Straight talk from the traditional Martyrology

Today's entry for the Roman Martyrology includes:

At Scythopolis in Palestine, St Severian, Bishop and Martyr, who was slain by the Monophysites because he opposed them so zealously.

and ...

At Damascus, St Peter Mavimenus, who said to certain Arabs who came to him in his sickness: "Every man who does not embrace the Catholic Christian faith is damned as Mohammed, your false prophet, was" and was slain by them.

Not surprisingly, these saints are absent in the new Martyrology that appeared in 2004 from the Vatican Press -- one of the last liturgical books to be "reformed."

 And just at a time when we could use a few more shepherds who zealously oppose heresy, and a few more courageous men who speak the truth about Islam.

St. Catherine of Alexandria — broken on the Consilium's wheel

As one who has spent many years of my life studying and teaching philosophy, I have always felt a special devotion to St. Catherine of Alexandria -- or at least, ever since I first learned of her existence and patronage.

Saints of the Old Testament: Samuel, prophet

Almost a year ago, this series on the Old Testament saints began with reflections on the commemorations of Sts. Josue (Joshua), Gedeon (Gideon), and Anna. Today, on the 11th Sunday After Pentecost and the feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux according to the traditional calendar of the Roman Church, we now come to the conclusion of this yearly cycle with reflections upon a final Old Testament saint who is commemorated in the traditional Roman Martyrology:

This Day, the Twentieth Day of August

In the territory of Langres, the demise of St. Bernard, first abbot of Clairvaux, illustrious for virtues, learning, and miracles. He was declared Doctor of the universal Church by the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius VIII. 

In Judea, the holy prophet Samuel, whose sacred relics (as is related by St. Jerome), were taken to Constantinople by the emperor Arcadius, and deposited near Septimus.

The prophet St. Samuel anoints David, eighth son of Jesse, as King of Israel

Saints of the Old Testament: The Holy Maccabees, martyrs

Martyrdom of the Seven Maccabees

Antonio Ciseri, 1868

On this day, the Catholic Church calls on the intercession the Holy Maccabees -- seven Jewish brothers and their mother and a priest named Eleazar martyred in 167 B.C. by the monstrous prototype of the Antichrist known to history as Antiochus Epiphanes. As St. Paul wrote to the Hebrews, these nine "were racked, not accepting deliverance, that they might find a better resurrection" (Heb. 11:35, citing II Macc. 7:9-14). The traditional Roman Martyrology commemorates the Holy Maccabees in these words:

This Day, the First Day of August

At Rome, on Mount Esquiline, the dedication of the Church of St. Peter in Chains. 

At Antioch, the martyrdom of the seven holy brothers, the Machabees, and their mother, who suffered under king Antiochus Epiphanes. Their relics were transferred to Rome, and placed in the Church of St. Peter, just mentioned.

Saints of the Old Testament: St. Daniel, prophet

While the Roman Church's traditional calendar of saints on this day bestows chief honor upon the holy virgin Praxedes, next in order after St. Praxedes the traditional Roman Martyrology also recalls her children's memory to an Old Testament saint who was blessed with the singular grace of seeing remarkably detailed visions and uttering astoundingly precise predictions of the course of the history of Israel, the Church, and the world:

This Day, the Twenty-First Day of July

At Rome, the holy virgin Praxedes, who was brought up in all chastity and in the knowledge of the divine law. Assiduously attending to watching, prayer and fasting, she rested in Christ, and was buried near her sister Pudentiana, on the Salarian road. 

At Babylon, the holy prophet Daniel.

St. Daniel, whose name in Hebrew means "God is my judge," was a heroically virtuous young Jewish man whom the Babylonians carried away from Jerusalem into captivity in 605-604 B.C.

Saints of the Old Testament: Sts. Joel and Esdras, prophets

Heading the list of saints for this day in the traditional Roman Martyrology is the martyr Pope St. Anacletus, third Bishop of Rome and second Successor of St. Peter. Immediately following St. Anacletus in the Martyrology, however, are two Old Testament saints, holy men who were among those God sent to help prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah:

This Day, the Thirteenth Day of July

At Rome, St. Anacletus, Pope and martyr, who governed the Church of God after St. Clement, and shed luster on it by a glorious martyrdom. 

The same day, the holy prophets Joel and Esdras.

Saints of the Old Testament: St. Isaias, prophet

As the Church completes her observance of the Octave of Sts. Peter and Paul today, the traditional Roman Martyrology on this day also recalls to our minds the martyrdom of the Old Testament prophet who foresaw not only the marvelous saving works of the Lord Jesus Christ, but even Christ's establishment of the Petrine Office -- the holy prophet Isaias son of Amos:

This Day, the Sixth Day of July

The Octave of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul.

In Judea, the holy prophet Isaias. In the reign of king Manasses he was put to death by being sawed in two and was buried beneath the oak Rogel, near a running stream.

A 1315 painting of St. Isaias in the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena, Italy

Saints of the Old Testament: Sts. Osee and Aggaeus, prophets

On this day, July 4, the traditional Roman Martyrology heads its roll of saints with two Old Testament prophets:

This Day, the Fourth Day of July

The prophets Osee and Aggaeus.

The holy prophets Osee and Aggaeus were the authors of two of the twelve Old Testament books of Minor Prophets.

St. Osee

Osee, or Hosea (Hebrew Hoshea, "Salvation") is identified in the introductory line of his book as "Osee the son of Beeri," to whom the word of the Lord came during the reigns of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam II son of Joas, king of Israel. The historical data found in Osee's book of prophecy indicate that he exercised his prophetic office from circa 750 to 725 B.C.

Saints of the Old Testament: St. Aaron, priest

The month of July is specially dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, and thus the traditional, historic calendar of the Roman Rite commences this month with the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ on July 1 (which is also the octave day of St. John the Baptist's Nativity). Our Lord shed His Precious Blood in an atoning, propitiating sacrifice for our sins, both Priest and Victim of the New Covenant -- and so it is most fitting that the Church on July 1 also commemorates the first High Priest of the Old Covenant, St. Aaron, older brother of St. Moses, for, as St. Paul teaches in his Epistle to the Hebrews (ch. 9:22), "without shedding of blood there is no remission" of sins.

The traditional Roman Martyrology lists the feasts of July 1 thus:

This Day, the First Day of July

The Octave of St. John the Baptist. 

Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

On Mount Hor, the demise of St. Aaron, the first priest of the Levitical Order.

Saints of the Old Testament: St. Job, prophet

St. Job and the pre-incarnate Logos

Listed third in order on this day in the traditional Roman Martyrology is an Old Testament saint who is remembered for excelling in the virtue of patience:

This Day, the Tenth Day of May

. . . In the land of Hus, the holy prophet Job, a man of wonderful patience.

Saints of the Old Testament: Jeremias, prophet and martyr

Michelangelo's Sistine Jeremias the Prophet

Throughout her history, the Catholic Church has adorned the first day of May -- Our Lady's month -- with a wealth of holy feasts and commemorations. Since 1955, May 1 has been the Feast of St. Joseph the Workman, Pope Pius XII having moved the feast to that day from the Wednesday of the second week after Easter in order to challenge the demonic ideologies of socialism and communism which had adopted May Day for their own celebrations. Before 1955, however, May 1 in Roman Catholic tradition was the ancient commemoration of the martyrdoms of the Apostles Philip and James (their feast for several years being moved to May 11 to make way for St. Joseph the Workman before being moved again to May 3), and many traditional Catholics continue to celebrate the Feast of Sts. Philip and James on May 1.

Besides Philip, James, and Joseph, the traditional Roman Martyrology reminds us of the martyrdom of a yet another great saint who is venerated on "This Day, the First Day of May" -- one of the greatest of the Old Testament prophets:

In Egypt, St. Jeremias, prophet, who was stoned to death by the people at Taphnas, where he was interred. St. Epiphanius relates that the faithful were wont to pray at his grave, and to take away from it dust to heal those who were stung by serpents.

Saints of the Old Testament: St. Ezechiel, prophet and martyr

Fra Angelico's "Vision of Ezechiel," 1452, showing the Throne of God's "wheel in the midst of a wheel" (Ezech. 1:16) -- a wheel of Apostles and Evangelists within a wheel of Old Testament Prophets, all gazing upon and drawing inspiration from the rays of the Light Divine, but the Apostles and Evangelists have a closer and clearer vision of the Light.

While the sacred observance of Holy Week is now under way in which the Church relives with her Lord that suffering and death He endured to save her, we also may mark the commemorations of the saints and martyrs who showed forth the Lord's salvation in their own lives and deaths. On this day, the traditional Roman Martyrology presents for our veneration another Old Testament saint -- the holy prophet Ezechiel, author of the Book of Ezechiel, one of the three Major Prophets (so called due to their length). Like so many of his fellow prophets, St. Ezechiel traditionally is said to have been martyred by his countrymen. St. Ezechiel (Hebrew Yehezqel, which means "Whom God strengthens") was an Aaronite priest who in 597 B.C. was carried away from Judah and Jerusalem to Babylon, where over the course of more than two decades God and His angels repeatedly appeared to him in striking visions, revealing to him that Jerusalem would be destroyed but that a new David would arise to restore Israel, and directing him to teach, reprove, and encourage his fellow exiled Jews with his divinely inspired prophecies. St. Ezechiel's name heads the list of saints in the Roman Martyrology for this date, which says:

This Day, the Tenth Day of April

The prophet Ezechiel, who was put to death in Babylon by the Judge of the people of Israel, because he reproved him for worshipping idols. He was buried in the sepulcher of Sem and Arphaxad, Abraham's ancestors. To his tomb many were wont to resort for the purpose of prayer.

