an oak tree by a wine-dresser, who wished to honor Mary; but Our Lady ordered him to build a small hut in her honor. The miracles which where wrought there caused this hut first to be changed into a little chapel, and finally into a church which was dedicated to Our Lady of Clos Evrard in the year 1449 by James de Siruq, Archbishop of Treves, who strove to restore order to the confused finances of the diocese. Trier boasted of having Christian citizens as early as the second century, and had a bishop in the third. The city of Trier is also the location of the famous cathedral of Trier, which has the unique privilege of having among its precious relics the Robe of Christ., the Holy Coat as it is called. It is believed to be the seamless garment of Christ., and is of a plain brownish fabric that appears to be linen or cotton. During an investigation that took place in 1890 and 1891, it was found that the relic had not even any trace of a seam. According to tradition, it is the garment over which the soldiers cast lots during the Crucifixion of Christ. The relic was sent to Trier by the Empress St Helena, and there is an ancient document of Pope Sylvester written to the church of Trier which mentions the garment. There were two expositions of the Holy Coat in the year 1844, with well over a million Catholic pilgrims flocking to Trier on the 18th of August and 6th of October to view the relic. It is recorded that there were a number of wonderful cures among the faithful. Another exposition took place from 20 August until 4 October in the year 1891, with nearly two million pilgrims attending. Again, there were many accounts of miracles that occurred during the exposition. Besides the Holy Coat, there is also on display one of the nails which was used in the Crucifixion of Christ..

✓ Our Lady of Navicella (Little Boat) or of Chioggia in Venetia June 24, 1508

See

http://www.chioggiamuseogalleggiante.com/la-madonna-della-navicella

https://www.conoscerevenezia.it/?p=41932

http://www.mariadinazareth.it/apparizione%20chioggia.htm

https://www.servemariachioggia.org/attivit%C3%A0-apostoliche/scuola-dellinfanzia-madonna-della-navicella

https://www.duepassinelmistero2.com/studi-e-ricerche/arte/italia/veneto/sottomarina/il-santuario-della-madonna-della-navicella

Chioggia (Latin: Clodia) is a coastal town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Venice in the Venetia region of northern Italy. The minor basilica of St James the Apostle elevated to minor papal basilica with the title of Blessed Virgin of the Navicella by Pope St Pius X in 1906, is the second largest church in the historic center of Chioggia immediately after the cathedral. On November 15, 1806 the relics of the Madonna della Navicella were transferred here, from the homonymous sanctuary in Sottomarina transformed into a barracks by the Austrian ruler at the end of the 18th century. In 1859 the same Marian relics were honored through the coronation, performed by the bishop of Chioggia James de Foretti, delegated by the papal bull of Pope Pius IX.

The historical documents of the city of Chioggia recall in very dark colors that afternoon of June 24, 1508 when a violent hurricane broke out: the sky was covered by dense and low clouds, thunderous thunder, blinding lightning, a deluge of rain, fearful roar of the sea in storm. Panic had spread everywhere. The people prayed in the houses, desperate cries were heard from the fishermen surprised at sea by the storm. Only towards evening the hurricane subsided and an old vine-dresser, Carlo Baldissera Zalon, came out of his shed observing, all mortified and disconsolate, the destruction produced by the terrible storm. Suddenly he heard a voice calling from the shore; he turned and saw a majestic Lady. She was dressed in a black cloak and sat on a tree trunk pushed onto the beach by the waves. The Lady, who identified herself as the Mother of God, told him that she was deeply embittered by the unruly life led by the people of Chioggia, in particular for the "profanations of the feast-days, for the vice of blasphemy and the practice of a blatant immorality." The hurricane, with its ruins, was but a forewarning of a worse cataclysm, if the city did not convert to penance. She then asked him to "Inform the Bishop of the apparition and order him, in My name, to call a crusade of prayers, penances and exhortations to avert the very serious evils that oppress the Christian life." Before disappearing on a boat stopped not far from the beach, she showed herself to him with her Son as he received him on her knees after the deposition from the Cross, that is, with the mangled body, all bruises, sores and blood, telling him: "This is how the sins of your fellow citizens reduced him." A small wooden chapel was immediately built on the site and, later, a church, consecrated in 1585.

