"If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." [Galatians 1:10]

Each year we commemorate the preparations God made for the birth in the flesh and into the world of  His eternal coessential Son, Our God, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We remember the prophecies of Saint John the Baptist, the last Old Testament Prophet,  concerning the coming of  Christ.  Christ came to save the world and not to judge it. Yet during the last week of Pentecost, we remember that He will come again in judgement. We do not know the time nor the hour, but let us ask our loving God's help to live in a manner that glorifies Him and aids others to salvation so that we may be received into eternal joy when the day of Judgement comes.
Pax Christi.
Abbot-Bishop +Maelruain, Cele De

Since the early 1990's the Patriarchate of Antioch has been an embarrassment to the Christian Church.  Their advocacy for Arab causes eventually grew into support for Islam and intercommunion with monophysites and monotheletes.

Islam has persecuted Christians throughout the Middle east. In supporting Islam, Antioch has supported those who would destroy the Church of Christ.  Some Islamic countries have already forbidden any Christian expression even in private homes.

In admitting monophysites and monothelites to the Eucharist in the name of Charity, Antioch has denied the teachings of the Holy Spirit through three of the seven Ecumenical Councils.

Now Antioch embraces something worse, as if that were possible. In a letter to his North American Exarch, Patriarch Ignatius of Antioch stated that "Terrorism stems from oppressed people and their extreme poverty as well as the scorn and pride which such humiliated people suffer from certain nations."

This is the same Marist, Liberation Theology, rubbish we hear from the terrorists.  He is saying that those who were killed as "Cross Followers" deserved the horror visited upon them because they were of  "certain nations".  That is a declaration of belief in sin of nations.  That is a denial of the doctrine of free will and the consequences of its abuse.  Not only has the current Patriarch of Antioch embraced error again, but he has stated here that human sacrifice to demonic hatred is a  justified act of righteous anger.  That is an attempt to justify the murder of over 4,000 human beings created in the image and likeness of God!

As a Bishops of the Church we call that and those who proclaim such  Anathema!

Abbot-Bishop +Maelruain, Cele De
Bishop +Timothy, Cele De
Bishop +Photius, Cara nCele De

There are several very important Saints in November, whose histories shall be given in depth rather than providing a longer, more complete calendar. This year, these Saints are especially appropriate to celebrate. St. Gregory the Wonderworker and St. Martin of Tours ought to be remembered both on their "new" and "old" calendar dates. Both World War I and a great plague of a very contagious and deadly hemorrhagic influenza were stopped on the new calendar date of November 11^th, because at that time, in 1918, people associated the new calendar date with St. Martin of Tours. The cease fire at the Armistice in 1918 was a great miracle in itself, although an historian might say that people were just tired of fighting, but stopping the plague of influenza which had killed millions has no natural or scientific explanation other than one of the greatest miracles in history. A major Church festival in the Celtic Rite is also celebrated on the Feast date of St. Martin, and it is one of the few Saints' days with its own Propers.

Any date that is the seventeenth is associated with St. Gregory Thaumaturgis (Wonderworker), because he converted a large city that had only seventeen Christians into a city that had only seventeen pagans remaining. He also reposed on November 17^th. The number seventeen is considered a number of "bad luck" to a superstitious religion outside of Christianity, and the same religion will begin their month of fasting on the new calendar November 17^th this year, so St. Gregory ought to be remembered on both the new and old dates. The news of St. Gregory's Christian wonderworking should be spread, especially that he is the one who "moved mountains," not somebody outside the Christian faith. St. Gregory "moved the mountain" to prove that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God and also came among us in the flesh.

St. Andrew's Martyrdom (November 30^th) includes the Apostle's sermon about the holiness of the Cross. Considering that Christians have been accused of being "Cross followers," the words of St. Andrew are especially important to consider. Every Christian takes up their Cross and follows Jesus Christ; many Saints were crucified, but continued to have their prayers answered by God. St. Andrew is at the end of the month, but his festival is so important that some delayed the beginning of Advent until after his feast day, although his feast is very appropriate for celebration during the fast.

St. Columbanus of Luxeuil and Bobbio (November 23^rd) brought the Orthodox faith back to France and Italy, after some had turned away from Christ. St. John Chrysostom (November 25^th) kept the faith at Constantinople during a time when politics were considered more important than faith, and he died during a forced march, banished from his city for upholding True Christianity. Nobody should be complacent in the faith, because even the fourth century Constantinople and sixth century France needed renewal of their faith by such great teachers as St. John Chrysostom, St. Gregory Nazianzus, and St. Columbanus. At this time, every individual Christian and every church needs to remember the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Clement of Rome is also included November 23^rd, because he is one of the important early wonderworking Saints, and a favorite of the glossator of Oengus. A friend of St. Basil who fought heresy, St. Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium, is also on that date. The history of St. John Cassian also in November, and the desert fathers of Egypt have already been given during the newsletter for the month of July, 2001.
 

Every Christian who has reposed: whether they are remembered in the Canon of the Saints, whether they were Christian neophytes, or whether they were only Martyred for being "Cross followers" on September 11^th 2001, should be remembered on All Saints day, November 1^st/ 14^th. A special Requiem Mass for the dead should be done. In the Celtic tradition, "Saints" and "Souls" are not divided, but are honored together. There is another "All Saints Day" on the Celtic calendar one week after Pentecost, and again, "Saints" and "Souls" are both remembered together. If one has no family members to remember, then one still has all the Saints in the family of the Church to remember. The great hymn by St. Colum Cille, Altus Prosator, is sung during Church consecrations and on All Saints' days. This hymn is the history of the universe, from the creation to the Last Judgement, and from the verse beginning with the letter "R," was plagiarized in the later Medieval hymn "Dies Irae." There are some prophetic lines. In verse "R" we are warned that the day of wrath and vengeance "shall cease the love and desire of women..." Certainly, the kinds of intolerance towards women displayed recently by some in other religions is a warning. In verses "U" and "X" we are reminded about the stars falling to earth. For those who love to look at the stars as a hobby, remember that there is a meteor shower this November 17^th and 18^th. This event occurs often, but it is a reminder that the "stars" may fall to earth at any time.
 

Advent begins, according to the ancient tradition of the undivided Church both East and West, six weeks before Christmas, on November 13^th/ 26^th. Two extra candles may be added to an already-existing Advent wreath. The first Sunday of Advent begins with Psalm 1, "Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence." We remember the preparations of St. John the Baptist during Advent, who reminded us not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly on his feast date of his Beheading which took place August 29^th/ September 11^th. We also remember the end of the world during Advent. There is no date or year given for this event, but we are ordered to keep watch and always prepare with faith, prayers, and good works. November 13^th / 26^th is a Monday on the old calendar this year, so Christmas, December 25^th / January 7^th will also be a Monday. The American holiday of "Thanksgiving" was originally moved from mid-October. Those wishing to break the fast for a day can freeze "left-overs." It is a secular holiday, but one that gives thanks to God, so it should not be discouraged.
 

[Note: There are no entries from the Martyrology of Tallaght for the month of November. Since November was the first month on the Celtic calendar, November 1^st being the Celtic New Year, it is also possible that the first pages of that book were destroyed due to dampness or other destruction. When Oengus listed the Irish Saints on his calendar, he had a source available in Tallaght, so it is probable that the pages for the month of November were later lost or destroyed. Notes for the month of November do exist in the Martyrology of Tallaght, and Oengus's notes exist, so these are included.]
 

["TSI" is The Saints of Ireland by Mary Ryan D'Arcy, a valuable book which includes many early Irish Saints. Another great resource on the lives of the Apostles, the Virgin Mary, the Prophets, and women Saints is the Holy Apostles Convent, P.O. Box 3118, Buena Vista, CO 81211 U.S.A. These nuns have provided extensive translations with many notes. They have also published new and accurate translations of the Greek New Testament into English, with extensive notes from Orthodox sources; the best study Bible available. There are many resources available in their original Latin or Greek, but translators are needed. Those who are providing accurate Orthodox translations are very much appreciated. Please contact this website if you have the skill, the will or interest, and some background in Orthodox Christian writings of the fathers.]
 

11 Nov /24 Nov - St. Martin of Tours (France), a major ancient Celtic festival.

Carbre of Cúil Rathin - royal grace over the great sea!

Saint Martin - a noble simile - the mount of gold of the western world.

St. Martin of Tours (November 11^th / 24^th)

Cairbre of Cui raithin in the north of Dalaradia, a Bishop.

Saint Martin, i.e. holy Martin Bishop of Tours in Frankland (France or Gaul): of Gallia Lugdunensis was he. Saint Martin of Tours, of Gaul was he.

Martin a soldier, honor not slight, of Gallia Lugdunensis, a fully-gentle son of the race of the kings, son of Manualt and Abrasin.

Famous for his resemblance to gold propter claritatem auiri & his virtue. Martin out of Tours in the south of Frankland: of the Gauls was he, as is said: Martin a soldier, honor without prohibition etc. Gold is he because of his well known virtue. Bishop Cairbre of Cuil Rathin in Dalaradia on the same day.

(See November 23^rd, St. Columbanus of Luxeuil and Bobbio, who in the late sixth century brought monasticism back to Gaul. The Irish claimed monastic lineage through St. Martin of Tours, and they returned the gift later when barbarians had all but destroyed religion in France. The Feasts of Ss. Martin and Columbanus are two great celebrations in November of keeping the Orthodox faith in France, and these great Saints are an example of holiness and great intercessors for all the world.)
 

There are many accounts of the miracles of St. Martin of Tours, both during his lifetime and many more at his tomb after his repose. Also, places which venerated St. Martin were often the areas that rejected the popular heresy of Arianism, and embraced a full Orthodox Christianity. (See July 25^th, the history of St. James the Greater, about Arianism, and the part of Spain that was Celtic and venerated St. Martin of Tours. That part of Spain is the pilgrimage site of St. James the Greater. The veneration of St. Martin of Tours in Galicia, the Celtic area, was promoted by the local Bishop Martin of Braga before his death in 580.)

The main history of St. Martin was written by his student, Sulpitius Severus (see January 13^th), in his work, Sulpitius Severus on the Life of St. Martin, as well as in letters and dialogues about St. Martin. After apologizing for his inadequate style; telling us that it is better to contemplate the life of St. Martin than Hector or Socrates; and emphatically asserting the truth of everything he writes, Sulpitius Severus begins the history of St. Martin in chapter 2. Sulpitius Severus says in the end of Chapter 1, "...I cannot hope to set forth all that he was or did... And even of those which had become known to us, we have omitted a great number, because we have judged it enough if only the more striking and eminent should be recorded... But I implore those who are to read what follows to give full faith to the things narrated, and to believe that I have written nothing of which I had not certain knowledge and evidence. I should, in fact, have preferred to e silent rather than to narrate things which are false."

St. Martin was born at Sabaria (Sarwar) in Pannonia, far to the east, but his family moved. He was raised in Ticinum (Pavia) in Italy. His father was a soldier, and then a military tribune, a very high rank. As a youth, Martin was in the imperial guard under Constantine and then Julian Caesar (Julian the Apostate). In spite of family ties to the military, Martin actually wanted to be in the service of God. At age ten, against his parents' wishes, he begged to be a catechumen in the Church. At age twelve he desired to be a hermit, but his young age prevented this. When he was fifteen, the ruling powers of the state issued an edict that sons of veterans should be enrolled for military service, and he was seized and put in chains, and forced to take the military oath. He only took one servant, and instead of acting as a master, he cleaned his servant's boots, ate meals with him, and usually acted the part of the servant. He had not been Baptized yet, and for three years kept himself from the usual soldier's vices. He was not yet a new creature in Christ, but he fervently prepared himself for Baptism. He practiced self-denial, kindness, patience, humility, aided those in trouble, clothed the naked, and kept nothing for himself from his military pay but the bare necessities of food. He saved no money for the next day, but following the holy Gospels, gave his money to the poor.

