Above:  Italy in 1815

SAINT ANTHONY MARY GIANELLI (1789-1846)

Founder of the Missioners of Saint Alphonsus Liguori and the Sisters of Mary dell’Orto

St. Anthony Mary Gianelli, born near Genoa, on the Italian peninsula, studied for the priesthood at Genoa.  Ordained in 1812, he became a famed confessor, preacher, and pastor.  The saint founded two orders–the Missioners of Saint Alphonsus Liguori and the Sisters of Mary dell’Orto–devoted to caring for the sick.  His final position was Bishop of Bobbio, a post he held from 1838 to 1846.  The Roman Catholic Church canonized him in 1951.

Members of religious orders have performed many vital tasks over the centuries.  These have usually involved educating people and tending to their physical and spiritual needs, which overlap.  Other religious devote their lives to missionary work or intercessory prayer.  The areas of specialization permit people to focus on and to excel at meeting specific ministerial needs.  So I thank God for these people; may their numbers increase.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 8, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT BENEDICT II, BISHOP OF ROME

THE FEAST OF DAME JULIAN OF NORWICH, SPIRITUAL WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MAGDALENA OF CANOSSA, FOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY AND THE SONS OF CHARITY

THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER OF TARENTAISE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP

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O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich:

Deliver us from an inordinate love of this world, that we,

inspired by the devotion of your servant Saint Anthony Mary Gianelli,

may serve you with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Song of Songs 8:6-7

Psalm 34

Philippians 3:7-15

Luke 12:33-37 or 9:57-62

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 722

Above:  Gaul in 714

SAINT CLAUDE BESANCON (DIED CIRCA 699)

Roman Catholic Priest, Monk, Abbot, and Bishop

It is common, when reading about pre-Congregation saints, to have few facts yet numerous reports of reputations of sanctity.  Such is the case with St. Claude of Besancon.  He came from a Gallic family, one where the presumed career path for him was military.  Yet the saint became a priest instead.  He served as a priest at Besancon for twelve years before becoming a monk at Condat Abbey in, in the Jura Mountains.  In time the saint governed  the monastery as its abbot.  In that role he introduced the Rule of St. Benedict there.  The saint’s next position was Bishop of Besancon (685-692), after which he retired to Condat Abbey, where he spent the rest of his life.

The facts place St. Claude in time and space.  And they tell us the kind of choices he made:  he pursued a life of service to others and to God.  And, as a monastic, he participated in a system which helped preserve Western civilization.  Note, O reader, the chronology:  St. Claude lived and died during the early part of what we call the Middle Ages (476/500-1492/1500, depending on whom one asks).  He faced daily challenges we cannot imagine in 2012; his world, so to speak, no longer exists.  May we, drawing inspiration from his example, succeed, by grace, of course, in living faithfully in our contexts.  And, if even the memory that we were righteous survives 1300 years from now, we will be rare cases indeed.  But God will know, and that matters most of all.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 6, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER, YEAR B

THE FEAST OF MIDDLETON STUART BARNWELL, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF GEORGIA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS EDBERT AND EADFRITH OF LINDISFARNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS

THE FEAST OF SAINTS EDWARD JONES AND ANTHONY MIDDLETON, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS

THE FEAST OF JEANNETTE RANKIN, UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE

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Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses:

Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant Saint Claude of Besancon,

may persevere in running the race that is set before us,

until at last we may with him attain to your eternal joy;

through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Micah 6:6-8

Psalm 15

Hebrews 12:1-2

Matthew 25:31-40

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 724

Above:  Southern Europe in 1550

SAINT FRANCIS CARACCIOLO (1563-1608)

Cofounder of the Minor Clerks Regular (the Adorno Fathers)

Then the king will say  those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take as your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome, lacking clothes and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me….In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”

–Matthew 25:34, 35, 40 (The New Jerusalem Bible)

As I pondered the best way to contextualize the life of St. Francis Caracciolo, that passage came to mind.  To follow that ethic is the proper vocation of every righteous person.  The recitation of facts regarding the saint’s life constitutes commentary.  So I commence with the commentary.

The saint, born Ascenio Caracciolo, entered this world at Villa Santa Maria, Abruzzi, Italy.  At age twenty-two he suffered from a serious disease–perhaps leprosy or a skin condition.  He promised the rest of his life to God if he recovered.  The saint regained his health and began to study for the priesthood.  Ordained at Naples, he began to minister to prisoners.  In 1588 the saint and Father John Augustine Adorno, with twelve others, founded the Minor Clerks Regular, or the Adorno Fathers.  Their mission was to minister to the sick and the imprisoned.  Pope Sixtus V approved the order that year, and Adorno became the first superior of the nascent order. The order opened houses across Italy and Spain.  Then Adorno died, so Caracciolo succeeded him and continued the good work for seven years.  Then he retired to become prior of Santa Maria Maggiore and master of novices there.  The saint died at Agnone, Italy, where he had founded a new house.

That is the summary of a life which lasted for forty-five years.  It was a life of good works in the name of Jesus.  May your legacy, O reader, also be one of service to others in the name of God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 6, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER, YEAR B

THE FEAST OF MIDDLETON STUART BARNWELL, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF GEORGIA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS EDBERT AND EADFRITH OF LINDISFARNE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS

THE FEAST OF SAINTS EDWARD JONES AND ANTHONY MIDDLETON, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS

THE FEAST OF JEANNETTE RANKIN, UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE

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Heavenly Father, Shepherd of your people,

we thank you for your servant Saint Francis Caracciolo,

who was faithful in the care and nurture of his flock;

and we pray that, following his example and the teaching of his holy life,

we may by your grace grow into the stature and fullness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Ezekiel 34:11-16

Psalm 23

1 Peter 5:1-4

John 21:15-17

—Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 718