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|
 Feast day of St Philomena
(Filomena; Filumena;
Philumena; Philomene; Thaumaturga of the 19th Century;
Wonder Worker of the 19th Century)
St
Philomena is one of many saints, such as Valentine,
who the Roman Catholic Church had to let go of because serious
doubts surrounded their historical veracity. Little is known about
her, but she is believed to have been a child saint in the early
days of the Church, aged about 12-14 at the time of her death. Any
'historical' knowledge at all of St Philomena's life has been
revealed by divine revelation.
Her
remains were discovered on May
24, 1802
in St Priscilla's
catacomb in Rome.
The inscriptions found on terra cotta slabs which formed the sides
of her vault (an anchor, two arrows, a lance, a palm and a lily)
indicated to some that she suffered a Christian martyr's
death. Also inside the tomb were discovered her relics
including a vase containing her dried blood. Basically, she only
became venerated because Canon Francis de Lucia of Mugnano, Italy, when seeing her relics, got a
warm inner glow.
However,
there was another thing that helped the devout pole-vault to the
conclusion that the remains were of a martyred Christian saint: the
inscription on three tiles, namely LUMENA / PAXTE / CUMFI. It had no meaning to the
excavators or even the devout ones who gathered round, until someone
noticed that by rearranging the tiles, the intelligible sentence
emerges: PAX TECUM, FILUMENA, which is 'Peace be with you,
Philomena'. On this slim evidence a powerful cult arose which
continues to this day.
The
Catholic
Encyclopedia, taking the now skeptical line of the Church,
writes: "The view, then erroneously entertained in Rome,
that the presence of such vessels (supposed to have contained the
martyr's blood) in a grave was a symbol of martyrdom, has been
rejected in practice since the investigations of De Rossi … a
canon of the church in Mugnano, named Di Lucia, composed a purely
fictitious and romantic account of the supposed martyrdom of St.
Philomena, who is not mentioned in any of the ancient sources."
Her
cultus was
suppressed by Pope John XXIII
, with good cause, as there was a total lack of information about
her life. Yet she had been very significant in the Catholic roll of
saints, even being declared a thaumaturga (wonder worker),
with many popes praising her and believing that they received
personal favours from her. On February 14, 1961,
prior to the Second Vatican Council, the
Sacred Congregation of Rites in Rome issued an instruction that St.
Philomena's feast day, August
11, was to be removed from the calendar. This, however, did not
in any way mean that the Church no longer considered her a Roman
Catholic Saint.
Although
suppressed by the Church, her cultus didn't die (there is even an online petition to
reinstate her), and shrines to her still exist. At the main one, the
Shrine
Church of Saint Philomena located in Mugnano, Italy in the
diocese of Nola, near Naples, her statue exuded 'manna', a
miraculous oil, on August 10, 1823. Or, so it is
said. That particular church celebrates her birthday on January 10.
Gregory
XVI appointed a special feast to be held on September 9,
but this, too, is no longer commemorated by the Church as a whole.
Philomena
is the only Catholic saint to have performed all of her miracles
post-mortem. She went on to become one of the two most popular
saints of the 19th Century.
Her
patronage includes babies, barrenness, bodily ills, children, children of Mary,
desperate causes, forgotten causes, impossible causes, infants, infertility, lost causes, Living Rosary, newborns, poor people, priests, sick people, sickness, sterility, toddlers, young people, youth.
She is represented in art with an anchor, or arrows.
Dog Days, ancient Rome (Jul 3 - Aug 11), final day
In olden days it was believed that July's warmth,
and the associated diseases, were to do with the heliacal rising and
setting of the star Canicula – the Little Dog, or Dog Star (Sirius).
Thus they called the period from July 3 to August 11 'the Dog
Days'.
 Sirius comes from the Greek word seirios, meaning
'scorching'. However, another explanation exists for the naming
of the Dog Star: the Egyptians named it after Sihor, the Nile, and the
Romans altered this to Sirius. According to Greek
mythology, Sirius was seen as the dog of Orion the hunter, and he was also called kyon,
Greek for dog.