✓ ROMAN MARTYROLOGY

• The Holy Neronian Martyrs of Rome of the Neronian Persecution: At Rome, in the time of Nero, the commemoration of many holy martyrs, who were accused of having set fire to the city, and cruelly put to death in various manners by the emperor's order. Some were covered with the skins of wild beasts and lacerated by dogs; others were fastened to crosses, others again were delivered to the flames to serve as torches in the night. All these were disciples of the Apostles, and the first fruits of the martyrs, which the Roman Church, a field so fertile in martyrs, offered to God before the death of the Apostles.

• The Holy Martyrs of Creteil in the diocese of Paris, Saints Agoardus and Aglibertus, along with a multitude of others of both sexes.

• The Holy Martyrs of Rome Saints Faustus and 23 Companions.

• The Holy Martyrs of Satalis or Satala in Armenia, the brothers Orentius, Heros, Pharnacius, Firminus, Firmus, Cyriacus and Longinus, who owe their martyrdom to the emperor Maximian. Because they were Christians, they were deprived of the military cincture by his command, separated from one another, hurried away to various places, and in the midst of painful trials, found their repose in the Lord.

• St John, surnamed Therestus, at Stilo in Calabria, distinguished for his fidelity to the monastic rule, and for his sanctity.

• St Rumold, bishop of Dublin and martyr at Malines or Mechlin in the Brabant, he had been the son of the king of Dublin but had fled after his father's death as he did not wish to be crowned King as he had been ordained and consecrated, visiting Rome and obtaining permission to resign the bishopric of Dublin, he evangelized Brabant, with the help of the holy Duke of Brabant Ado and his wife, but was martyred by a wicked lord. (See below for more information). 

• St Simplicius, bishop of Autun in France, confessor. 

• St Theodulphus, bishop of Lobbes.

✓ OTHER SOURCES

• The Holy Martyrs of Nantes St Gohard or Gunthard, bishop of Nantes, Cephalophore, martyred at Mass by the pagan Northmen along with his flock, on the feast of St John the Baptist, in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. 

• The Holy Martyrs of Tuscany Saints John, Festus and Companions. 

• St Andrew Suneson, bishop of Lund, Scania, from March 21, 1201, successor of St Absalon of Lund, to his own death in 1228.

• St Bartholomew of Farne, a monk of the abbey of Dunelm, renowned for his virtue and miracles, is honoured on this day in the English Calendars. 

• St Christopher de Albarran, Mercedarian missionary in South America, martyred by pagan tribes, June 24, 1566. 

• St Colman Oilithir of Ross. 

• St Cormac of Senchoimhet: In the Martyrology of Tallagh, a festival is mentioned in honour of Cormac of Sencometa, at the 24th of June. He is named Corbmac, and his place is called Senchoimhet, in the Martyrology of Donegal. When he lived is unknown, nor has the locality been identified.

• St Erembert I, abbot of Kremsmunster.

• St Gaibhrein: Canon O'Hanlon, in Volume VI of his Lives of the Irish Saints, has an entry at June 24 for a St Gaibhrein. The seventeenth-century Donegal hagiologist, Friar Michael O'Clery, identified him with a  fellow-student of St Mochua of Balla, interestingly this Gabhrin was described as a 'Bishop of the Britons'. Whatever the accuracy of this identification St Gabrin's feast day was recorded on the Irish calendars at June 24. 

• St Gerome, bishop of Germoe in Cornwall, he was probably one of a party of Irish monks who settled in Cornwall before most of them moved on to Gaul. But Germoe, says Leland, was buried at Germoe; his chair was in the churchyard and his well a little outside it. The Legend of Breage, however, makes Germoe a king; a 15th century fresco representing him with crown and sceptre survives in Breage church.

• St Henry the Hagiographer or St Henry of Auxerre.

• St John of Bohemia or St Ivan of Bohemia

• St John of Tuy, Spanish hermit at Tuy. 

• St Joseph Yuan Zaide, Chinese priest, martyr, not yet canonized by a Catholic pope. 