Saints of the Old Testament: St. Amos, prophet and martyr

The Call of Amos

By the unknown illustrator of Petrus Comestor's "Bible Historiale," France, 1372

As the month of March draws to a close, the traditional Roman Martyrology presents for our veneration one more Old Testament saint -- another divinely inspired writer of Holy Scripture, author of the Book of Amos, one of the Twelve Minor Prophets, who heads the list of saints in the Roman Martyrology today:

This Day, the Thirtieth-First Day of March

At Thecua, in Palestine, the holy prophet Amos, whom the priest Amasias frequently scourged, and whose temples Ozias, that priest's son, pierced with an iron spike. Being carried half dead to his native place, he expired there and was buried with his forefathers.

Saints of the Old Testament: Sts. Habacuc and Micheas, prophets

Even as the traditional Roman Martyrology yesterday commemorated the heavenly birthday of the prophet St. Malachias, so today the Martyrology again marks the holy deaths of two other Old Testament saints. Heading the list of this day's saints are St. Paul, the first hermit, followed by the abbot St. Maur, disciple of St. Benedict. Third in order for This Day, the Fifteenth of January, we read:

In Judaea, the holy prophets Habacuc and Michaeas, whose bodies were found by divine revelation in the days of Theodosius the Elder.

St. Ambachoum (Habacuc)

Saints of the Old Testament: St. Malachias, prophet

With the conclusion of the Octave of the Epiphany of Our Lord yesterday, the Church now recalls a courageous defender of the doctrine of the Trinity, St. Hilary of Poitiers, and the martyr priest St. Felix of Nola. But third on the list of today's saints in the traditional Roman Martyrology is the heavenly birthday of an Old Testament saint, the holy prophet Malachias:

Saints of the Old Testament: St. David, king and prophet

"The Tree of Jesse"
St. David in a dream foresees his blessed offspring

From the frontispiece of the 15th century breviary of Philippe le Bon

MS 9511 - Royal Library of Belgium-Brussels

And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse,

and a flower shall rise up out of his root.

And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him:

the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding,

the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude,

the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness.

And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes,

nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears.

But he shall judge the poor in righteousness,

and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth:

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.

And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins:

and faith the girdle of his reins . . .

In that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an ensign of the people,

him shall the Gentiles beseech,

and his sepulchre shall be glorious.

(Isaias 11:1-10)

And one of the presbyters said to me: Weep not; behold, the lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

(Apocalypse 5:5)

Saints of the Old Testament: The Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, martyrs

Triumph of the Innocents

William Holman Hunt, 1883-4

Today, the 4th day of Christmas, the Church celebrates the heavenly birthday of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, whom wicked King Herod, seeking to destroy the long-awaited Messiah, slew in the first or second year of the Christian Era.  

Saints of the Old Testament: Sts. Ananias, Azarias and Misael

While the Church Universal today commemorates the heavenly birthday of St. Eusebius of Vercelli, bishop and martyr, she also recalls the exemplary holiness of three Old Testament saints, whose names are enrolled in the traditional Roman Martyrology immediately following that of St. Eusebius:

This Day, the Sixteenth Day of December

St. Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli and martyr, mentioned on the 1st of August, and also on the 15th of this month. 

The young men, Ananias, Azarias and Misael, whose bodies were buried in a cavern at Babylon.

Saints of the Old Testament: St. Sophonias

King Josias obeys the Holy Spirit's prompting to purge the land of false religion

Only two days after the commemoration of the prophet St. Naum, the traditional Roman Martyrology today offers for our veneration another of the holy prophets of the Old Testament -- St. Sophonias, whose book is another of the Minor Prophets. Indeed, this month and September both have a higher number than usual of Old Testament saints' days. St. Sophonias holds a place of honor as second from the top of the list of this day's saints in the Martyrology, immediately after the great apostle of the Orient:

This Day, the Third Day of December

St. Francis Xavier, confessor, of the Society of Jesus, who died on the 2d of this month. 

In Judea, the holy prophet Sophonias.

Saints of the Old Testament: St. Naum

The Fall of Nineveh, John Martin, 1828

With the Advent Season under way, in which we prepare for the coming of the Lord, we today recall another Old Testament saint, the holy prophet Naum, whose book is enrolled in the biblical canon as one of the 12 Minor Prophets.  St. Naum, whom God sent as a messenger of divine judgment against the cruel Assyrian Empire, heads the honorable roll of saints in the traditional Roman Martyrology on this day:

This Day, the First Day of December

The prophet Nahum, who was buried in Begabar