Carrying only his arms and military dress, in an unusually severe winter that had killed many with the cold, he saw a poor man without clothing at the gate of the city of Amiens (Ambianensium civitas, or Samarobriva). Although the poor man asked everybody who passed him for help, Martin stopped. Martin had already given away most of his clothing, except for the cloak which was his only warmth. So, he took his sword, and cut the cloak in two equal parts, giving one to the poor man, and wrapping the rest around himself. The bystanders laughed, because he looked only partly dressed, but many also felt guilty, knowing that they should have also done something similar, especially as they had more clothing layers. The next night, St. Martin had a vision of Christ, and the Lord was wearing the part of the cloak that Martin had given away. He heard Jesus say, "Martin, who is still but a catechumen, clothed me with this robe." This was taken from Scripture, "Forasmuch as ye have done these things to one of the least of these, ye have done them unto me." St. Matthew 25:40. Martin did not use this incident to build dangerous spiritual pride, but remained humble, and as he was now twenty years old, he received holy Baptism. He did not retire from his military service at once, because his military tribune who had become his tent companion told him that when his office expired, he too would retire from the world. So St. Martin delayed leaving the military for two years, although he participated only in name. [Monks were allowed to skip military service much later in Ireland, and although the Litany of St. Martin in the Lorrha-Stowe Missal does pray for the military, there is an understanding that it is better for a Christian to serve God. The incident of St. Martin giving half his cloak to the poor man, and seeing Christ in a vision, are the most famous incidents in his life. However, St. Martin also raised the dead, kept the Orthodox Faith in the face of heresy, and did many more things which should also be remembered.]

Many barbarians were coming into the two divisions of Gaul. Julian Caesar (the Apostate) brought an army together at the city of Borbetomagus (Vaugiones, or Worms). The emperor distributed a "donative" to each soldier, one by one, as was the custom. St. Martin did not think it would be proper to receive the gift and then leave the service, so he thought this would be a good opportunity to seek discharge. He told Julian, "Hitherto I have served you as a soldier: allow me now to become a soldier to God: let the man who is to serve thee receive thy donative: I am the soldier of Christ: it is not lawful for me to fight." Julian was very angry, and thought Martin was afraid of the battle on the next day. St. Martin replied, "If this conduct of mine is ascribed to cowardice, and not to faith, I will take my stand unarmed before the line of battle tomorrow, and in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, protected by the Sign of the Cross, and not by shield or helmet, I will safely penetrate the ranks of the enemy." Martin was put into prison, but on the next day, ambassadors were sent by the enemy to ask for peace, and surrendered both themselves and all their possessions. Sulpitius Severus comments that Christ prevented anyone from suffering death. (The emperor Julian the Apostate had been known to St. Basil the Great, see January 1^st.)

After that, Martin sought St. Hilarius, Bishop of Poitiers (Pictava, the city of the Pictones or Pictavi, see January 13^th, November 3^rd, and possibly also May 5^th). St. Hilarius ordained St. Martin to the Diaconate, however, St. Martin said he was unworthy to perform the required actions of a Deacon in the Divine Service. Therefore, St. Hilary realized that Martin would accept a position of danger to himself, and made him an exorcist (a position of lower rank than Subdeacon). St. Martin did not refuse. Soon afterwards he had a dream telling him to visit his native land, especially to convert his parents who were heathens. St. Hilary with tears told him to return. Martin predicted sufferings on the journey, which came true. Martin fell into the hands of robbers in the Alps, and was almost killed by an axe. A robber took him to a private place and asked him who he was, and he replied that he was a Christian. When asked if he was afraid, he said that he never felt so safe, because he knew that the Lord would be with him in trials. Instead, he was in grief for the man who was holding him, because by leading a life of robbery he was showing that he was unworthy of the mercy of Christ. After speaking the truth to the robber, the robber converted to Christ, and told others about his conversion by St. Martin.

After passing Milan, the devil took the form of a man and met St. Martin on the road. The devil asked St. Martin where he was going, and he said he was going where ever the Lord called him. The devil said that the devil would resist him. Martin quoted Psalm 117:6 (Greek numbering): "The Lord is my helper: I will not fear what man can do unto me." The devil then vanished from sight. St. Martin's mother was set free from heathenism, but his father continued to practice his errors. But many others were saved by his example.

The Arian heresy then was spreading rapidly, especially in Illyria, and St. Martin almost alone fought the Priests who were traitors. He was publically scourged and forced to leave the city. Then he went to Italy. Martin learned that the Church in the two divisions of Gaul was troubled because St. Hilary had been exiled by the heretics. Therefore, Martin stayed in Milan, and established a monastery for himself there. In Milan, Auxentius, the originator and leaders of the Arians (in Milan) persecuted St. Martin, and finally expelled him from Milan. St. Martin then went to the island of Gallinaria (near Albium Ingaunum, now Allenga, on the Gulf of Genoa. The island was named because of birds that were half-tame, and still is called Gallinaria). He took with him to the island a good Priest. On the island, he survived by eating plant roots, and by mistake ate hellebore, a poisonous grass. When he felt the strength of the poison increase inside him and he was near death, he prayed, and his pains went away. Soon after that, he learned that the king had been penitent, and had granted permission for Bishop Hilarius to return. Therefore, St. Martin set out for Rome to meet St. Hilarius.

St. Hilarius already had departed from Rome, so St. Martin followed him, and then founded a monastery close to the town. A catechumen seeking instruction joined him, but he caught a fever and weakness. St. Martin went away for three days, and when he returned found the catechumen dead, before he had received holy Baptism. The body was laid out in public, and honored by the brethren, but St. Martin was in tears. Then he told the others to leave the cell (room) where the body lay, and he bolted the door and lay down on top of the departed catechumen. "...But then, laying hold, as it were, of the Holy Spirit, with the whole powers of his mind..." He prayed for a while, and then perceived by means of the Spirit of God that the power (virtue) was present, he rose and looked at the face of the dead man, and waited for the mercy of God. After two hours, the dead man began to move a little, trembling, and his eyes opened "for the practice of sight." Then, turning to the Lord [an icon?] he gave thanks with a loud voice, filling the cell with exclamations. Those who had waited outside rushed in [after the door had been opened], and saw the man, who was given holy Baptism immediately. He lived for many years after that, and witnessed to the powers (virtues) of St. Martin. He also told how, when he had left his body, he was taken to the tribunal of the Judge, and was in gloomy places in the common crowd, and received a severe sentence. However, two angels told the Judge that he was the man that Martin was praying for, and then he was ordered to be led back by those angels and given to Martin, and received back his life. After this St. Martin had the reputation of an Apostle. [An infant who dies before receiving holy Baptism is not considered condemned. But, an adult catechumen who had probably listened to many worldly philosophies, and had many opportunities to sin, with the consenting reason of an adult, would need not only an association with other Christians, but also the Sacrament of holy Baptism, or it would be very difficult to receive salvation. There were some exceptions among the early Martyrs, but usually Baptism was considered a requirement, or at least something that should be sought after with great urgency. God is merciful, but we do not judge the mercy of God: see Psalm 50, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy... To Thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before Thee: that thou mayest be justified in Thy words, and mayest overcome when Thou art judged."]

Again, St. Martin saved another man, a slave of a wealthy man named Lupicinus, who had tried to hang himself. The man was able to rise up and walk without any apparent brain damage after St. Martin did the same things he had done in praying for his catechumen.

St. Martin was also called to be Bishop of Tours around that time. The area of Tours was on both sides of the Loire river, and the town of Tours had been called Caesarodunum. However, St. Martin did not want to leave his monastery. One of the citizens of Tours named Ruricius pretended his wife was ill, and asked St. Martin to come out. Many citizens lined the roads, forcing St. Martin to come to the city. The people of Tours and also neighboring cities gave their votes for St. Martin. [Early Bishops were approved by the people.] They all said that St. Martin was the most worthy. A few persons, even among the Bishops, thought St. Martin was unworthy, his clothing mean, and his hair disgusting. Most of the people said that the character of St. Martin was the most important thing to consider. A Bishop named Defensor gave the most opposition. He was rebuked by something that seemed to be chance, because the reader who was to read did not appear, and a person who was standing by grabbed the Psalter and read the first verse he opened to: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise because of thine enemies, that thou mightest destroy the enemy and the avenger." (In the Latin Vulgate, the word "avenger" is "defensor." Psalm 8:3. The people shouted their agreement, and St. Martin was officially elected Bishop.

As Bishop, St. Martin did not give up his humble clothing, but remained as a monk, although he took up all the duties of a Bishop. He stayed at a cell near the church, but so many people came that he moved to a monastery two miles from the city in a secret spot. "For, on one side, it was surrounded by a precipitous rock of a lofty mountain, while the river Loire had shut in the rest of the plain by a bay extending back for a little distance; and the place could be approached only by one, and that a very narrow passage." St. Martin made a cell of wood for himself, and his eighty disciples also made small retreats for themselves at that place. They all prayed together, ate together after the hour of fasting, no one drank wine except in illness, and they wore rough clothing. Many had been nobles, but all shared everything, with no possessions. Many of these monks became Bishops of other cities. The Irish monasteries claimed direct descent from these monks, and also the monks of Egypt in Scetis which had learned their ascetic practices from St. Mark the Evangelist. St. Patrick (March 17^th) had been trained by St. Germanus of Auxerre (May 28^th), who was trained through these monks. (The Germanus who accompanied St. John Cassian, see November 25^th, was not the same person as St. Germanus of Auxerre, even though they lived around the same time. St. John Cassian traveled to Palestine, Egypt, Constantinople, and then lived in Marseilles in southern France.)

The power of prayer is very useful for a Bishop. St. Martin heard about an altar that had been put over a tomb that was supposed to be of a Christian Martyr, but without any history. He visited the tomb and prayed, and the shade of a robber told him that the people had made a mistake in venerating him, he was beheaded due to his crimes, not faith. The people heard the voice of the ghost, although they could not see him, and they helped take the altar down that they had built there. On another occasion, a passing funeral rite seemed to resemble a pagan ceremony, because sometimes the pagans would carry statues of demons covered in white cloths about the countryside. St. Martin held the Cross up before the crowd, and commanded them to stop and put down their burden. Then they could not move, even though they tried, and they were forced to put the body down. St. Martin came toward them, and realized that it was only a funeral procession, and then raising his hand, he gave them back the power to go on their way.