Panathenaea,
ancient Athens, in
honour of goddess Athena
(c. Aug 8
- 17)
Fourth
day: musical contests.
Feast day of St Agathangelus
Nourry
A medieval charcoal burner
Feast day of St Alexander the
Charcoal Burner
On July 21, we
looked at two 'Holy Fools', St Procopius and St Simeon, holy men
whose behaviour baffled the pious. Alexander is another. Out of
humility, he took up the work of burning charcoal, so as to escape
worldly honours. Naturally enough, he became very dirty and was
looked down upon by society.
"Well-born,
educated, and erudiate [sic] 3rd century Greek with philosophical training. Convert to Christianity. To escape
his pagan roots and live for God, he left his native area and became
a charcoal burner at Comana,
Pontus, Asia Minor. Noted for being exceptionally
ragged and filthy.
"When Saint Gregory
Thaumaturgus oversaw a council of laymen and religious to pick a
bishop for Comana, he told them to
ignore outward appearance, and choose the most spiritual person
among them. Alexander, dressed in his work rags, and covered in soot
and dirt, was dragged forward, apparently as a joke. He tried to
play dumb, but when Gregory
ordered him to be honest, he admitted his education, his study of
the Scriptures, and his life of living as a 'fool for Christ.'
Scrubbed and robed, the council questioned him, recognized his
spiritual wisdom, and chose him as their bishop." Source
Feast day of St Attracta
(Abaght; Adhracht;
Araght; Taraghta), dragonslayer
Attracta was an Irish saint –
the Celtic version of her name is Araght – who lived in the 5th
Century; she
was the daughter of a noble family (her father was Cathbad of
Gregraide of Lough Techet, aka Lough Gara) and a
contemporary of St Patrick (c. 385 - March 17, 461)
from whom she received the veil. She is reputed to have defeated a
dragon that was killing farmers' livestock. Numerous places in Ireland were named
after her, for example Killaraght
(Cill Attracta) and Cloghan Araght. The convents she
founded were known for their care of the sick, and were traditionally
built at crossroads so they would accessible to travellers. The hospice she
established near Lough Gara was operational for a thousand years,
closing in 1539.
Attracta is
the patron saint of the parish of
Tourlestrane,
Co. Sligo,
Ireland. Toberaraght
at Tample,
County Mayo, is another place named for her, and has a shrine and sacred well
which pilgrims traditionally visited on August 11. There they prayed and a 'pattern'
took place afterwards. (A pattern is an Irish celebration associated
with a patron saint, whence the name. Although each parish has its
own patron, there are only relatively few whose patrons' festivals
are commemorated by the annual celebration of a pattern.) At
Attracta's Pattern, one would find horse and donkey races and tug-o'-war.
Another pattern venue was about seven miles south of Tample in
Urlaur, held on August 4,
and tradition held that if it rained on Urlaur Pattern, Tample on
August 11 would enjoy fine weather, and vice-versa.
At
Clogher
Monastery there is a healing well bearing her name; people have
used it to rid themselves of warts and rickets (a pity they
didn't know about vitamin D in those days). Attracta was
incredibly popular in her own day and in the Middle Ages when
fantastic biographies of her circulated, with some wonderful tales:
"[King
of Connacht] carried away some hostages from the area known as
Leyney, and held them in his strongholds. Soon their friends
liberated them, but the King of Connacht and his troops followed
them and came upon them at Killaraght, surrounded them on the land
side, leaving no room to escape, except through the Lake which was
impassable. However, Attracta, who lived in her Convent on the Shore
of Lough Gara, came to their rescue by opening a passage for them
through the waters of Lough Gara. Immediately the waters of the lake
divided and the people of Leyney marched through to the opposite
shore.
