June 1: Vigil of the Ascension, Class II

Pietro Perugino, 1496-1500



June 1 - St Inigo (Eneco) OSB

St Inigo and the Ascension of the BVM
de Goya, 1746-1828

The Roman Martyrology (though not the OSB calendar) today lists St Inigo, a hermit turned Benedictine abbot, amongst the saints of the day, so I thought I'd provide a little background on him.

The Martyrology says:

"Near Burgos in Spain, in the monastery of Onia, St Inigo, A Benedictine Abbot, famous for holiness and the glory of miracles."

Catholic Online provides a few more details:

"Inigo, also known as Eneco, born in the eleventh century, was a native of Bilbao, Spain. Early in his life he became a hermit. Next he went to Aragon where he became a monk at San Juan de Pena, and eventually he was elected Prior. When his term was completed, Inigo again took up the life of a hermit in the Aragon mountains.

However, in 1029, King Sancho the Great convinced Inigo to become Abbot of a group of monks in a monastery at Ona. The monastery, founded by Sancho's father-in-law, was in need of reform, and he wanted Inigo to lead the process. Inigo was very successful in the reform movement, and he developed a reputation as a peacemaker. Moreover, some attributed miracles to his intercession.

He died at Ona on June 1, 1057, and was canonized by Pope Alexander IV in 1259.

St. Inigo from his earliest years was drawn to both the contemplative and the eremitical life. A man of God, he was able to bring peace and harmony to the monastery at Ona, and he won over others to the reasonableness and satisfaction of leading the monastic life to its fullest. What is more, the good example of the monks helped the people who lived in the area to become convinced of the beauty and satisfaction of a life lived in God's presence and love."

St Ignatius of Loyola was named after him (he adopted Ignatius as an easier to use Europeanized version of his name for use in France and Italy).

The lead up to Ascension: Minor Rogation Days

Rogation days are traditionally days of prayer (with the litany of the saints being sung) and fasting.

The custom of Rogation Day processions, including the singing of the litany of the saints, in the lead up to the Feast of the Ascension ('the lesser litanies') has largely been lost these days.  The picture above is of the traditional blessing of the fields on these days (appropriate at this time of the year if you are in the Northern Hemisphere at least!), taken in Kent in 1967.  The other common practice was the "beating the bounds", in which a procession would proceed around the boundary of the parish and pray for its protection in the forthcoming year.

May 27: St Bede the Venerable OSB, Doctor of the Church, Class III

The reading from Matins:

"Bede the priest was born at Jarrow, on the borders of England and Scotland. When a monk, he so arranged his life as to devote himself completely to the study of the liberal arts and sacred doctrine, without in any way relaxing the discipline of the Rule. There was no kind of learning in which he was not thoroughly versed ; but his special interest was the study of the Scriptures ; and when he was made a priest, he undertook the task of explaining the holy books. In doing so, he adhered to the teaching of the holy Fathers so closely that he would say nothing not already approved by their judgment, and he even made use of their very words. Abhorring laziness, he would go straight from reading to prayer and from prayer to reading. To raise the level of morality among Christians and to defend and spread the faith, he wrote many books, which gained him such a reputation with everyone that his writings were publicly read in churches during his own lifetime. At length, worn out with age and labours, he fell asleep peacefully in the Lord. Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the universal Church."

May 26: St Augustine of Canterbury OSB, Apostle of England, Class III

St Augustine (d 604) and forty monk companions were famously dispatched to convert England by Pope St Gregory the Great, who had become aware of the decline of Britain into paganism (it had after all been christianized in the Roman era) after seeing some Angles in the slavemarket.

St Augustine only got part way on his journey before getting cold feet, persuaded of the difficulties of operating in a land whose language he did not speak. St Gregory urged him onwards though, and the monks proved effective re-evangelizers, assisted by the fact that that the King of Kent had married a Christian princess and had allowed her freedom of worship.

The monks converted the locals by their preaching and example according to St Bede:

"…they began to emulate the life of the apostles and the primitive Church. They were constantly at prayer; they fasted and kept vigils; they preached the word of life to whomsoever they could….Before long a number of heathen, admiring the simplicity of their holy lives and the comfort of their heavenly message, believed and were baptized..."

St Augustine established schools and monasteries, and set about organising the missionary effort more broadly in England. His life was marked by miracles, and he was quickly acclaimed as a saint on his death.

St Augustine pray for us.

May 25: Feast of St Gregory VII OSB

The reading from Matins:

"Pope Gregory VII, the former Hildebrand, was born near Soana in Tuscany. As noble as any of the nobility in learning, in holiness and in every kind of virtue, he was a shining light to the whole Church of God. As a young man, he donned the religious habit at the monastery of Cluny, and served God with such zeal and devotion that he was chosen Prior by the holy religious of that monastery. Later, he was made Abbot of the monastery of St. Paul-outside-the-Walls, and then Cardinal of the Roman Church, performing noteworthy services and missions under Popes Leo IX, Victor II, Stephen IX, Nicholas II and Alexander II. At the death of Alexander, he was unanimously elected Pope, and stood out as a most zealous promoter and defender of the freedom of the Church, for which he suffered many things, even having to leave Rome. His last words, as he lay dying, were : I have loved righteousness and hated iniquity, and therefore I am dying in exile. He went to heaven in year of salvation 1085, and his body was buried with honour in the Cathedral of Salerno."

May 24: Our Lady Help of Christians: world day of prayer for China

Today is the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, patroness of Australia and New Zealand and other places, so do spare a prayer for the conversion of those countries if you would. 

But Pope Benedict XVI has particularly asked that this be a day of prayer for the persecuted faithful in China, and has composed a prayer to be said for this purpose:

Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother,

venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title "Help of Christians",
the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection.

We come before you today to implore your protection.

Look upon the People of God and, with a mother’s care, guide them
along the paths of truth and love, so that they may always be
a leaven of harmonious coexistence among all citizens.

When you obediently said "yes" in the house of Nazareth,
you allowed God’s eternal Son to take flesh in your virginal womb
and thus to begin in history the work of our redemption.

You willingly and generously cooperated in that work,
allowing the sword of pain to pierce your soul,
until the supreme hour of the Cross, when you kept watch on Calvary,
standing beside your Son, who died that we might live.

From that moment, you became, in a new way,
the Mother of all those who receive your Son Jesus in faith
and choose to follow in his footsteps by taking up his Cross.

Mother of hope, in the darkness of Holy Saturday you journeyed
with unfailing trust towards the dawn of Easter.

Grant that your children may discern at all times,
even those that are darkest, the signs of God’s loving presence.

Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China,
who, amid their daily trials, continue to believe, to hope, to love.

May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world,
and of the world to Jesus.

In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on high,
offering him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love.

Help Catholics always to be credible witnesses to this love,
ever clinging to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built.

Mother of China and all Asia, pray for us, now and for ever. Amen!

And for a little Australiana, a hymn composed for the feast: