June 11: Vigil of the Pentecost

June 9: SS Primus and Felician

c14th manuscript of the Golden Legend

SS Primus and Felician were brothers martyred around 297 under Diocletian.  Patrician converts, they devoted themselves to serving the poor and prisoners.  When they refused to sacrifice to the gods, they were tortured and subsequently beheaded.

Their relics were translated to the Basilica of St. Stephen in the Round on the Celian Hill in 648, where they remain today.

June 6: St Norbert, Class III

St Norbert, pictured above receiving the Rule of St Augustine from the saint himself, is the founder of the Praemonstatensian (Norbertine) Order.

Born near Colgne in 1080, his father was Count of Gennep.  Ordained a sub-deacon, he lived a life of pleasure, including at court, and declined ordination to the priesthood and even a bishopric.   A near fatal accident, however, led to his conversion.  He undertook to live a life of penance, became a priest, and unsuccessfully attempted to reform the canons of his home town.  For a while he became an itinerant preacher, before being invited to found a religious order by Pope Callixtus II in 1119.

The Norbertines were originally a double order, although men's and women's houses ceased to be co-located later in the middle ages.  Nonetheless, the order of canons and canonesses regular (rather than monks and nuns) grew rapidly, and continues today.

St Norbert was appointed Archbishop of Magdeberg in 1126, where he was a vigorous reformer of church life.  He played an active role in attempts to restore Innocent II to the papacy in the face of schism.  The saint died in 1134.

The reading on the saints life set for Matins can be found on the lecti divina blog from the afternoon before the feast.

June 5: St Boniface OSB, Apostle to Germany, Class III

St Boniface was born around 672 in Devon, St Boniface OSB was actually an English monk called Winfrid until he changed his name when commissioned by the Pope as a missionary in 719. He was made a bishop in 722, and eventually became Archbishop of Germany, which he was primarily responsible for evangelizing.

His methods were, shall we say, rather direct - he famously chopped down Thor's Oak, a pagan sacred tree, daring Thor to strike him down if he was real. The saint is credited with the invention of the Christmas Tree as a replacement symbol for the locals...a classic version of inculturation!

He seems to have also played a key role in the politics of the time, helping the Carolingian dynasty along its way to stardom.

His life has many modern resonances - the picture to the left shows him baptising new converts, but one of his concerns early on was the validity of baptisms being conducted by illiterate priests who couldn't quite get the Trinity to have the correct gender...

He was martyred in 754 at the age of 79 (the lower panel of the picture), making one last attempt to convert Frisia. His attackers were apparently enraged at his destruction of their shrines - their blows cut into a book of the Gospels he held before him.

June 2: Feast of the Ascension, Class I

Giotto, 1266-1337

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).