• St Raingarda of Auvergne, mother of St Peter Maurice or Peter the Venerable, 9th abbot of Cluny, she died June 24, 1135, and was buried June 26. In her last sickness, after having received the extreme-unction and viaticum, she made this prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, I very well know where this my body will be lodged: it will find an abode in the earth; but what retreat wilt Thou this night afford my soul? Who will receive or comfort it? No one can do it but Thyself, my Saviour! Into Thy hand I commend this Thy creature. I am a most ungrateful sinner; but I now ask of Thee that mercy which I have always implored, and to Thee I recommend my soul and body."

• St Thiu of Rubha, patron of Rubha in the Diocese of Down: THE festival of St Thiu or Tiu, of Rubha, is celebrated, on the 24th of June, according to the Martyrology of Donegal. This female saint's name does not appear in the earliest Irish Calendars; so, it is probable, she flourished after the eighth century. She belonged, it is said, to the posterity of Eochaidh, son to Muiredh, who descended from the race of Heremon. We are informed, likewise, that Rubha was the name of this holy woman's place, and that in Ard Uladh it was situated. Some doubt existed, regarding the modern denomination of Rubha. A learned writer inclines to the opinion, that it is identical with the townland of Echlinville, in Ballyhalbert parish, otherwise St Andrews, barony of Upper Ards, and called at present Row or Grange-Row, but formerly Rowbane or Rheubane. The adjoining townland is still called Rowreagh. In the year 1306, we find a chapel, named Grangia, on the townland of Gransha, parish of Inishargy, and barony of Upper Ards, in the county of Down. The townland of Gransha, at the south end of Inishargy parish, is bounded southwardly by the River Blackstaffe, which was formerly regarded as a line of demarcation, between the Great and Little Ards. About a mile eastward of this townland, the other chapel, called Row or Grange Row, stood. This seems to have been the place, anciently called Ruba, and Anglicized Rue or Rubha. Before the middle of the last century, the name of Rheubane was changed by James Echlin, Esq., who had a seat here, to Echlin-ville, which was called after himself as being the proprietor. The old chapel formerly stood at the entrance to Echlinville demesne; but, a single trace of its ruins cannot be seen at present. In the O'Clerys Calendar, Rubha is located, also, in the Ards of Ulster.

• St Thoger or Dietger, Theodegar of Thuringia or Theodgar of Vestervig, Apostle of Jutland in Denmark. 

✓ APPENDICES

I. The Holy Neronian Martyrs of Rome of the Neronian Persecution

Tertullian observes, that it was the honour of the Christian religion that Nero, the most avowed enemy to all virtue, was the first Roman emperor who declared against it a most bloody war. The sanctity and purity of the manners of the primitive Christians was a sufficient motive to stir up the rage of that monster; and he took the following occasion to draw his sword against them. The city of Rome had been set on fire, and had burned nine days, from the 19th to the 28th of July, in the year 64; in which terrible conflagration, out of the fourteen regions or quarters into which it was then divided, three were entirely laid in ashes, seven of them were miserably defaced and filled with the ruins of half-burnt buildings, and only four entirely escaped this disaster. During this horrible tragedy, Nero came from Antium to Rome, and seated himself on the top of a tower upon a neighbouring hill, in the theatrical dress of a musician, singing a poem which himself had composed on the burning of Troy. The people accused him of being the author of this calamity, and said he caused fire to be set to the city that he might glut his eyes with an image of the burning of Troy. Tillemont, Crevier, and other judicious critics make no doubt but he was the author of this calamity. Suetonius and Dion Cassius positively charge him with it. Tacitus indeed doubts whether the fire was owing to accident or to the wickedness of the prince; but by a circumstance which he mentions, it appears that the flame was at least kept up and spread for several days by the tyrant’s orders; for several men hindered all that attempted to extinguish the fire, and increased it by throwing lighted torches among the houses, saying they were ordered so to do. In which, had they been private villains, they would not have been supported and backed, but brought to justice. Besides, when the fire had raged seven days, and destroyed every thing from the great circus, at the foot of mount Palatine, to the further end of the Esquiliæ, and had ceased for want of fuel, the buildings being in that place thrown down, it broke out again in Tigellinus’s gardens, which place increased suspicion, and continued burning two days more. Besides envying the fate of Priam, who saw his country laid in ashes, Nero had an extravagant passion to make a new Rome, which should be built in a more sumptuous manner, and extended as far as Ostia to the sea; he wanted room in particular to enlarge his own palace; accordingly, he immediately rebuilt his palace of an immense extent, and adorned all over with gold, mother-of-pearl, precious stones, and whatever the world afforded that was rich and curious, so that he called it the Golden Palace. But this was pulled down after his death. The tyrant seeing himself detested by all mankind as the author of this calamity, to turn off the odium and infamy of such an action from himself, and at the same time to gratify his hatred of virtue and thirst after blood, he charged the Christians with having set the city on fire. Tacitus testifies, that nobody believed them guilty; yet the idolaters, out of extreme aversion to their religion, rejoiced in their punishment. 

The Christians therefore were seized, treated as victims of the hatred of all mankind, insulted even in their torments and death, and made to serve for spectacles of diversion and scorn to the people. Some were clothed in the skins of wild beasts, and exposed to dogs to be torn to pieces: others were hung on crosses set in rows, and many perished by flames, being burnt in the night-time that their execution might serve for fires and light, says Tacitus. This is further illustrated by Seneca, 2 Juvenal, 3 and his commentator, who say that Nero punished the magicians, (by which impious name they meant the Christians,) causing them to be besmeared over with wax, pitch, and other combustible matter, with a sharp spike put under their chin to make them hold it upright in their torments, and thus to be burnt alive. Tacitus adds, that Nero gave his own gardens to serve for a theatre to this spectacle. The Roman Martyrology makes a general mention of all these martyrs on the 24th of June, styling them the disciples of the apostles, and the first fruits of the innumerable martyrs with which Rome, so fruitful in that divine seed, peopled heaven. These suffered in the year 64, before the apostles SS. Peter and Paul, who had pointed out the way to them by their holy instructions. After this commencement of the persecution, laws were made, and edicts published throughout the Roman empire, which forbade the profession of the faith under the most cruel torments and death, as is mentioned by Sulpicius Severus, Orosius, 4 and others. No sooner had the imperial laws commanded that there should be no Christians, but the senate, the magistrates, the people of Rome, all the orders of the empire, and every city rose up against them, says Origen. 5 Yet the people of God increased the more in number and strength the more they were oppressed, as the Jews in Egypt had done under Pharoah.  

The words of Tacitus are: "Nero in order to substitute in his own stead victims, to the public indignation on account of the fire, inflicted the most cruel torments on a sect of men already detested for their crimes, vulgarly called Christians. Some of them were arrested, and owned themselves Christians; and on their informations a great number were taken, whom it was less easy to convict of being incendiaries, than of obstinately hating all mankind. Their punishments were made a sport of; some were covered with skins of beasts, to make dogs devour them; others were crucified; and others again, wrapped up in clothes covered with pitch and brimstone, were burnt in the night by way of torches. These punishments were inflicted in the emperor’s gardens as a sight, whilst he diverted the people with chariot races, mixing with the crowd in a coachman’s dress, or seated on a car, and holding the reins. Thence arose pity that was felt for a set of men, really guilty, and deserving the worst of punishments, but who, on that occasion, were sacrificed to the inhuman pleasure of one, and not to the good of the whole." Tacitus attests their innocence even when he loads them with reproaches. And he could only tax them in general with being enemies to mankind, because they separated themselves from the corruption of the world. He was again mistaken when he says, they informed against one another. All ecclesiastical history witnesses they were ever ready to confess openly the name of their heavenly Master, and to suffer with joy the greatest torments, rather than betray their brethren to persecution. 