St. Martin managed to bring Christ to regions that had not accepted the Lord before. "Certainly, before the times of Martin, very few, nay, almost none, in those regions had received the Name of Christ; but through his virtues and example that Name has prevailed to such an extent, that now there is no place thereabouts which is not filled either with very crowded churches of monasteries. For wherever he destroyed heathen temples, there he used immediately to build either churches or monasteries." In one case, a temple he destroyed had a pine tree next to it that had been dedicated to a demon. Martin had kept the people quiet while the temple was destroyed, but they strongly protested when he began to cut down the tree. One of the pagans proposed that they cut the tree down, and St. Martin should stand under it, and if the tree did not crush him, they would believe. The tree leaned in one direction, so the pagan crowd stood at the opposite side. As the tree fell, Martin made the Sign of the Cross, and the tree swung "like a spinning top" to the opposite side, almost crushing the crowd that was standing there. After that, almost all of the pagans standing there desired to take the Name of Christ in holy Baptism. In another place, Martin set fire to an ancient and celebrated temple, but the fire spread to a connected house. St. Martin climbed on the roof of the house, and stopped the flames from spreading to it. Another town called Leprosum resisted his wish to destroy their temple, and injured him. He went outside the town, and spent three days in sackcloth and ashes, fasting and praying the entire time. Two angels with spears and shields came to him, saying they were sent to make the rustics go away, and also protect St. Martin. Martin returned to the village, and he razed the temple to the foundations, reducing the altar and images to dust, as the crowd quietly looked on. The people realized that they were standing still through the power of the God of St. Martin, and they all shouted that the Lord God should be worshiped. Once, while overthrowing a temple at Aedui, a man drew his sword to cut off Martin's head, but St. Martin offered his bare neck, and as the sword swung, the man collapsed backwards. Then seeing the power of God, asked for pardon. [See St. John, May 6^th, and all the other Apostles. Although today we would try to preserve ancient art work in museums, at that time the people thought those images had power, so the only way to show the people that the statues were only rock and metal was to destroy them. Because of the habit of former pagans of keeping statuary, the Orthodox Church in the East prefers painted flat icons, but in the early Church there were statues of Jesus Christ as well, such as the one in front of the house of "Veronica," a woman who had been cured by Jesus Himself. Some small very early Christian statues are in the Cleveland Museum of Art, for example: Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and also Jonah and the whale, etc. Icons themselves are not gods, but they only remind us of those they portray, creating a visual story.]

St. Martin also had the gift of healing, and he healed almost all the sick that came to him. He healed a paralyzed girl from Treves whose muscles would not move, making it almost impossible for her to breathe. When she was about to die, St. Martin came to visit the town, and her father ran to the church and grabbed St. Martin by the knees, asking over and over again if Martin could come and save the man's daughter. In spite of saying that he was not worthy to be the instrument of the Lord's power, St. Martin was finally convinced to at least visit the girl. After arriving, St. Martin prostrated himself and prayed. Then he requested oil to be given to him, and he blessed the oil, and poured it into her mouth. This restored her ability to speak. Gradually, as he stayed with her, her limbs began to be restored one by one, and finally she rose up and took firm steps. All the people from the church had followed, and saw what happened.

St. Martin also cast out demons. A servant of a man named Tetradius who was possessed could not be made to come to St. Martin, so St. Martin went to him, even though he was not yet converted to Christianity. (At first, St. Martin said he could not come because the house of the possessed man was pagan, but the family pledged they would convert.) Martin put his hand on the boy, and the demon came out, and Tetradius became a catechumen and was Baptized. Another household had a demon in the courtyard, and when St. Martin ordered it to depart, it went into the household into a family member, who then bit everyone else. St. Martin stood in front of the possessed person, and commanded him to be still, but he wouldn't. So, St. Martin put his fingers into the mouth of the possessed, and said, "if you possess any power, devour these." The possessed person opened his mouth as if red-hot iron had been put in, and kept the teeth away from the fingers. Sulpicius Severus says that the demon was driven out by tortures, and could not leave by the mouth, so left by a "defluxion" of the belly which left disgusting traces behind him.

A report that barbarians were coming to the town turned out to be the work of sixteen demons, who had caused fear in the people so that St. Martin would have to leave. This was told to St. Martin when a possessed person was ordered to tell the truth about the rumors. The city then calmed down. St. Martin cleansed a leper by kissing him at the gate into Paris, and the crowd was very upset at this. But the next day, the man came to the church with healthy skin and gave thanks. Threads from the sackcloth of St. Martin also did miracles for the sick. These were tied around the fingers or placed around the neck, and drove disease away. (Probably the source of the modern idea of tieing a string around a finger to remind a person of something. We are supposed to be reminded of God, and pray without ceasing.) A man named Arborius, an ex-prefect, and very holy and faithful, had a daughter with a very high fever. Arborius received a letter from St. Martin, and placed it over her bosom, and immediately the fever left. At once Arborius brought her to St. Martin and had her consecrated to God as a perpetual virgin, and asked St. Martin to place on her the dress of virginity. A saintly man, Paulinus (of Nola?) had cataracts, "a pretty thick cloud having grown over [the eye] had already covered up its pupil." St. Martin touched the eye with a painter's brush, and the pain went away, restoring the health of the eye. Sulpicius Severus does not say whether Paulinus or St. Martin himself suffered a fall down some uneven stairs, but an angel washed his wounds, applied healing ointment, and the next day he was restored to health. Then Sulpicious Severus says, "But because it would be tedious to go through everything of this kind, let these examples suffice, as a few out of a multitude..."

St. Martin alone did not flatter the emperor Maximus after the civil wars, although other Bishops did. "Even if he had to make suit to the sovereign for some things, he commanded rather than entreated him; and although often invited, he kept away from his entertainments..." St. Martin did not want to go to the banquet because the war had killed many soldiers, and of the other two emperors, one had been killed and the other had his kingdom taken away. Finally the king convinced him that soldiers had only been killed on an open field of battle, and that the position of emperor was taken only in defense. When St. Martin came to the banquet, he was given a place of honor, and a chalice which the king expected to be blessed and handed back to him. But St. Martin had brought a Priest with him, and after blessing and drinking, he handed the chalice to his Priest instead. This impressed the emperor that St. Martin was not trying to flatter him. St. Martin had previously warned the emperor that if he went into Italy to wage war against the emperor Valentinianus, then Maximus would have a victory after the first attack, but die soon afterwards. After the first attack, Valentinianus was put to flight, but he regained his strength the next year, and Maximus was taken and slain in the walls of Aquileia.

St. Martin often talked with angels. He also perceived the devil in his many disguises. St. Martin was not fooled by the disguises, so the devil did not bother with the disguises after a while, but began with foul curses. Once the devil rushed into his cell with a bloody horn, and claimed to have slain one of St. Martin's people. After this St. Martin called the brethren together and had them search all the cells, but the brethren were unharmed, but one peasant hired to bring wood from the forest was missing. It was then learned that one of his oxen had thrown his head free of the thongs, and while the peasant was tightening them, had been gored in the groin. The peasant told this just before he died. The man was not healed after that. [Sulpicius Severus states, "You see with what judgment of the Lord this power was given to the devil." This paraphrases Christ, who told Pontius Pilate that he had no power to arrest the Lord Jesus Christ, but only if God had given Pilate that power. This does not mean that God allows evil, but that sometimes it is a person's time to repose and meet the Lord, or it is time for a terrible circumstance in life, and then often, as in the case of the righteous Job of the Old Testament, or our Lord Himself, the devil is surprised to find the person snatched into heaven or given a just reward in this life.]

The devil tried in many ways to injure, confuse, or send St. Martin away. The devil disguised himself as Jupiter, Mercury, or Minerva, all Roman pagan gods. Crowds of demons also accused St. Martin of many crimes. St. Martin, knowing these were lies, was not affected. Other brethren heard these abuses towards St. Martin. The devils also accused the brethren who had sinned after Baptism, saying that pardon was not possible. St. Martin replied, "If thou, thyself, wretched being, wouldst but desist from attacking mankind, and even, at this period, when the day of judgment is at hand, wouldst only repent of your deeds, I, with a true confidence in the Lord, would promise you the mercy of Christ." [St. Martin was confident in the Lord, and even though we would not presume to say that the Lord would be merciful in such a case, or any human, even a Saint such as St. Martin, would have the authority to predict the Lord's judgment, still, St. Martin certainly would have pleaded on behalf of a repentant devil continuously for eternity.]

Another incident related by Sulpucius Severus about the deception of the devil, is included in the history of St. Martin. A Priest named Clarus, who had been a noble youth, now reposed and numbered among the Saints, became a disciple of St. Martin and was one of the monks in his monastery. Another youth named Anatolius pretended to have piety, and he said that angels talked with him. No brethren believed him, so he showed them signs, and said that angels passed between him and God, and that he should be treated as a prophet. Clarus did not believe him even then. Then he threatened Clarus, saying that God was angry, and would present him (Anatolius) with a white robe that night. Many brethren watched the commotion, as, in the middle of the night, there were lights and voices in the cell of Anatolius, and he emerged wearing the white robe, showing the robe to a brother named Sabatius. All the brothers approached, including Clarus, and they inspected the robe, which was white and soft, and very bright, of purple cloth. No one could tell what kind of fleece made the garment, but the eyes and fingers felt it to be only a garment. Clarus urged all of them to pray to the Lord to reveal what it was, so all the brethren spent the rest of the night in singing hymns and psalms. At daybreak, Clarus asked to take the man by the hand and show him to St. Martin, who could not be deceived, in case it was an art of the devil. The man refused, saying he was not allowed to show himself to St. Martin. When all the brethren made the young man go, the garment vanished in their hands as they went.

A young man in Spain had many signs, gaining authority among the people, and with pride said that he was Elias. The multitudes believed him, so the man said he was really Christ, and this deception fooled a bishop named Rufus, who worshiped him. At a later date this Bishop was deposed. The brethren also told Sulpicius that in the East another man claimed to be John. These two men were practicing the arts of the devil, because of course they were not the Lord and John. Sulpicius said this is a sign of the Antichrist when false prophets come. [We are not told the hour of the Lord's coming, but at any time we must be prepared.] Around this time, after prayer was offered, the devil appeared beside St. Martin in his cell. The devil was surrounded by a purple light, clothed in a royal robe, with a crown of precious stones around his head, shoes inlaid with gold, with a peaceful face full of joy, so that he would not appear evil at all. Saint Martin at first was amazed, but stood silently. The devil broke the silence, saying, "Acknowledge, Martin, who it is that you behold. I am Christ; and being just about to descend to earth, I wished first to manifest myself to thee." However, St. Martin still kept silent. The devil said, "Martin, why do you hesitate to believe, when you see? I am Christ." Then the Spirit revealed the truth to St. Martin, and he said, "The Lord Jesus did not predict that He would come clothed in purple; and with a glittering crown upon His head. I will not believe that Christ has come, unless he appears with that appearance and form in which He suffered, and openly displaying the marks of His wounds upon the Cross." After this, the devil vanished like smoke, and left a disgusting smell. St. Martin, who was not superstitious, told the others about this, and Sulpicius Severus, believing in the honesty and sincerity of so great a wonder worker as St. Martin, believed him in this.

[Similar incidents occurred to Irish monks and earlier Christians. June 17^th: Moling is tempted in the same way by the devil who appeared in purple, and Moling also answers that the Lord would appear with the same humility that He came on earth; the devil also pretends that he cannot worship God because his knees are backwards and he cannot kneel. Some other incidents concerning the devil: February 15^th: the devil flees from Christ. Every holy Apostle and Evangelist faced temptations and attempted injuries by the devil or demons, which are recorded in their histories: see their Feast days. Also: February 16^th: a virgin from Rome named Juliana has a visit from the devil who appears in pleasant shape, but another angel warns her; she binds the devil and he tells all his wiles from the beginning of the world. February 24^th: Lucianus, a Priest who crucified devils. May 11^th: the triumph of the righteous Job of the Old Testament over the devil. On the same day, May 11^th: the Priest Cormac, who the devil instructed in the good behavior of clerics, of course expecting perfection out of them while he allowed himself lies, insults, and harm to humans. August 15^th: concerning Clochar, an example of idol worship among the pagans in the north, similar to devil worship in other places.]

