May 13 St. Andrew Fournet

Another in my series for Parents with Teenagers –

St. Andrew was born into a religious family in France in 1752. His mother insisted he be a priest. He had other ideas. It was a very rocky period during his teenage years. When the family wanted to send him to study for the priesthood in Poitiers, he agreed just to get away from his nagging mother. Once there he began a life of debauchery. The family gave him a ultimatium: Go live with his uncle the priest or lose all financial support. He went to the uncle. He found this priest to be humorous, understanding and firm. A combination definitely needed to calm a wild teenager. The uncle’s good example so moved Andrew that he turned his life around, returned to his studies, and felt the call to a vocation.

Parents of teenagers need to remember they are not alone. The luckiest have that special uncle/aunt/cousin to connect with the child. Many others find that role filled by friends of the parents. Others find those people in churches, schools, scouts, sports, Boys and Girls Clubs. And it is important for the rest of us to remember parents of teenagers need as much support as parents of new babies. Just a different sort of support.

April 11 Blessed George Gervase

George had quite the life. Raised Catholic in England, he was kidnapped by pirates after his parents died when he was 12. He ended up on Sir Francis Drake’s ship, sailing around the world, living the sailor’s life. Upon returning to England he returned to his childhood faith. He became a priest in Flanders. He was  immediately sent on a mission to England during the time the English were killing priests. He survived two years before being arrested and banished. After a pilgrimage to Rome and joining the Benedictines, he once again returned to England. This time he was quickly arrested, sentenced to death, hanged, drawn and quarter at the Tyburn.

March 26 Saint Ludger of Utrecht

St. Ludger was a priest in the Netherlands in the 700s. He traveled around starting monasteries, returning every Fall to Ultrect to teach in the local school. He is best known for two amazing facts.

1) He was reprimanded only once during his life as a priest. As bishop he was reprimanded and renounced for spending too much time on charity work rather than on building and decorating the cathedral.

2) On the day he died he celebrated Mass. Twice.

March 21 St. Enda of Arran and St. Fanchea of Rossory

These two are brother and sister Irish royalty in 500s. St. Facnchea was called early to religious life. She founded a convent in Rossery and was the first abbess. She was a bit if a big sister, knowing what was best for her little brother.

An Irish prince, St. Edna was the son of King Conall Derg of Ergall Ulster. Brother-in-law to King Oengus of Munster, Ireland. He trained as a soldier as a young man and took over the throne upon his father’s death, but gave up his dreams of conquest to marry and settle in as the next king. Big sister Franchea set him up with a beautiful young virgin, but she died after the pledge had been made but before St. Enda could lay eyes on her. Upon arriving at her deathbed, St. Fanchea  conducted her brother to her bedside. Uncovering the departed maiden’s features, Fanchea exclaimed, “Look now upon the face of her whom thou hast desired.” Enda, struck with horror, cried out, “It is at present sadly pale and ghastly.” “And so shall your features hereafter be,” replied the dead virgin. Then Fanchea spoke to him regarding the pains of Hell, and dwelt also on the joys of Heaven, until the young man burst into tears. The trauma and of the lecture by his older sister besides the talking corpse threw St. Edna into a period of despair.  His dear sister, not so gently, suggested maybe becoming a priest would cure him of his dark emotions. She sent him to her choice of seminaries – Rosnat Monastery in Britain. It is said that on the day that he would leave, a strange man came to him in a vision and told him of an isle where he would find peace, Innish. He made a pilgrimage to Rome and was finally ordained there. On a visit to see her baby brother in Britain, St. Fanchea decided it was time for St. Edna to move yet again. Big Sis advised that as God had gifted him with talents, he ought to exercise these among the people of his native land, and thus enhance doubly their value. St. Edna was a dutiful little brother (very hard to find amongst Irish families) and did as his sister wished.
Returning to Ireland, Enda built churches at Drogheda, and a monastery in the Boyne valley. Thereafter (about 484) he begged his brother-in-law, the King Oengus of Munster, to let him go to the wild and barren isle of Innish in Galway Bay. Oengus wanted to give him a fertile plot in the Golden Vale, but Innish suited Enda’s ideal for religious life. It was in the Aran Islands that St. Edna’s legacy came into being. St. Fanchea had recently died, so he was free to set up the monastery however he wanted.  Enda divided the island of Innish into 8 parts, in each of which he built a “place of refuge”, and under his rule the abbey of St. Enda became a burning light of sanctity for centuries in Western Europe.  These structures were the chosen home of a group of poor and devoted men under Saint Enda. He taught them to love the hard rock, the dripping cave, and the barren earth swept by the western gales. They were “men of the caves”, and “also men of the Cross”.