II. St Rumold of Dublin, Bishop & Martyr, by J.B. Cullen

IN the accounts handed down to us of the first centuries of the Irish Church, and in the several calendars in which the names of our national saints are preserved, it is very remarkable how few martyrs are commemorated. Writers of ecclesiastical history, alluding to this fact, frequently notice that Ireland was the only spot, in the whole of Christ.endom, where the Gospel took possession without resistance or bloodshed. The introduction of the faith, which in other countries brought Christians to martyrdom, in Ireland led them into monasteries and sanctuaries of peace. This justifies us in thinking that Divine Providence facilitated in a special manner the conversion of this chosen people, whom He destined to carry the light of faith and learning over land and sea, and to regenerate whole nations, whose children were steeped in the darkness of paganism, superstition, and idolatry. The limited number of our early saints who were privileged to clasp the palm of martyrdom, for the same reason, were, it would seem, forced to seek the prize they coveted in lands far beyond the encircling seas of their native isle. St Rumoldus was one of these. The name of the St takes various forms : Rumoldus (Latin), Romoel (Irish), Rombaut (Flemish), etc. 

St Rumoldus was born about the close of the seventh century. His father, Datha, was then King of Leinster, his mother being daughter of the King of Cashel. The faith of Christ. was well established throughout Ireland at the period of the Saint's birth, an event which was attributed to the miraculous efficacy of prayer. His parents were advanced in years, and had long abandoned the hope that one of their line should succeed to the throne of Leinster. Both were excellent Christians and, through the influence of their position, rendered, in these remote times, great services to religion. Gaulafer, the saintly Bishop who then occupied the See, which then represented that of Dublin at the present day, was the fastest friend of the worthy King and Queen. In his efforts to promote the moral and religious welfare of his people they were always ready to aid him. The saintly prelate, consequently, often thought within himself how great a change might take place, in religious matters, after the death of King Datha. The laws of tanistry regarding the succession might, he foresaw, possibly transfer to less worthy hands the sceptre of his kingdom. The fervent and constant prayer of the zealous Bishop was that this misfortune if God's Will might be averted. His petitions were heard, and great was the surprise and joy throughout the province when the birth of a prince was announced. The infant prince received baptism at the hands of the saintly Bishop who like Holy Simeon of old rejoiced that he had lived to see the auspicious day he had so ardently longed and prayed for. When our future St came to the years of reason, his parents entrusted his spiritual training and education to Bishop Gaulafer. In addition to the training in the ways of religion and virtue, instructions in the science of war and government were not neglected. The boy, on his part, gave early promise of being a wise and capable ruler. But, as we shall see, the ways of men are very often not the designs of Divine Providence.

When his education was completed, Rumoldus passed the remainder of his early life in his royal home. The comeliness of his person and the excellence of his disposition had more than ever endeared him to his parents, no less than to his tribesmen, who looked forward to the day when he should be their king. However, in his inmost heart, Romoel craved not the honours of the world nor the wearing of a royal crown. To the surprise of his countrymen, and despite the tearful remonstrances of his loving parents, the young prince determined to forsake his beloved home and embrace the religious life. 

We are indebted to foreign sources for most of the particulars that weave around our pen in this brief sketch of our Saint's career. His wonderful sanctity, humility, and austerities are spoken of with lavish admiration by all his biographers. On the death of Gaulafer, Rumoldus, being then a priest, was unanimously chosen as his successor, and so conspicuous were his wisdom and talents that, when his royal father died, the chieftains and people of Leinster determined to accept no other than the Prince-Bishop of Ath-Cliath for their king.

However, Rumoldus, who at his ordination had renounced his claims to earthly honours, would not hear of the popular demand. The people, on their side, insisted that he should fill jointly the office of king and bishop. It was an hour of great trial to the Saint, during which, it is related, he was frequently sustained and comforted by miraculous visions, and was often favoured by visits from the ministering angels of God.