Sulpicius then tells how he met and studied with St. Martin. Sulpicius had heard of the great virtues of St. Martin, and wanted to meet him and write his life. St. Martin received Sulpicius with great humility, which amazed Sulpicius; St. Martin even drawing water to wash the hands and feet of Sulpicius. "...nor had I sufficient courage to resist or oppose his doing so. In fact, I felt so overcome by the authority he unconsciously exerted, that I deemed it unlawful to do anything but acquiesce in his arrangements." St. Martin told him to give up the secular life so that we might follow the Lord Jesus, and held up as an example Paulinus (of Nola), who gave up everything and followed Christ. "What power and dignity there were in Martin's words and conversation! How active he was, how practical, and how prompt and ready in solving questions connected with Scripture!..." Sulpicius then swears by Jesus Himself as witness that he never heard anybody with such knowledge and genius, good and pure speech, great virtues, and still St. Martin did not claim to be called learned. "...all excellences surpass in Martin the possibility of being embodied in language." "Never did a single hour or moment pass in which he was not either actually engaged in prayer; or, if it happened that he was occupied with something else, still he never let his mind loose from prayer." "No one ever saw him enraged, or excited, or lamenting, or laughing; he was always one and the same: displaying a kind of heavenly happiness..." When Sulpicius wrote the life of St. Martin, Sulpicius said that some incidents were told by St. Martin, and others by the brethren in his monastery. He finishes by saying that some, even among Bishops, were envious of St. Martin, and were interested in slandering Sulpicius Severus because of this, but he wrote the Life of St. Martin because of his love of Christ.

In one of his letters, Sulpicius Severus tells about "How St. Martin passed from this Life to Life Eternal." St. Martin knew his end was near, but the clerics in a neighboring town were having an argument. Even though he knew his health was failing, he traveled to the other town with some monks. On the way he saw some waterfowl rapidly eating fish in a lake. St. Martin commanded them to stop and go to a desert place, because they reminded him of the demons that devour souls. The birds immediately stopped eating and took flight together. [The Irish have many images of birds. See December 29^th, the notes about St. Victor, and also March 17^th, about the angel Victor who visited St. Patrick in the form of a bird. St. Brendan of Clonfert, the Navigator May 16^th, also spoke of the ambivalence of birds; that either they could be good or evil. St. Brendan heard the daytime Psalms sung by birds on his voyage. In the vision of Adamnan, the Cherubim in heaven are described as birds. St. Adamnan is in September; his vision is described in the October 2001 newsletter.] St. Martin and his monks helped the monks in the town they were visiting to work out their disagreements, but then St. Martin told them that his health was failing. The monks pleaded with him to continue to live and help them. St. Sulpicius Severus describes the conflict between desire for heaven and love for his monks that St. Martin faced. He was willing to continue vigils and fastings with his monks, but it was his time to repose. He refused even the comfort of a straw bed at the end, and reposed on his usual sackcloth and ashes. A heavenly light illumined the ashes at the end. The monks were also in conflict: in grief for losing their loving guide, and also in joy for his going to heaven.
 

The history of the Church in Gaul (France) did not begin with St. Martin. St. Gregory of Tours tells of seven holy Bishops who were consecrated and sent there in the middle of the third century. These were: Catianus (or Gatianus) of Tours; Trophimus of Arles; Paulus of Narbonne; Saturninus of Toulouse; Dionysius of Paris (see October 9^th); Stremonius of Clermont; and Martialis of Limoges. According to Gregory of Tours, St. Martin was the third Bishop of Tours, and was Consecrated in 371 A.D. Gregory said that the See of Tours was vacant for thirty seven years after the episcopacy of Catianus. St. Martin visited the tomb of Catianus, and it is said that those present heard Catianus and Martin blessing each other, Catianus requesting the blessing. St. Martin also blessed a virgin, Vitalina, at her tomb.

At Neuille-le-Lierre in the region of Tours, a tree fell across a road, and St. Martin raised it through his prayers. In the time of St. Gregory, the tree still stood there beside the road, although it was dead because people scraped its bark off for healing medicine. (This was the account of St. Gregory of Tours, who does not always get his facts straight: it might be a changed version of the story of the pine tree cut down next to a pagan temple, told by Sulpicious Severus.)

It was said that a mystical fire often appeared over the relics of Saints. The Abbot Brachio told Gregory of Tours that at night vigils in the Church of St. Martin, relics of Saints were placed on the altar by pilgrims. A ball of fire rose from the relics to the top of the church, but the fire appeared to only a few people who were just men. Gregory says, "I think that this fire contains a mystical sacrament, but the darkness of my senses cannot understand how as it becomes visible it produces such light but does not burn anyone." He compared this fire to the fire of the burning bush (Exodus 3:2).

An oratory at Martigny which was used by St. Martin was venerated. A horse faced the oratory and would not let its rider pass until the place had been venerated. At the tomb of St. Martin, oil from the lamps healed the blind, healed infection and swelling, unknown pains in the abdomen, and also demons. Wax from candles from the tomb of St. Martin also had healing power, curing a woman who was deaf and dumb. An oratory built at Tonnerre, where a priest had been cured of a crippled foot by St. Martin, also healed many people.

A monastery in Spain dedicated to St. Martin was located between Sagunto and Cartegena, and an army of Spanish heretics: Goths under king Leovigild, were marching across the countryside, destroying Christian shrines. The monks there fled to an island in the Mediterranean, leaving their old Abbot. The army destroyed the monastery, and then found the abbot. The Abbot fell over backward and died before they could cut off his head. The army fled, terrified. The news was told the king, and he made a public order to return all that had been stolen to the monastery. (Leovigild was the Visigoth king of Spain from 571 or 573 to 586. His son Hermenegild married a daughter of king Sigibert of the Franks in 579, and Hermenegild converted from Arianism to catholic Orthodox Christianity. However, the conversion caused a civil war, father against son. In 583 the father defeated the son at Seville, and in 584 took the son captive and sent him into exile, where he was killed a year later. Some say that the civil war was over Leovigild imposing a centralized monarchy, but much like Henry II of England, Leovigild also sought to overcome those who followed the true faith. Leovigild may have returned the stolen items to the monastery of St. Martin because he was trying to gain support from the Galicians. He brought Galicia, the northern Celtic region, into his kingdom in 585, four years before the entire country of Spain rejected Arianism through Reccared, another son of Leovigild, although to combat Arianism they changed the Creed. (See below.)

St. Martin's Day was the last major feast before Advent, occurring November 11^th, two days before the beginning of the fast. Therefore, much celebrating took place, because soon a period of fasting would begin. The modern holiday in the United States, "Thanksgiving," the last Thursday of November, often takes place near the Old Calendar feast of St. Martin (November 11^th/ 24^th). Although this modern festival is secular, it is acceptable as a "thanksgiving" to God, as long as the "left-overs" are not eaten after the beginning of Advent. The extra food may be frozen, or given to those in need. (See November 13^th.)
 

(Arians were in the majority for a while in Spain and parts of France. The Arians believed that Jesus Christ was only a human prophet, not the divine Son of God, an idea which was politically correct to pagans and later to Moslems. Arianism had started in Alexandria, and spread through northern Africa, Spain, part of France, the city of Constantinople, and much of the territory of the Patriarchate of Antioch. Many Saints had fought the Arian heresy, especially St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzus. The northern area of Spain that was Celtic was Orthodox and not Arian. They venerated St. Martin of Tours, and believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and great miracles occurred in the Orthodox churches. Relics of St. James the Greater (see July 25^th) arrived at Compostela, for example, and were venerated by pilgrims from many countries. Orthodox Christians often did great miracles because God would grant His true church mercy, but those who were heretics often did the opposite. It was not unusual for Arian clergy in Spain or Pelagian clergy in Britain to try to fake a miracle, such as having person who would pretend to be blind say that they now could see, but it was common that such a person would then would have his eyes truly shut by God and would become blind for the rest of his life. This happened in front of the Spanish king Leovigild, at the hand of the heretical bishop Cyrila, who was the Arian bishop in the kingdom of the Vandals in North Africa in the early 480s. See Germanus of Auxerre, May 28^th, who overthrew the Pelagians in Britain with St. Patrick, through miracles, while the Pelagians tried to fake their miracles. In Spain, the Arians called themselves "catholic," while they called those who believed the Nicene Creed, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, were called "Roman," because the Orthodox Christians followed the beliefs of the closest Christian Patriarchate which was in Rome. Eventually, because of miracles and the conversion of Reccared, the son of Leovigild, in 587, Spain as a whole rejected the Arian heresy at the Council of Toledo in 589 A.D. But, at the Council of Toledo, they confused the Creed to say the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father "and the Son," "Filoque" to bolster the idea that Christ is Divine, instead of saying that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father, and together with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, as the Nicene Creed states. Those who had always been Orthodox Christians in the north of Spain did not need to make erroneous additions to the Creed, but those from the middle and south of Spain who had rejected a full Christianity made the addition. The heretical addition to the Creed eventually spread to the countries controlled by Charlemagne, who became king of the Germans and French in 800 A.D., and then to the rest of the Roman Patriarchate. Although the Spanish added the Filioque to the Creed to reject a heresy against the divinity of Christ, they put the Holy Spirit into a lesser position, almost not a Person, and this divided the entire Christian Church, causing the Great Schism between the Roman Patriarchate and all the other Patriarchates: the Patriarchates of Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, and later Moscow. The Arian heresy had been firmly rejected in Alexandria and the other Patriarchates, but they had made no addition to the original Nicene Creed. See St. Basil the Great (January 1^st), and St. Gregory Nazianzus (March 29^th), who fought this heresy. St. Gregory Nazianzus converted the city of Constantinople away from this heresy. Also see the Bishop St. Amphilochius, November 23^rd, who convinced the eastern Roman emperor Theodosius I that the Arians should not be allowed to hold their assemblies. The Irish had been taken over by the English under Henry II in 1170, and they were forced to follow the new Roman teachings after that, but the Creed in the Lorrha-Stowe Missal does not contain the "Filoque." Today the Arian heresy survives in some forms, such as the beliefs of Isaac Newton and others who had a great influence upon the "age of reason." Miracles do not fall within the bounds of human logic, and as the earliest Church fathers compared the Logos, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, with the truth from heaven or true Reason, such an idea would be in conflict with those who, as the early Arians or Pelagians, thought that human reason alone could reach to the stars. The Byzantine Christmas hymn reminds us that we do not worship the stars as the magi, but the Sun of Justice, our Lord Jesus Christ.)
 

Old Testament Reading: Jer. 17:7-14 (The man who trusts in the Lord.)
 

Epistle Reading: II Timothy 3:16-4:8 (Teach the Scripture inspired of God.)
 

Gradual and Alleluia are Psalm 145, entire, done as a Sequence:

Praise the Lord, O my soul: in my life I will praise the Lord: I will sing to my God as long as I shall be. Put not your trust in princes: in the children of men, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return into his earth: in that day all their thoughts shall perish.

Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God: Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them. Who keepeth truth for ever: who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong: who giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth them that are fettered: the Lord enlighteneth the blind. The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down: the Lord loveth the just. The Lord keepeth the strangers; He will support the fatherless and the widow: and the ways of sinners He will destroy.

The Lord shall reign for ever: Thy God, O Sion, unto generation and generation.
 

Gospel: St. Matthew 25:14-21 (The Parable of the Talents: the man who had received much and gained more.)

17 Nov /30 Nov - St. Gregory Thaumaturgis (the Wonderworker) of Neocaesaria in Cappadocia

Celebrate Thecla's feast: 'tis after a triumph she has fallen:

Búaidbeó, a lasting, strong, city, with beautiful Duilech of Clochar.

Thecla, virgin and Martyr. (Note: a different date on the Byzantine calendar. Other Celtic dates for St. Thecla are February 22^nd with St. Peter at Antioch, not St. Paul, and June 1^st. The Byzantines celebrate her in September, on the 24^th or 26^th, and there is a dispute over two different St. Theclas who were Martyrs. See St. Paul, January 25^th for the discussion, as well as St. Luke, October 1^st. The Celtic Rite, as well as the Byzantine Rite, remembers St. Thecla as a very important Saint. In the Celtic "Office of Commending the Soul When it Goes Forth from the Body" one of the verses says, "Free, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant, as Thou didst free Thecla from the three torments." St. Thecla is one of the few mentioned in this Litany.)

Buaid beo, i.e. Duaid-beo son of Lugaid, son of Liathchu, son of Araide, a quo Dal Araidi, i.e. of Cell more Airthir fine, i.e. he is at the end of Mag n-elta i Gaill (the Plain of Clontarf).

Duilech, i.e. from Clochar Duilig to the south of Faeldruim in Fingal.
 

St. Gregory Thaumaturgis (Wonderworker) Bishop of Neocaesarea in Cappadocia. Although not on the Irish calendar, he is not only important as a local Saint who converted a city, but also as an Orthodox teacher who influenced the Church throughout the world, and whose miracles were similar to the Apostles and earliest Bishops such as St. Clement of Rome. The Irish may not have mentioned those such as St. Gregory the Wonderworker who studied with Origen, but St. Gregory Thaumaturgis had none of the unorthodox teachings of Origen. One of the miracles of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis, that of moving a great rock, was expanded in the much later writings of St. Gregory Pope of Rome to moving a mountain. Later, a non-Christian religion claimed that they did miracles such as moving mountains, and also plagiarized the sayings of the Christian desert fathers. Christians did miracles similar to Old Testament Prophets, but the Christians quoted the Old Testament as well, and never said that certain Old Testament miracles did not occur. It must be remembered that the moving of a great rock by St. Gregory the Wonderworker was part of his teaching about Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of our heavenly Father, Who came to us in the flesh to save sinners. Jesus Christ died on the Cross, and is Resurrected from the dead. November 17^th stands as a testimony of the Christian St. Gregory who began his mission in a city having only 17 Christians, and ended his mission with only 17 pagans left in that city. Non-Christians who superstitiously fear the number seventeen ought to hear about this greatest miracle of St. Gregory. On both the new and old calendar dates, he should be remembered, and his miracles and teachings should be announced to those who pay little attention to our Christian heros of the Church.

The land of Cappadocia has become Turkey today. Caesarea in Palestine and Caesarea in Cappadocia were two different cities in two different lands. Caesarea in Cappadocia was the capital of Cappadocia. Neocaesarea in Cappadocia was yet another city, also in Cappadocia in the area called Pontus. A century after St. Gregory the Wonderworker, in the time of St. Basil the Great, the heretical Arian Roman emperor Valens divided Cappadocia into two regions, which placed Caesarea of Cappadocia and Neocaesarea of Cappadocia into the two different provinces, and may have weakened the entire region against future invasion.

The line of Christian learning at Alexandria is important in understanding the lineage of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis. The school in Alexandria was founded by St. Mark (see April 25^th), who was the first of the Apostles and Evangelists to establish a Christian school of higher learning. The followers of St. Mark also followed an ascetic life, which led many to found monasteries in the deserts and swamps in Egypt (see the sayings of the desert fathers collected by St. John Cassian, November 25^th). Therefore, in theology and doctrine, Christian life and morals, the See of Alexandria was considered very ancient and important. The Christian school in Alexandria was first led by Pantaenus. St. Clement of Alexandria was a student of Pantaenus. Origen was a student of St. Clement. Although Origen was considered a heretic because some of his doctrines are flights of fantasy not grounded in Holy Scripture or Tradition, his better writings were admired for their Christian logic and truth, and he was known as a very good teacher. Orthodox writers such as Methodius later refuted the unorthodox writings of Origen, but St. Basil the Great gathered the better Orthodox teachings of Origen into the "Philokalia" a century after Origen. One of the students of Origen was St. Gregory Thaumaturgis (the Wonderworker). St. Catherine the Great of Alexandria, whose relics are in the monastery named after her at Mt. Sinai, was also from Alexandria and taught there. St. Athanasius the Great also came from the Christian school and taught there.

The miracles of a man named "Thaumaturgis" (Wonderworker) must be listed, although they are not respected by those of a non-Orthodox mindset, as seen in some 19^th century translators who managed to exclude thelife and miracles of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis by St. Gregory of Nyssa in either their "Ante-Nicene" or "Post-Nicene" series published by Eerdmans. St. Macrina, the grandmother of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nyssa, was born in Neocaesarea to a Christian family about the time of the death of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis (about 265 - 270). St. Macrina passed eye-witness experience that she gathered from the many Christians of Neocaesarea to her grandchildren, including St. Gregory of Nyssa. The account of the miracles of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis by St. Gregory of Nyssa is reliable, especially evidence of the miracles of the river and lake which were still present in the day of St. Gregory of Nyssa. Luckily, there is a current translation of these writings of St. Gregory of Nyssa, "On the Life and Wonders of our Father among the Saints, Gregory the Wonderworker" in the new series, The Fathers of the Church, Volume 98, St. Gregory Thaumaturgus translated by Michael Slusser of Duqesne University, Catholic University of America Press, Washington D.C., 1998. However, this volume is also frustrating, because it attributes some writings to St. Gregory Thaumaturgis which are elsewhere attributed to St. Gregory Nazianzus, and also leaves out the "Twelve Topics of the Faith," probably because this is a prophetic treatise defending the Incarnation of Christ against heresies which became more general problems one or two centuries later. These "Twelve Topics" are assigned to St. Gregory of Nyssa by Slusser. I would trust that if St. Gregory of Nyssa said these "Twelve Topics" were written by St. Gregory the Wonderworker, that they were indeed. St. Basil says, "through the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, Gregory had a formidable power over evil spirits; he altered the course of rivers in the name of Christ; he dried up a lake that was a cause of dissension between two brothers; and his foretelling of the future made him equal with the other prophets... Such were his signs and wonders that both friends and enemies of the truth looked on him as another Moses." The prophecy in the "Twelve Topics on the Faith" is being used by some scholars to cast doubt on the authenticity of these documents, instead of to prove the foresight of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis.
 

When St. Gregory Thaumaturgis became Bishop in Neocaesarea in Cappadocia in 240 A.D., there were 17 Christians in that city. At the end of his life, the entire city was Orthodox Christian, leaving only 17 pagans. He did miracles constantly, through God's grace. His writings predicted the major heresies of the church in later centuries, and his short explanation of the Christian faith was the foundation of the Nicean Creed. The eastern Saints, especially those from Cappadocia such as St. Basil the Great (January 1^st), St. Gregory Nazianzus the Theologian (March 29^th), and St. Gregory of Nyssa the brother of St. Basil, called him "Gregory the Great," or "the Teacher." (St. Gregory Nazianzus did not think of himself as a very good speaker, and looked to his father, also named Gregory, or the earlier St. Gregory the Wonderworker. There is some confusion, between writings of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis, St. Gregory Nazianzus, and St. Gregory of Nyssa. The later Saints Gregory may have tried to copy the style of the earlier Saint. St. Gregory Nazianzus and St. Gregory of Nyssa lived near Neocaesarea a century later than St. Gregory Thaumaturgis.)

Several ancient writers wrote on the life of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis, and also St. Gregory himself wrote on his early life in his panegyric to Origen written about 238. The ancient writers include Eusebius, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Jerome, Rufinus, Socrates, Sozomen, Evagrius Scholasticus, Suidas, and later St. Gregory, Pope ("the Dialogist" - also called "the Great") and others. St. Gregory Thaumaturgis' birth can only be deduced from the time of his Consecration as Bishop, which he says was very early in life. We know he was Consecrated in 240 A.D. The time of his death is not certain, but according to Suidas he lived to the time of Julian, which he probably means Aurelian, which would be in about 270 A.D. If he was Consecrated as Bishop as early as thirty five years old, he would have been born around 205 A.D. Some childhood events such as the schools he studied in also show his age. St. Gregory was known to not cover his head in prayer, and that he usually did not say more than "yea" or "nay." He avoided anger or bitterness, and never told a lie.

St. Gregory was from Neocaesarea, in Pontus of Cappadocia, where Turkey now lies in Asia Minor. His family was educated, and of some wealth. After his father died, when he was fourteen, his pagan mother had him and his brother Athenodorus tutored by a teacher of rhetoric, grammar which meant the classification of all things, Latin, and law. He felt a calling toward Christianity, but he did not follow his calling for many years. He traveled to Alexandria, with the purpose of studying the Neo-Platonist philosophy (although St. Gregory of Nyssa said that St. Gregory Thaumaturgis did study Christianity in Alexandria, but was not yet Baptized). Then he traveled to Greece, and he studied at Athens. Then he traveled to Berytus (Beirut in Lebanon). A Latin teacher of law at that time in Berytus became famous for formulating the basis of Roman law later called the Pandects of Justinian. (See the Irish Saint and poet Sedulius, February 12^th, who wrote the Carmen Paschale and taught poetics in the Latin language in Athens over a century later. There were some Latin teachers in Athens and other Eastern cities, usually teachers of the law, and many Greeks spoke Latin, just as many in the west studied Greek under Greek teachers.) However, St. Gregory Thaumaturgis did not stay long in Berytus, some said he did not stay there at all, because around that time, Origen went to the Palestinian Caesarea in 233 A.D., and St. Gregory and his brother Athenodorus traveled to Palestine and met Origen. Origen had been a teacher in the Christian school at Alexandria. (It is not certain if St. Gregory had attended this school at Alexandria.)

St. Gregory of Nyssa follows the life of St. Gregory the Wonderworker, telling of his virtue even before his conversion to Christianity. After both his parents died, St. Gregory Thaumaturgis tried to acquire wisdom, not only studying the teachings of the Greek philosophers, but "knowing by experience the weakness and incoherence of their doctrines" came to study and be a disciple of the Gospel. Before his Baptism, in Alexandria some intemperate students tried to discredit him by bribing a prostitute to make false accusations, saying she was cheated in her pay. Friends of Gregory were angry, but St. Gregory gave her the money he did not owe, and she fell down in an epileptic fit. The demon choking her did not stop until St. Gregory called on God to help her. On returning home, he met a young man named Firmilian from Caesarea in Cappadocia, who proposed they study with Origen. After some years, St. Gregory returned home to Neocaesarea in Cappadocia, but many wanted him to teach, and he fled to a remote place. St. Gregory of Nyssa compares him to Moses going off by himself, although "Moses had a wife along with philosophy, while Gregory made virtue his only consort."

After St. Gregory met Origen, he continued his studies, and he also converted to Christianity. Origen taught him logic, geometry, physics, ethics, philosophy, ancient literature, Biblical science, and the truth of the Christian faith. He stayed with Origen for five years, returning to Neocaesarea in Cappadocia. St. Gregory wrote the Panegyric to Origen in 238 A.D., and soon after that Origen wrote him a letter urging him to give his gifts to the service of God and the ministry of the Church of Christ in the role of Bishop, so that he could use his education in the teaching of the Scriptures. St. Gregory received this letter, and went into the wilderness to pray about it, but also to escape Holy Orders.

Phaedimus, or Phaidimos, the Bishop of Amasea, sought to make St. Gregory a Bishop of Neocaesarea, but St. Gregory fled from one retreat to another. Finally, Phaidimos said that both were present in the sight of God, and Ordained St. Gregory even though he was not present bodily. This is impossible in the Church. (This never was done before or since. It is probable that Phaidimos only said he was Ordaining St. Gregory so that St. Gregory would come out of hiding and not reject the Sacramental nature of Holy Orders.) St. Gregory came out of hiding so that the Church would not have such a precedent, and was Consecrated Bishop with the proper Liturgics in 240 A.D. in the physical presence of Phaidimos.

Asking God that he be given visible teaching about the truth, St. Gregory had a vision of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, "elderly looking, very dignified in garb, displaying every virtue in the grace of his countenance and the calmness of his appearance," and the most holy Blessed Virgin Mary, "larger than human size." They were too bright to look at. St. John taught him about the most Holy Trinity, called "A Declaration of Faith". Notice in St. Gregory's Creed, all three Persons of the Holy Trinity are divine, although he does not say as much as the Nicene Creed. The Holy Spirit, according to St. Gregory Nazianzus (March 29^th) and St. Basil (January 1^st) does not proceed from the Father "and the Son," a phrase which was added much later in Spain, but rather from the Father. The reasons are listed in the history of St. Basil on January 1^st, and St. Gregory Nazianzus goes into much more detail in his Five Theological Orations and other writings (which there is not room to quote). Both St. Gregory Nazianzus and St. Basil are concerned with the Nature or Essence of the Trinity, stating that the Holy Spirit must proceed from the Father. As St. Gregory Thaumaturgis states, the Holy Spirit has His "subsistence from God," and is "manifest" by the Son, and by the Holy Spirit the Father and the Son are both seen. The "Declaration of Faith:"

"There is one God, the Father of the living Word, who is His subsistent Wisdom and Power and Eternal Image: perfect Begetter of the perfect Begotten, Father of the only-begotten Son. There is one Lord, Only of the Only, God of God, Image and Likeness of Deity, Efficient Word, Wisdom comprehensive of the constitution of all things, and Power formative of the whole creation, true Son of true Father, Invisible of Invisible, and Incorruptible of Incorruptible, and Immortal of Immortal, and Eternal of Eternal. And there is One Holy Spirit, having His subsistence from God, and being made manifest by the Son, to wit to men: Image of the Son, Perfect Image of the Perfect; Life, the Cause of the living; Holy Fount; Sanctity, the Supplier, or Leader, of Sanctification; in Whom is manifested God the Father, who is above all and in all, and God the Son, who is through all. There is a perfect Trinity, in glory and eternity and sovereignty, neither divided nor estranged. Wherefore there is nothing either created or in servitude in the Trinity; nor anything superinduced, as if at some former period it was non-existent, and at some later period it was introduced. And thus neither was the Son ever wanting to the Father, nor the Spirit to the Son; but without variation and without change, the same Trinity abideth ever."

Returning to Neocaesarea from his retreat, St. Gregory Thaumaturgis spent the night in a pagan temple. The demons retreated at the invocation of Christ, the sign of the Cross, and the prayers and hymns of the all night vigil. The temple custodian was angry that the demons had retreated and the air had been purified of the "stench of sacrifices." The temple custodian made all kinds of threats to take him to authorities as an enemy of the gods, and demanded that the demons return. St. Gregory said that the One God could drive demons away and make them go where ever He willed, so he gave the temple custodian a piece of paper saying, "Gregory to Satan: Enter!" and when the temple custodian placed this on the altar, the demons returned. The temple custodian saw that St. Gregory had more power than the demons, and followed after him, meeting him before the city, and asking St. Gregory about the God to Whom demons were subject. After explaining to the temple custodian about the true God, the temple custodian still did not believe that God could appear to human beings in the flesh as our Lord Jesus Christ. The temple custodian asked that St. Gregory move a great rock too heavy for a human to move. St. Gregory commanded the rock move to another place, and it moved without waiting, "as if it were a living thing." [This rock became a mountain in the "Dialogues" of the later St. Gregory "the Great," Pope of Rome. When considering moving the feast day of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis, the Romans said that a man who could move mountains should not have his feast day moved.] At this point, the temple custodian left everything, "people, home, wife, children, friends, priesthood, shrine, possessions" to follow St. Gregory Thaumaturgis, and later the temple custodian was Ordained as a Deacon. (St. Gregory of Nyssa said, "A stone cuases people who served stones to forsake stones... What kind of hearing does a stone have? What sense does it have of the authority of the one commanding it? What locomotory power is in it? With what members and joints is it equipped? But the power of the one commanding serves all these kinds of functions for the stone...")

At the city of Neocaesarea, many had heard about the miracle of the rock, and his command of the demons, and came to hear St. Gregory. However, he did not look at the people, but looked down as he entered the city, not impressed with the numbers, nor interested in receiving praise. This impressed the people more. Many people asked him to stay with them, but he said that he was never outside the shelter of God, but a house might conceal the shame of secret deeds. "But for those whose life has been set right through virtue, walls have nothing around which to throw a veil." The first person to invite him into their homes was Musonius, and St. Gregory stayed with Musonius, starting a church at the house of Musonius that same day. The next morning sick persons were at his door, and he healed them and converted them. Many new converts contributed to a new church building. St. Gregory of Nyssa, writing a century later, says, "This is the temple which is pointed out to this day, which that Great One, halting as soon as he arrived, laid as a kind of foundation and groundwork for his priesthood, completing the work by some sort of divine impulse and higher aid as is evidenced at a later time. For when there was a very severe earthquake in the city in our own times, and almost everything was completely destroyed, all public and private buildings ruined, that temple alone remained unshattered and unshaken, so that through even this it is manifest with what sort of power that Great One undertook his affairs."

St. Gregory settled an argument over the ownership of a marshy lake by two brothers, who were willing to go to war over it. (The lake may have provided fish, and would have been considered more valuable at that time than farmland.) They took their argument to St. Gregory and when the brothers could not be convinced of the wisdom of sharing the property, St. Gregory went to pray all night by the lakeside. In the morning the land was completely dry: enough water to "float a boat" dried up permanently. St. Gregory compares this to the wisdom of Solomon, but also to the miracle of Joshua (Joshua 3:14 - 4:18) where the Jordan was temporarily stopped, and the miracle of Moses (Exodus 14:21-29) where the Red sea became dry long enough for the Hebrews to cross. However, in the case of this lake, the effect was not temporary, and although St. Gregory said there was evidence of the former water line at the shore in his own time, the lake bottom had become a plain that was then plowed and farmed.

In another miracle, the river Lycus (the Wolf) flooded and destroyed homes and farms. People of the area appealed to St. Gregory, and he went to the place where the river overflowed at times of floods. The ground was moist there; he spoke with a loud voice, asking Christ to come to his assistance, and then he stuck his staff deep into the ground. Soon, the staff took root and became a tree, and the tree prevented further floods. In the time of St. Gregory of Nyssa, the tree was still thriving, and was called "The Staff," and still calmed the waters, again not a temporary but permanent command of waters. The tree lived at the highest point of the flood, and during later winter storms the river would flow "around the trunk of the tree ... attains its highest point of flood, it again piles higher in the middle and reduces its flow, and as if fearing to approach the tree it passes the area by with arched crest." St. Gregory of Nyssa gives further comparisons to Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2:6:14).

The town of Comana could not choose a Bishop, and proposed several men of good families. St. Gregory reminded them that virtue, not family, should be considered in the choice of Bishop. Alexander the Charcoal-burner was chosen Bishop of Comana (his feast according to Roman usage is August 11^th), due to the help of St. Gregory. St. Gregory discovered that Alexander had studied philosophy, and was a charcoal burner so that he could hide his physical beauty and live a life of humility. Alexander's first sermon as Bishop showed his insight and study. One youth said that Alexander did not speak with enough flowery poetry, but everybody then saw a vision of a beautiful flock of doves, which they called "Alexander's doves," his words which were full of truth. After that, the city of Comana was very satisfied with Alexander as Bishop.

At another time, two con men along a road tried to trick St. Gregory. One pretended to be dead, and the other to mourn, and the mourner asked for the cloak of St. Gregory so that he could prepare his friend for burial. St. Gregory immediately threw his double-woven cloak over the man lying on the roadside. When St. Gregory passed out of sight, the man lying on the ground did not move, and it was found that he was indeed dead. (St. Gregory of Nyssa said this miracle seemed to be repulsive, but quoted Acts 5:1-11 about St. Peter's condemnation of Ananias.) St. Gregory Thaumaturgis could not tell a lie, and if he gave charity to a dead man, the man would have to be dead. St. Gregory of Nyssa attributed this incident to two Jews who practiced deception, but any persons who tried to change the truth into a lie in the presence of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis were risking grave consequences. According to the life of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis, the city of Neocaesarea was pagan, not Jewish, before St. Gregory Thaumaturgis began to teach there.

St. Gregory the Wonderworker also was known to heal those who were possessed. St. Gregory of Nyssa gives an example of the healing of a possessed boy, and then says, "To go through in order all the marvels worked by him would require a long book and a discourse exceeding the time we have now, but since I have been reminded of one or two more things told about h im I shall close the discourse with these."

In 250 A.D. Neocaesarea suffered under the Decian persecution. St. Gregory of Nyssa says, "Anger and envy entered the man in charge of the Roman Empire at that time because the ancestral cults of error were falling into neglect, while the mystery of the Christians was growing and the church was swelling to a multitude everywhere in the civilized world... [The emperor] sent the governors of the provinces an edict decreeing a fearful threat of punishment against them if they could not mutilate with manifold tortures those who worship the Name of Christ, and lead them by fear and the coercion of tortures back to their ancestral worship of demons." (Modern copies of these decrees to the governors are lost; it is possible that the governors were told to persecute Christians, and a punishment of governors who would not do such a persecution was not described, but they told others that this was required of them as an excuse, just as Nazi prison guards used the excuse of orders to justify their crimes.) The persecution divided families, pagan children turned in their Christian parents; pagan parents turned in their Christian children. Women and children were tortured and killed as well as men. St. Gregory was forced to flee into the wilderness, and he told the people to also flee to avoid persecution. Although he prayed for the Martyrs, St. Gregory felt that the Church should have as many people survive the persecution as possible, and felt that he should stay alive at that time. (St. Polycarp fled Martyrdom at first, although he submitted when arrested. Dionysius of Alexandria and Cyprian of Carthage also fled during persecution, but were criticized for it.)