"Another tale concerning the same Chief of Leyney
and his people,who were harassed by a ferocious wild beast ravaging
the country about the Gap in the Parish of Kilmacteige in County
Sligo, requesting the help of Attracta to rid the inhabitants of
this scourge, which ended in success. One account states that she
dispatched the animal with her staff, similar in appearance to a
small crozier. Another version is that the Lady killed the monster,
half dragon-half bear, with her own hands." Source
Saints,
dragons and serpents in the Book of days
Feast day of St Blane
 Feast day of St Clare of
Assisi (formerly August 12)
Born Chiara
Offreduccio (July 16, 1193 - August
11, 1253),
the patron saint of laundry workers and
-
yes -
television, Clare was the
founder of the Order of Poor Ladies (Poor
Clares) Franciscan
order of nuns, who slept on the ground,
ate no meat, and seldom spoke. She was eighteen when she was
inspired by one of St Francis of Assisi's sermons.
Her patronage also includes embroiderers, eye disease,
gold workers, good weather, needle workers, telegraphs, telephones, and television writers.
And why TV? Because, when she was old and too ill to
attend Mass, an image of the service would display on the wall of
Clare's cell. In 1958, Pope
Pius XII
designated her as the patron saint of
television. But was it plasma?
More
Fiesta
de Santa Clara, Santa
Clara Pueblo, New
Mexico, USA
At the Native American pueblo called
Santa Clara, formerly called K'hapoo
(Where the wild roses grow near the water), today (St Clare's
or Clara's day) is a day for a corn dance in which women wear
headdresses painted like cloudy skies. At the peak of the dry
season, the people pray for rain while four runners take off in the
four points of the compass. Dancers move to the sound of a willow
drum, while men wear tufts of pine and stamp loudly on the ground.
The
pueblo is home to Tewa speakers who inhabited Puyé Cliff Dwellings
on Santa Clara Canyon for about three centuries before moving to
their currnt location in about 1550. They
returned to their traditional homeland after the Pueblo Revolt (August 10, 1680, qv) but
soon returned to the present-day pueblo.
Day of honour for Oddudua
(cognate of St Clare of
Assisi), the Mother of All Gods, Santería
Oddudua, is also "creator of the bodies of human beings. She is
represented in Catholicism by St. Clare. Santeria came from the
banks of the Niger river with West African tribes such as the
Yoruba. It was carried to the Caribbean and South America, where it
became known as Regla de Ocha (The Rule of the Orisha). Santeria as
it is practiced today is a mixture of African beliefs, Catholicism,
Indian folklore, and Mesa Blanca – the French scientific
spiritualism of Allan Kardek. Related through their African origins
and mixture with Native American and Catholicism, something much
like Santeria is called Lucumi in Cuba, Candomble and Macumba in
Brazil, and Voudoun in Haiti and New Orleans."
Source:
Earth, Moon and Sky
"Santería (literally, Way of the
Saints – preferred terms among practitioners include Lukumí and
Regla de Ocha) is a set of related religious systems that fuse Catholic
beliefs with traditional Yoruba
religion, practiced by black slaves and their descendants in
Cuba, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Panama and Hispanic
population centers in the United States
such as Florida, New
York, and California."
Source:
Wikipedia
"According to some, Oddudua
is the wife of Obatalá. One myth tells of how the supreme being
Oludomare sent Obatalá down to earth to createpeople. When
Obatalá arrived on earth, he landed on a palm tree. There inthe
tree he drank some fermented palm juice and got drunk. In his
altered stateObatalá created deformed people and then fell
asleep in the palm tree. Seeing this from heaven, Oludomare was
displeased and sent down Oddudua to doObatalá's job. Oddudua
created people, but when Obatalá awoke, hewas upset that Oddudua
had done his job and wanted credit for what Oddudua haddone.
Lázaro exquisitely sings this song for Oddudua."
Source
(Note
that in Yorùbá
mythology, Odùduwà is male,
just as in Santería, the god Obàtálá is the equivalent of
Our Lady of Mercy.)
Feast day of St Gaugericus
(Gery), bishop
Feast day of St John
Becchetti
Feast day of St Lelia
Feast day of St Susanna, virgin and martyr
(China aster, Aster chinensis
is
today's plant, dedicated to this saint.)