Some of the people who spent time in prayer living on Innish included Saint Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, who came there first as a youth to grind corn, and would have remained there for life but for Enda’s insistence that his true work lay elsewhere, reluctant though he was to part with him; Saint Finnian, who left St Enda and founded the monastery of Moville (where Saint Columba spent part of his youth) and who afterwards became bishop of Lucca in Tuscany, Italy; Among them also was Saint Brendan the Voyager, Saint Columba of Iona, Jarlathof Tuam, and Carthach the Elder. These and many others formed a great and valiant company who spent time in the beehives and caves establish by St. Edna.

When Saint Brendan returned from his travels far to the West, his first stop was Innish.  He presented the only gift he bought back from his travels, a stone with an eye carved on one end and a rune on the other. Legend has it was given him by a dwarf far to the West. This stone floats if placed on water and the gem points to the Last Isle of the West. The rune is a variant of the Norse Reith rune which resembles the letter r. This is called the “Styrimathr” (STEE-ri-mah-thur) meaning in Norse “the Captain of the Seas path”. It has been continuously carried from then until today,  in a small silk purse by the Abbot of the Abbey of St. Enda.

The two siblings, so connected in life, both died on March 21, though in different years.

Sie Note #1: For those familiar with Irish history, Padraig Pearse named his National School after St. Edna. (Scoil Éanna in Gaelic)

Side Note #2: For those interested in modern hermits and monk on Innishmore today, it is worth reading the web page of Dara Mollow.

March 14 St. Matilda

Patron Saint of Parents With Disappointing Children

Poor Matilda. She had the misfortune of marrying someone she loved in the 900s. Her true love happened to be the Duke of Saxony who became King of Germany upon his father’s death. King Otto loved and admired his wife and by all accounts, the equal partners were good and just rulers. St. Matilda was a devout Christian and took over the social justice and homeland concerns of Germany while her husband managed the wars and money.  They had five children whom they raised in the faith.

Upon her husband’s death, St. Matilda’s oldest son, Otto II took the crown. He continued to co-rule with mother until his younger brother Henry threw a fit. According to him, he should be, at the least, co-ruler, if not king. After raising an army and attempting an overthrow, St. Matilda at last convinced the two to work together and that she would step down. She began a second career establishing monasteries and convents with the family money. The two boys, doing as their mother wished, worked together to have her stripped of her money and rights. She was banished to her childhood home to live the rest of her life in relative poverty.

But her boys were not done. Her third son, Bruno, having become a priest, had become of of the most powerful men in the Northern European church. As bishop of Cologne, he had the power to raise armies, strike coins and levy taxes. As a duke he had the power of the king behind his actions. When he got wind of his brother Henry’s dealings with dissatisfied nobility, he stepped in and harshly reprimanded his brother. This led to Henry’s second attempt to take over the crown. By the end of the second attempt, Otto had become a hardened, cynical leader who solidified the Ottoman Empire. Henry was broken and physically ailing, dying shortly after the failed attempt. And Bruno was the velvet glove behind Otto’s iron fist, establishing the church as a powerful and feared entity in Northern Europe.

I think St. Matilda would have been happier if her children had chosen to become simple sheep herders.

February 27 St. Anne Line, St. Mark Barkworth, St. Roger Filcock

In today’s America there is much talk about religious freedom, whether it is a Christian nation, where and what rights and responsibilities infringe on other people in the area of religion. We can all generally spot the crazies, like Westboro Church, but the fine shades of gray are often difficult points of interactions. In the end, Americans are free to practice what they believe, discuss and debate religion in public. Or choose not to practice any faith. Or choose not to enter the discussions, public or private. This was not always the case in World History. Governments have formed to impose religious views on a nation and governments have formed to stamp out religions. The people (Christians and atheists alike) suffered greatly. They faced real danger, brutal torture and public deaths. It makes it rather hard for me to listen to either side talk about being persecuted for religion in modern day America.

Anne Line was born into a wealthy family in England in 1565. When she converted to Catholicism, she was disowned. She married another convert, Roger Line who was immediately exiled to Belgium where he promptly died. Anne became a supporter of the underground Catholics in London and a staunch supporter of Father John Gerard. She managed a home which served as refuge for priests and believers. It was often the first stop for people (including Father Gerard) as they escaped from the Tower of London. After moving houses several times, the police finally caught up with her, barging in while Father Gerard was saying mass. Although Father Gerard was able to quickly discard his vestments and disappear in the general crowd, Anne Line, Mark Barkworth and Roger Filcock were arrested. Charged with possessing objects used in a Catholic service (Anne Line) and being a priest (Mark Barkworth and Roger Filcock), the three were condemned to die. On February 27, 1601 the three were hanged, drawn and quartered in the public square of Tyburn, London, England.

Being denied the right, or forced, to recite the Lord’s Prayer in public gatherings just doesn’t reach the level of intensity to use the word persecution. Still a gray area that needs to be discussed, debated, defined. But it is not persecution.