Above: Vatican Flag
SAINT GREGORY OF OSTIA (DIED 1044)
Roman Catholic Abbot, Cardinal, and Legate
His feast transferred from May 9
mentor of
SAINT DOMINIC OF THE CAUSEWAY (DIED CIRCA 1109)
Roman Catholic Hermit
His feast = May 12
St. Gregory of Ostia, an abbot, was a man known for his wisdom and the holiness of his life. In 1034 or so Pope Benedict IX (reigned 1032-1044; 1045; 1047-1048) named the saint Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia and papal librarian. Later St. Gregory served as papal legate to Navarre and Castille, on the Iberian peninsula. He established various religious practices, such as processions and fasts, there, improving public morals by them.
One person whose life St. Gregory of Ostia touched was St. Dominic of the Causeway. St. Dominic, a Basque, had tried several times to join the Benedictines, to no avail. So he became a hermit at Rjola then a follower and St. Gregory. St. Dominic became a hermit in the forest near La Calzada, on the road to Compostela, after the legate’s death. The hermit saint built a highway, a bridge, and a hostel for pilgrims traveling to Compostela. Thus he is the patron of civil engineers.
I understand why certain saints (both canonized and not) have needed to live apart from other people. Some of us are born as introverts. This is the way God has fashioned us, so introversion is not a fault. Some societies, cultures, and subcultures favor extroversion, a way of being which is proper for those whom God as made to be extroverts. And my experiences (mostly bad, by the way) with Evangelicalism reveal it to favor extroversion. But may we never fail to honor God’s introverts and those who mentor them. Perhaps you, O reader, are an introvert. If so, be the best and holiest one possible, by grace. And/or maybe God has called you to mentor and support an introvert or introverts. Then do that–and always for the glory of God.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lord Jesus, who retired to solitude for prayer,
we thank you for the holy lives and legacies of
Saints Gregory of Ostia and Dominic of the Causeway.
May their examples inspire us to seek and find you by the means you have chosen for each of us,
to support each other in holiness,
and not to scorn each other’s introversion or extroversion.
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and in the communion of saints. Amen.
Isaiah 30:15-18
Psalm 63
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
Luke 5:12-16
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
APRIL 7, 2012 COMMON ERA
HOLY SATURDAY
THE FEAST OF SAINTS MONTFORD SCOTT, EDMUND GENNINGS, HENRY WALPOLE, AND THEIR FELLOW MARTYRS
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE, FOUNDER OF THE CHRISTIAN BROTHERS
THE FEAST OF THE SAINTS AND MARTYRS OF THE AMERICAS
THE FEAST OF SAINT TIKHON, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW
Leave a Reply