Casting his cares on God and fervently invoking the Divine guidance, at length a life's decision was made. Rumoldus determined to steal away from his native country, whose people, in their boundless admiration for his holiness and virtue, compelled him to chose exile in order to escape the dignity they would fain force upon him. Disposing of such personal possessions as he had, and without making known his intentions to anyone, he left Ireland for ever. Crossing the dividing seas between Ireland and the Continent, he directed his footsteps along the usual route of pilgrims in those days through Flanders and along the banks of the Rhine till, at last, he reached Rome. His visit to the Eternal City was made for the purpose of laying his future projects before the Vicar of Christ. Moreover, we must remember that he was still Bishop of an Irish diocese, and then, as now, he could not renounce his sacred office without the sanction of the Holy See. Stephen III was, at that time, the reigning Pontiff (752-757), by whom Rumoldus was received with paternal affection and veneration. Divesting himself of the insignia conferred upon him at his consecration, he laid them at the feet of the Pope, whom he besought to release from his episcopal charge. Having fully explained the motives that impelled him to come to this resolve, he humbly petitioned the Pope that he might be granted the apostolic commission to retrace his steps to Central Europe, and there preach the Gospel in some of those countries where in his Romeward journey he found the inhabitants practising the darkest forms of paganism. Realizing that the holy man was evidently inspired to do great things for the sake of Christ., the Holy Father yielded to his entreaties, and, furthermore, gave him permission to choose the place of his future mission, wheresoever he felt himself called upon by Almighty God to labour for the salvation of souls. Rumoldus, giving thanks to Divine Providence, earnestly besought Heaven that the scenes of his future career might be made known to him. In answer to the Saint's prayers it was revealed to him that his mission would lie in that part of Belgic Gaul (now the Netherlands) where the rivers Scheldt and Dyle, in their final course, enter the sea (at present the harbour of Flushing). When he had paid his final visits to the shrines of the Apostles, and the tombs of many martyrs, Rumoldus, with the blessing of the Vicar of Christ., set out on his return journey till he reached the Province of Brabant. Here, as he came in sight of the river Scheldt, he recognized, by Divine intuition, the scene of his future mission and ' the place of his resurrection.' Not far from the banks of the river Dyle (a tributary of the Scheldt) he took up his abode, forming a little wicker cell, and beside it a tiny oratory, on the spot now marked by his cathedral tomb. This was the origin of the city of Mechlin (or Malines), whose site was then but a dreary scene. Away from the river sides stretched a waste of desolate moorlands. The district was then scarcely inhabited, and the melancholy silence of the surroundings was broken only by the shrieking of water-fowls or the nightly howlings of wolves and other beasts of prey. The province of Brabant was, at this time, governed by an excellent ruler, Count Ado, who came of the race of the famous Pepin of Heristal. Although Ado's subjects were almost entirely pagans, the Count himself was a Christian. When, after some time, the advent of Rumoldus became known in Brabant, and the news reached the ears of the ruler of the province, the latter's heart was filled with joy. Losing no time, Ado and his worthy consort hastened to seek the St and testify their happiness at his arrival. When Rumoldus unfolded to them the heaven-directed object of his mission, both gave thanks to Almighty God for the blessing vouchsafed their people, and for which they had long ardently prayed. Moreover, the worthy pair promised to do all that lay in their power to aid and promote the work our St had at heart. From the day of their meeting till the close of Rumold's life, Ado became his dearest friend. The charity and generosity of the Count and his spouse found favour with Heaven, and, as a proof of this, Almighty God vouchsafed them a great earthly and unexpected joy. Though married for many years their union was not blessed with children ; but shortly after the time of which we write a son was born to them. Beyond the happy parents themselves no one rejoiced more than the grateful Rumoldus, and it was the pious belief of all that the child was the gift of  his prayers. The ceremony of holy baptism was performed by our Saint, who conferred on the little boy the name of Libertus. In gratitude for the goodness of God, in their regard, the zeal of Ado and his wife was doubly increased in promoting Christianity throughout Brabant. 