In the desert, only a Deacon was with him, the former temple custodian who had been converted from pagan priesthood. Persecutors were told that St. Gregory was in a mountain, and sent soldiers to arrest him. The soldiers circled the hill so that he could not escape, and sent others up to look for them in every possible hiding place. Meanwhile, St. Gregory told his Deacon to lift his hands in prayer and not lose confidence in God, and both of them prayed in this way with arms and hands lifted to heaven. (This was the ancient way of prayer. See the Irish "Shrine of Piety," and also the method of prayer used by Moses to defeat enemies. The same pose is found in ancient icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary called "Our Lady of the Sign," with her hands lifted to heaven in prayer.) The soldiers returned saying that they had only seen two trees standing a short distance apart. The informer went to the place and found St. Gregory and his Deacon in prayer, and realizing they had escaped miraculously, he fell down before them and became a Christian.

Although most Christians had fled the city, some remained, and these filled the prisons. During the persecution, St. Gregory also was in prayer during the Martyrdom of one of the faithful, and prayed, "Blessed be God, who has not given us as prey to their teeth." St. Gregory was able to name the man, Troadios, and the manner in which he had died, and the miraculous way he had kept the faith through his trial and torture. The Deacon who had been the pagan temple custodian wished to go to the city to hear about the wonders of Troadios. When he arrived, he was dirty, and went to a bath after dark. The keeper did not want to admit him, because a demon came at nightfall and killed any who were there. The Deacon was the first to come out of the bath unharmed, and after that he learned the truth of the Martyrdom of many people who St. Gregory had witnessed through his God-given sight in the wilderness. St. Gregory honored the Martyrs when the persecution ended, celebrating each of them with a feast day and enjoyable activities. This attracted more pagans to the church, who were attracted to festivals. St. Gregory was also the only early Church leader who allowed secular entertainment and recreation at the annual Christian feasts of the Martyrs.

Even so, not all the pagans realized the power of God. After this persecution a plague followed. Many pagans had gone to a festival for a demon, and in the theatre the crowd was so great that the entire assembly called out, "Zeus, give us space!" St. Gregory heard this, and told a bystander outside the theatre that the people would be given even more space than they prayed for. Soon after, the city was swept with fever and death. Water was too weak to stop the fever. The pagans finally came to St. Gregory asking for help, and they prayed in each house to drive out the disease. The entire city abandoned its idols and came to Christ. In 260 the city was invaded by Goths, who were northern barbarians.

St. Gregory took part in the council which met in Antioch in 265 A.D. to try Paul of Samosata. It is not known what year St. Gregory died; perhaps 270 according to Suidas, if the name Julian is actually Aurelian. He asked that he not be given any special place of burial. St. Gregory was not happy that there were still some pagans in Neocaesarea, saying, "This is very sad, that there should be something lacking to the full number of the saved." However, these were only seventeen pagans. He reposed on November 17^th. Although some non-Christians such as the Moslems think that the number seventeen is unlucky, Christians are reminded of St. Gregory the Great Wonderworker when they encounter this number; beginning with seventeen Christians, and leaving only seventeen pagans, so that his successor would have some work left. (In 2001, the Moslems begin their month-long fast on the new calendar date of November 17^th. St. Gregory, pray for us!)

It is said that the body of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis was transferred to a Byzantine monastery in Calabria Italy. There is a large local cultus of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis in southern Italy and Sicily, and he is asked for intercessions especially in times of earthquakes and floods because of his stopping the flooding of the River Lycus in Cappadocia.

St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzus both studied Christianity in Cappadocia and outside it; St. Basil said in a letter (Epistle 207) that the teachings and liturgics of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis had mostly been lost, with only a century between the Ordination of St. Basil and the death of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis. When St. Basil composed his Divine Liturgy which is used in the Byzantine Rite, he sought to keep the spirit of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis who loved prayer and litanies, although the Liturgy used by St. Gregory Thaumaturgis had been lost since then due to persecutions and heresies. St. Basil re-wrote the Byzantine Divine Liturgy, because the powerful heretics in that area had made changes, and he wanted to make certain that every word would be Orthodox. (See St. Basil, January 1^st and below, and notes in the Celtic Missal, which may be derived from older sources.)

Neocaesarea was converted to Christianity through the efforts of St. Gregory, converting the population which had 17 Christians before 240 A.D. into a city of Christians, leaving only 17 pagans. The miracles of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis were used as reminders to the Christians in Cappadocia to keep the faith during times of persecutions by both pagans and heretics, emperors and barbarian invaders, at times when the rest of the world, including Constantinople and Rome, had fallen to the Arian heresy (see St. Gregory Nazianzus, March 29^th and St. Basil, January 1^st, and also St. Martin of Tours, November 11^th). Cappadocia kept the faith in the third century, and sent its Fathers to Constantinople in the fourth century, defending the doctrines of Orthodox faith in the Church. The Church studied the writings of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis, and although the Nicene Creed is more complete in its doctrine, the First Ecumenical Council referred to these earlier writings. Other Saints such as St. Nicholas, St. Martin (November 11^th), and St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (March 20^th) who were called "Wonderworkers" during and after their life were known to uphold the true Incarnation of Christ. St. Nicholas kept the faith in the First Ecumenical Council (325 A.D.), and his bones still give a milky substance. Although St. Gregory Thaumaturgis wrote on Theological subjects (that is, on the nature of God), St. Gregory Nazianzus mostly wrote on these to defend the faith against the Arians and Sabellians. However, St. Gregory Thaumaturgis defended the Incarnation of Christ in his "Twelve Topics on the Faith," just as St. Nicholas defended the Incarnation of Christ in the First Ecumenical Council, and he was given the grace of doing miracles continuously.
 

St. Gregory Thaumaturgis wrote the "Declaration of Faith," and also other important works. In his sectional Confession of Faith, St. Gregory Thaumaturgis explains the Holy Trinity in twenty three sections, with some of the same insights as St. Gregory Nazianzus. The 19^th century Anglicans in the Eerdmans volumes of Ante and Post Nicene fathers protest this work, because they do not understand the Greek explanations of the Holy Trinity, as explained by St. Basil and St. Gregory Naziansus. The "Twelve Topics of the Faith" is long, but a few quotes give some idea of his understanding. In part V, "...He, therefore, who supposes some beginning of times in the life of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, therewith also cuts off any possibility of numbering the Son and the Spirit with the Father. For as we acknowledge the glory to be one, so ought we also to acknowledge the substance in the Godhead to be one, and one also the eternity of the Trinity." In Part III: "And whether, then, one discerns God through creation, or is taught to know Him by the Holy Scriptures, it is impossible either to apprehend Him or to learn of Him apart from His wisdom. And he who calls upon God rightly, calls on Him through the Son; and he who approaches Him in a true fellowship, comes to Him through Christ..."

"On the Trinity," he states, "...But the Divine Persons are names indeed: and the names are still the persons; and the persons then signify that which is and subsists, - which is the essence of God." (St. John of Damascus also wrote on the Persons of the Holy Trinity as essence, a slightly different explanation than St. Gregory Nazianzus' and later writers.)

On the liturgics of his time, St. Gregory wrote Canonical Epistles concerning those who have repented their cowardly giving up of the faith which had been done because of barbarian invasions, and the five classes of penitents in paragraph XI. This paragraph has been thought to have been written after his time, but Litanies or prayers are at the beginning of St. Basil's Divine Liturgy, and therefore the description of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis refers to a different form of liturgics than the Liturgics written by St. Basil a century later. (See St. Basil's Epistle 207: St. Basil's Liturgy was different than earlier Liturgies, and had added Litanies. The Greek Old Calendrists consider hearing the Holy Gospel itself to be a form of prayer, as these are the holy words of our Lord God Jesus Christ. Women in some Old Calendrist Greek churches grab the stole of the Priest and Deacon, prostrate themselves, and weep on the stole during the reading of the Holy Gospels.) In the Liturgy of the Celtic Rite, the prayers of the Psalms in the Gradual and the Litany of St. Martin follow the Epistle. The Gradual and Litany of St. Martin are just before the censing and reading of the Holy Gospel. Of course, the Litany of St. Martin in the Celtic Rite which is similar to the great Litany of St. Basil was added during or after the life of St. Martin of Tours, see November 11^th. The original form of the Celtic Liturgy may have been very ancient, as it is the same as the form found in the Liturgy of Milan. The rules for penitents of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis:

"Weeping takes place without the gate of the oratory, and the offender standing there ought to implore the faithful as they enter to offer up prayer on his behalf. [Then:] Waiting on the word, again, takes place within the gate in the porch, where the offender ought to stand until the catechumens depart, and thereafter he should go forth. For let him hear the Scriptures and doctrine, it is said, and then be put forth, and reckoned unfit for the privilege of prayer. [Then:] Submission, again, is that one stand within the gate of the temple, and go forth along with the catechumens. [Then:] Restoration is that one be associated with the faithful, and go not forth with the catechumens; and [then:] last of all comes the participation in the holy ordinances."

St. Gregory also writes about the soul, four homilies: three on the Annunciation to the holy Virgin Mary and one on the Holy Theophany, that is, on Christ's Baptism; on all the Saints; and on the Gospel of St. Matthew 6:22-23. Some of these writings may have been added to by later Greek copiers, but they are beautiful. It is said that the use of the term "Theotokos" was later than the time of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis, but it is possible that he coined the term. "Theotokos" ("Birthgiver of God") referring to the Blessed Virgin Mary was later used by the followers of St. John Chrysostom such as St. John Cassian, who inherited the information about St. Gregory from those who taught in Cappadocia.

St. Gregory the Wonderworker wrote "Twelve Topics on the Faith" against heresies of his day and predicting heresies in later times. Some say that he could not have written these, as they point to some heresies that had not yet occurred by 270 A.D. The heresies that St. Irenaeus fought (see August 26^th) were already overcome, but the new heresies against the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ were contemporary with St. Gregory Thaumaturgis, although not every form of them was yet widely publicized. St. Gregory Nazianzen, see March 29^th, also predicted heresies, and at the end of his life after retiring from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, he wrote against heresies that would become a problem a century later. Most of the Ecumenical Councils were against the heresies of the Incarnation of Christ. In the 19^th century "elucidation" following the translation of the Twelve Topics of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis found in the Eerdmans volume, the Rev. S.D.F. Salmond lists seven Ecumenical Councils, but begins with the Apostolic Council, and calls the first Ecumenical Council the Second, etc. Salmond then uses the term "Seventh" to mean another council, confusing the issue further. Salmond omits the Orthodox Seventh Ecumenical Council of 787 A.D. in which the icons were restored due to the efforts of St. John of Damascus. St. John of Damascus and St. Theodore the Studite proved that Jesus Christ truly came among us in the flesh, and therefore it is acceptable for us to show Him in icons. We do not worship the image, but the Lord. The topic XII of St. Gregory Thaumaturgis which predicted the Orthodox Seventh Ecumenical Council of 787 A.D. is later than Salmond's list. Topic XII shows that these "Twelve Topics" were prophecy, not forgery, an ancient writing certainly written centuries before the time of the Orthodox Seventh Ecumenical Council.
 

Topic I. "If any one says that the body of Christ is uncreated, and refuses to acknowledge that He, being the uncreated Word (God) of God, took the flesh of created humanity and appeared incarnate, even as it is written, let him be anathema."