Feast day of St Taurinus
Feast day of Ss Tiburtius, martyr, and Chromatius, confessor
Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days Shop saints
Victory of Haik
over Bel, Armenia
Source: The Phoenix and
Arabeth 1992 Calendar
Kochi Yosaki
Matsuri, at Oji, Japan (Aug 9 - 12)
Commemoration
of St Spyridon's Miracle in Corfu against the Turkish invasion of
1716 (Orthodox)
Festival of St Spyridon, Karies, Greece
August 11 and 12, a
two-day open-air fiesta held annually in the Greek village of Karies,
on the Ionian island of Levkas; it is held in honour of Agios Spyridon (St
Spyridon).
Procession of St Spyridon
the Wonder Worker of Trimythous, Corfu
Patron Saint of
Corfu, Greece, his feast day in the Orthodox
calendar is December 12.
Osaka Castle Takigi-noh, Osaka Castle,
Nishinomaru Park, Chuo-ku, Osaka City, Japan (Aug 11 - 12)
"Noh theatre is performed by firelight as part of a
religious ritual. There is an admission fee." Source
Puck Fair,
Killorglin, on the Ring of Kerry, in County Kerry, Ireland (Aug 10 - 12)
Sergipano Folk Festival; Laranjeiras, Brazil
Heroes Day, Zimbabwe
On which day of the week were you born? Find out here
1718 Sir Frederick Haldimand, professional
soldier
1807 David Rice Atchison (d. 1886), American politician
1833
Robert
G Ingersoll (d. July
21, 1899),
American Civil War colonel, American agnostic political leader and orator,
iconoclast and author (Why
I am an Agnostic, 1896), noted for his broad range of culture
and his defence of freethinking. Many of Ingersoll's speeches
advocated
freethought and
humanism, and often poked fun at religious
belief.
Complete
Works
Works by Robert G Ingersoll at
Project Gutenberg
Robert Green Ingersoll Museum
Works by Robert G Ingersoll
Ingersoll biography
Ingersoll Chronology Project
Ingersoll Memorial Home Page from the
Council for Secular Humanism
1892 Hugh
MacDiarmid (pen-name of Christopher Murray Grieve; d. September
9, 1978), Scottish poet
whose commitment to Marxism-Leninism, and popularity amongst the
intelligentsia, increased after the 1956 invasion of Hungary
by the USSR. Curious.
1897
Enid Blyton
(d. November
28, 1968), British
children's
author, immensely
successful writer of approximately 800 children's books, selling
selling more than 400 million copies worldwide. Despite, or perhaps because of, her
unrivalled popularity amongst children, and due to perceptions of
political incorrectness, she seldom made the official
lists of 20th-Century children's authors, and was
frequently blacklisted by libraries.
More than 300 of her titles are still in print. By one
measure, Blyton is the fifth most popular author worldwide: more
than 3,400 of translations her books are available in 2007 according
to
UNESCO's
Index Translationum; she is behind
Lenin but ahead of
Shakespeare.
Biography www.blyton.com
1902 Lloyd Nolan (d. 1982), actor
1905 Erwin Chargaff
(d. 2002), biochemist
1912 Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs (d. 1954), astronomer
1921 Alex
Haley (d. 1992), historian, novelist (Roots)
"In 1977 Roots won the National
Book Award and a special Pulitzer Prize. The book sold in one year
more than million copies. It challenged the view of black history
as explored in such works as Stanley M. Elkin's Slavery
(1959). Slaves did not give up all their ties to African culture,
but humor, songs, words and folk beliefs survived. The book
showed that the oppressed never became docile: Kunta Kinte
suffered amputation of a foot for his repeated attempts to run
away. He valued his heritage so much that he never accepted the
ways of his slave masters and insisted on being called by his
real name Kinte, not by his slave name Toby."
Source
The Kunta Kinte – Alex
Haley Foundation
1925 Carl Rowan, journalist
1925 Mike Douglas,
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