Like most of the tribes of Northern Europe, the people of Brabant were, at this period of history, worshippers of the pagan god Woden. The Danes, as we know ourselves, were ardently devoted to the service of this false deity in Ireland, before they embraced Christianity. It is noteworthy in history that among the followers of this form of superstition many were possessed of evil spirits ; and in his missionary labours Rumoldus, it is related, was often called upon to do battle with them. The miracles that crowd upon the pages of the Saint's life, if enumerated here, would carry our pen far beyond the limit of this cursory narrative. Many and beautiful are the legends still preserved in the pious traditions of the Netherlands of the wondrous events that marked the foreign mission of our Irish Saint. They form the subject of many an artist whose works adorn the walls of the churches dedicated in his honour, or fill the pictured windows of those noble temples of God. The one, perhaps, oftenest portrayed is the miracle of 'Count Ado's drowned child.' Thus the legend runs: Not far from the abode of St Rumoldus was the hermitage of Gundemar, a venerable recluse. There was much communion of spirit between the two holy men. Often when, perhaps, wearied with his toils, our St would stray across the dreary waste to meet his friend at a spot marked by a spreading oak tree, beneath which both conversed on heavenly things. It was here, one summer's evening, that the news reached them of a great calamity that had befallen Count Ado. Libertus, the joy and hope of his parents' hearts, was accidentally drowned, and his body borne away by the fatal waters of the Scheldt! Rumoldus was grief-stricken when he heard the sad tale. He dearly loved Libertus; and as few more than he rejoiced at the child's birth, none, save his bereaved parents, sorrowed more at his untimely end. Hurrying to the scene of the accident, where crowds of mourners had gathered and were seeking for the body, Rumoldus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed that the sullen waters might yield up the beloved dead. Suddenly, to the joy of all present, the child arose and stood before the multitude, says the old chronicler, 'alive and unharmed'! This miracle received an everlasting remembrance in Belgium, and in the ancient liturgy of the Church it finds commemoration in the Votive Mass of St Rumold. The report of the miraculous occurrence was soon spread far and wide the calling of the dead to life, as in Galilee of old, through the power of the living God, in answer to the prayer of His servant, and was followed by the wholesale conversion of the peoples among whom Rumoldus laboured. Unspeakable was the gratitude of Ado and his countess. Gifts of gold and silver, as well as grants of land, were placed at the disposal of the Saint, whom they regarded as their intercessor before the throne of God for the restoration of their child from death to life. The Saint, however, declined to accept those earthly gifts as personal favours, but suggested that all might be devoted to the erection of a church and the founding and endowment of a monastery. Needless to say, the holy desire of Rumoldus was unhesitatingly granted. Being always full of veneration for the martyrs of the early Christian Church, our St dedicated his new foundation in honour of St Stephen. Soon numbers of aspirants entered the monastery, and in later years it is not surprising to find on the roll of Rumold's community, the name of the child of prayer Brother Libertus.Rumoldus, who was instrumental to such an extraordinary degree in fulfilling the designs of God, was, alas! destined to close his marvellous career with the seal of martyrdom. His powerful remonstrances and denunciations of immorality aroused a fierce animosity against him on the part of one of the nobles of the province. Blinded with the desire of revenge, he plotted the death of the holy man. Hiring some accomplices, wicked as himself, they watched their opportunity to waylay the saintly abbot, and, one evening, finding him in a lonely place, as he was returning to his monastery, they seized him, and carrying him into the depths of a neighbouring forest, murdered him! In order to conceal their crime the miscreants then brought the body to the riverside and sunk it with heavy weights at a spot overhung by spreading trees. However, when the darkness of night set in, a mysterious flame of light was seen to hover above the spot, which attracted the notice of some fishermen. Night after night the light appeared at the same part of the river. The report of the occurrence soon spread.In the meantime, the unacccountable disappearance of the abbot from his monastery gave rise to various misgivings as to what might have happened him. One night Count Ado, accompanied probably by some of the monks, having elicited the willing services of a few fishermen, rowed out to the spot over which the light appeared, for the purpose of dredging the river's bed. The sad conjectures they entertained proved, alas ! too true. In the very place, the body of the Saint was drawn up to the surface of the water! The precious remains, followed by his sorrowing monks and his beloved friend Ado, were at once borne to the church of St Stephen, where they were eventually laid to reSt In the sacred calendars of the Church his death is registered under date June 24, 775. It is remarkable that the death of St Rumoldus, who always had so much devotion to the early Christian martyrs, fell on the feast of the 'beheading of St John the Baptist'. Since the martyrdom of St Rumoldus the people of the Netherlands have been faithful to his memory. In century after century his jubilees have been celebrated with becoming splendour and devotion, and were observed as national festivals. In his native Ireland his existence is almost forgotten. The cathedral of Mechlin is the noblest, and probably the costliest, monument ever erected to the memory of an Irishman. The present structure, on the original site of St Rumold's monastery, was begun in the thirteenth century, but was, to a great extent, rebuilt in the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, and it has been the archiepiscopal metropolitan church since 1560. Above the great altar of the cathedral the relics of the St rest in a costly shrine. Despite the outbreaks of revolution which have so frequently desolated Belgium, the remains of the Patron of Mechlin were never desecrated. Whenever the hour of danger was at hand, faithful sentinels were always ready to secure and conceal those treasures of a nation's faith. The various shrines in which the relics were preserved were objects of strange vicissitudes from time to time. In the year 1528 the Deformers, under the Prince of Orange, despoiled the reliquary of its costly jewels. Again, in 1793, another casket, more beautiful than the first, was carried oft to Brussels, by the French, and there melted down. The present casket, an exquisite work of art, was wrought by a celebrated goldsmith of Mechlin, and rests, as we have already said, over the high altar of the church. In the south aisle of the cathedral a series of twenty-five panel paintings adorn the walls. These were executed by famous Flemish artists (fifteenth and sixteenth centuries), and having been removed to Paris by the French, were restored in 1813. The chimes of the cathedral tower rival those of Bruges, as the finest and most perfect in Belgium. It may be noted that St Rumold's cathedral, among the many works of religious art that adorn it, contains, in the south transept,' The Crucifixion,' by Van Dyck, which is admitted to be the great artist's masterpiece. It is a marvellous composition every detail of the picture bears the closest inspection. In an earlier part of this essay we remarked that St Rumoldus is seldom thought of in Ireland, and perhaps we might add that only a limited amount of veneration is accorded him in the land of his birth. But, in touching upon this subject, it is pleasing to note that in one church of the metropolitan city of Ath-Cliath (the ancient territory over which he once ruled as Prince-Bishop), the church of Rathgar, a fine life-size statue of this royal St and martyr may be seen in one of the niches of the triforium of the sanctuary. It stands at the extreme right, facing the figure of St Laurence O'Toole. The three intervening recesses are fitly occupied by the figures of the 'Three Patrons of Ireland,' to whom the parish is dedicated. This shows that our Irish St had not escaped the thought of the learned and venerable Dean Maher, P.P., through whose zeal the fine classic church of Rathgar as well as that of Rathmines were erected just a century ago (1822).It is regrettable that the names of the saints of Ireland are not remembered by Irish parents when giving names to their children at baptism. Perhaps, this suggestion might be more effectively carried out if children were given names chosen from the Irish calendar of saints on the festal day of Confirmation. This custom, if more generally adopted, would give the youth of Ireland a deeper interest in the lives and virtues of the saints of the land that bore them. In the advent of the brighter times that are dawning over the destinies of Ireland, the history of the country will need to be re-cast or re-written. Hitherto, for centuries past, it was the policy of alien rulers to stifle the national aspirations of our nation, to suppress the use of its native language, and blot away the memories of the glorious achievements of saints and sages, heroes and scholars, who once won for Ireland the right of being styled ' the light of Western Europe.' That day is happily gone. The story of Ireland, her glories and sorrows, and the speaking of her native tongue will be no longer ... bann'd and barred forbidden fare. Let us hope that in the near future a full and impartial history of Ireland will be compiled by competent scholars and willing pens. Manuscript materials for such a task are available in abundance. In days of political troubles and of religious persecution these national treasures were scattered through the libraries of the Continent Rome, Milan, Vienna, Salamanca, Switzerland, Brussels, Louvain, and other university centres. Not a few may be found nearer home, at Oxford, the British Museum, London, and in Trinity College, the R.I. Academy, and the Franciscan Library, Dublin. Over many of these vellum pages, in far-off times, our ancient scribes spent long years of incessant labour and literary toil. May we hope they may be yet, and soon, unfolded and their contents brought to light. Speramus.