Explanation. "How could the body be said to be uncreated? For the uncreated is the passionless, invulnerable, intangible. But Christ, on rising from the dead, showed His disciples the print of the nails and the wound made by the spear, and a body that could be handled, although He also had entered among them when the doors were shut, with the view of showing them at once the energy of the divinity and the reality of the body." [The Gospel of St. John, 20:19-21, 27]

"Yet, while being God, He was recognized as man in a natural manner; and while subsisting truly as man, He was also manifested as God by His works." [St. Matthew 8:20; St. Matthew 11:19; St. Matthew 11:1-6, 20; St. John 10:38]

Topic II. "If any one affirms that the flesh of Christ is consubstantial with the divinity, and refuses to acknowledge that He, subsisting Himself in the form of God as God before all ages, emptied Himself and took the form of a servant, evan as it is written, let him be anathema."

Explanation. "How could the flesh, which is conditioned by time, be said to be consubstantial (of the essence) with the timeless divinity? For that is designated consubstantial which is the same in nature and in eternal duration without variableness." [Further explanation in the Five Theological Orations of St. Gregory Nazianzus.]

Topic III. "If any one affirms that Christ, just like one of the prophets, assumed the perfect man, and refuses to acknowledge that, being begotten in the flesh of the Virgin, He became man and was born in Bethlehem, and was brought up in Nazareth, and advanced in age, and on completing the set number of years (appeared in public and) was Baptized in the Jordan, and received this testimony from the Father, 'This is my beloved Son,' [St. Matthew 3:17] even as it is written, let him be anathema."

Explanation. "How could it be said that Christ (the Lord) assumed the perfect man just like one of the prophets, when He, being the Lord Himself, became man by the incarnation effected through the Virgin? Wherefore it is written, that 'the first man was of the earth, earthy.' [I Cor. 15:47] But whereas he that was formed of the earth returned tot he earth, He that became the second man returned to heaven. And so we read of the 'first Adam and the last Adam.' [I Cor. 15:45]. And as it is admitted that the second came by the first according to the flesh, for which reason also Christ is called man and the Son of man; so is the witness given that the second is the Savior of the first, for whose sake He came down from heaven. And as the Word came down from heaven, and was made man, and ascended again to heaven, He is on that account said to be the second Adam from heaven."

Topic IV. "If any one affirms that Christ was born of the seed of man by the Virgin, in the same manner as all men are born, and refuses to acknowledge that He was made flesh by the Holy Spirit and the holy Virgin Mary, and became man of the seed of David, even as it is written, let him be anathema."

Explanation. "How could one say that Christ was born of the seed of man by the Virgin, when the holy Gospel and the angel, in proclaiming the good tidings, testify of Mary the Virgin that she said, 'How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?' [St. Luke 1:34]. Wherefore he says, 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of the Highest.' [St. Luke 1:35]. And to Joseph he says, 'Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His Name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.' [St. Matthew 1:20-21]."

Topic V. "If any one affirms that the Son of God who is before the ages is one, and He who has appeared in these last times is another, and refuses to acknowledge that He who is before the ages is the same with Him who appeared in these last times, even as it is written, let him be anathema."

Explanation. "How could it be said that the Son of God Who is before the ages is one, and He who has appeared in these last times, are different, when the Lord Himself says, 'Before Abraham was, I am;' [St. John 8:58] and, 'I came forth from God, and I come, and again I go to my Father?' [St. John chapters 8 and 16]."

Topic VI. "If any one affirms that He who suffered is one, and that He who suffered not is another, and refuses to acknowledge that the Word, who is Himself the impassible and unchangeable God, suffered in the flesh which He had assumed really, yet without mutation, even as it is written, let him be anathema."

Explanation. "How could it be said that He who suffered is one, and He who suffered not another, when the Lord Himself said, 'The Son of man must suffer many things, and be killed, and be raised again the third day from the dead;' [St. Matthew 16:21] and again, 'When ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the Father;' [St. Matthew 26:64; St. Mart 14:62] and again, 'When the Son of man cometh in the glory of His Father?' [St. Matthew 16:27]."

Topic VII. "If any one affirms that Christ is saved, and refuses to acknowledge that He is the Savior of the world, and the Light of the world, even as it is written, let him be anathema." [Isaiah chapter 9; St. Matthew chapter 4; St. John chapters 1, 3, 8, 9, 12.]

Explanation. "How could one say that Christ is saved, when the Lord Himself says, 'I am the life;' [St. John 11:25, St. John 14:6] and, 'I am come that they might have life;' [St. John 10:10] and, 'He that believeth on me shall not see death, but he shall behold the life eternal?' [St. John 8:51]"

Topic VIII. "If any one affirms that Christ is perfect man and also God the Word in the way of separation, and refuses to acknowledge the one Lord Jesus Christ, even as it is written, let him be anathema."

Explanation. "How could one say that Christ is perfect man and also God the Word in the way of separation, when the Lord Himself says, 'Why seek ye to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God?' [St. John 8:40]. For God the Word did not give a man for us, but He gave Himself for us, having been made man for our sake. Wherefore He says: 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. But He spake of the temple of His body.' [St. John 2:19, 21]."

Topic IX. "If any one says that Christ suffers change or alteration, and refuses to acknowledge that He is unchangeable in the Spirit, though corruptible in the flesh, let him be anathema."

Explanation. "How could one say that Christ suffers change or alteration, when the Lord Himself says, 'I am, and I change not;' [Mal. 3:6] and again, 'His soul shall not be left in Hades, neither shall His flesh see corruption?' [Psalm 15 Greek numbering, or 16 Hebrew numbering; Acts 2:31]." [Note: The change or alteration referred to is Christ's Birth, which did not change His Spirit, just as at His birth, He was not given a different kind of body from ours. This does not refer to the Holy Eucharist, which is given to us by Christ in the church, as He said, St. Matthew 26:26-29. Although His flesh is like ours and was wounded and died at the Crucifixion, He is risen from the dead without decay, keeping His wounds, but not with the decay of death. The controversy that some thought Christ changed at birth was answered at the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, against the "Monophysites," who said that Christ's body and Divinity were not divided, and that He did not really take on our flesh, suffer on the Cross, or save us through His death and Resurrection.]

Topic X. "If any one affirms that Christ assumed the man only in part, and refuses to acknowledge that He was made in all things like us, apart from sin, let him be anathema."

Explanation. "How could one say that Christ assumed the man only in part, when the Lord Himself says, 'I lay down my life, that I might take it again, for the sheep;' [St. John 10:17] and, 'My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed;' [St. John 6:55] and, ' He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life?' [St. John 6:56]."

Topic XI. "If any one affirms that the body of Christ is void of soul and understanding, and refuses to acknowledge that He is perfect man, one and the same in all things (with us), let him be anathema."

Explanation. "How could one say that the body of the Lord (Christ) is void of soul and understanding? For perturbation, and grief, and distress, are not the properties either of a flesh void of soul, or of a soul void of understanding; nor are they the sign of the immutable Divinity, nor the index of a mere phantasm, nor do they mark the defect of human weakness; but the Word exhibited in Himself the exercise of the affections and susceptibilities proper to us, having endued Himself with our passions, even as it is written, that 'He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.' [Isaiah 53:4] For perturbation, and grief, and distress, are disorders of soul; and toil, and sleep, and the body's liability to wounding, are infirmities of the flesh."

Topic XII, "If any one says that Christ was manifested in the world only in semblance, and refuses to acknowledge that He came actually in the flesh, let him be anathema."

Explanation. "How could one say that Christ was manifested only in semplance in the world, born as He was in Bethlehem, and made to submit to the circumcising of the flesh, and lifted up by Simeon, and brought up on the His twelfth year (at home), and made subject to His parents, and Baptized in Jordan, andnailed to the Cross,and raised again from the dead?

"Wherefore, when it is said that He was 'troubled in spirit,' [St. John 11:33, 12:27, 13:21] that 'He was sorrowful in soul,' [St. Matthew 26:38] that 'He was wounded in body, ' [Isaiah 53:5] He places before us designations of susceptibilities proper to our constitution, in order to show that He was made man in the world, and had His conversation with men, [Baruch 3:38] yet without sin. For He was born in Bethlehem according tot he flesh, in a manner meet for Deity, the angels of heaven recognizing Him as their Lord, and hymning as their God Him who was then wrapped in swaddling-clothes in a manger, and exclaiming, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will among men.' [Luke 2:14] He was brought up in Nazareth; but in divine fashion He sat among the doctors, and astonished them by a wisdom beyond His years, in respect of the capacities of His bodily life, as is recorded in the Gospel narrative. He was Baptized in Jordan, not as receiving any sanctification for Himself, bur as gifting a participation in sanctification to others. He was tempted in the wilderness, not as giving way, however, to temptation, but as putting our temptations before Himself on the challenge of the tempter, in order to show the powerlessness of the tempter.

"Wherefore He says, 'Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.' [St. John 16:33] And this He said, not as holding before us any contest proper only to a God, but as showing our own flesh in its capacity to overcome suffering, and death, and corruption, in order that, as sin entered into the world by flesh, and death came to reign by sin over all men, the sin in the flesh might also be condemned through the selfsame flesh in the likeness thereof; [Romans 5:12, 8:3] and that that overseer of sin, the tempter, might be overcome, and death be cast down from its sovereignty, and the corruption in the burying of the body be done away, and the first-fruits of the Resurrection be shown, and the principle of righteousness begin its course in the world through faith, and the kingdom of heaven be preached to men, and fellowship be established between God and men.

"In behalf of this grace let us glorify the Father, who has given His only begotten Son for the life of the world. Let us glorify the Holy Spirit that worketh in us, and quickeneth us, and furnisheth the gifts meet for the fellowship of God,; and let us not intermeddle with the world of the Gospel by lifeless disputations, scattering about endless questionings and logomachies, and making a hard thing of the gentle and simple word of faith; but rather let us work the work of faith, let us love peace, let us exhibit concord, let us preserve unity, let us cultivate love, with which God is well pleased.

"As it is not for us to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power [Acts 1:7] but ony to believe that there will come an end to time, and that there will be a manifestation of a future world, and a revelation of judgment, and an advent of the Son of God, and a recompense of works, and an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, so it is not for us to know how the Son of God became man; for this is a great mystery, as it is written, 'Who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.' [Isaiah 53:8] But is is for us to believe that the Son of God became man, according to the Scriptures; and that He was seen on the earth, and had His conversation with man, according to the Scriptures, in their likeness, yet without sin; and that He died for us, and rose again from the dead, as it is written; and that He was taken up to heaven, and sat down at the right hand of the Father, whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead, as it is written; lest, while we war against each other with words, any should be led to blaspheme the word of faith, and that should come to pass which is written, 'By reason of you is my Name continually blasphemed among the nations.' [Isaiah 52:5]."

23 Nov /6 Dec - St. Columbanus of Luxeuil and Bobbio, and St. Clement of Rome

The fair suffering of Clement among the sea's waves:

his city is adored under the waves of the wide main.

Of Clement, i.e. Clement, i.e. Bishop and Abbot of Rome. There is a splendid convent of Clement's under the sea in which he was drowned, and every year, on Clement's feast day, the sea ebbs so that the convent is clear among waves, i.e. among the noises of the waves of the sea; and men go thither to fast; and a certain woman once forgetfully left her child there and it was whole at the end of a year (and came) to meet her again through God's grace and Clement's, the third Pope after Peter, and by emperor Traianus he was drowned in the Mediterranian near the city of Cersona.

(See also July 19^th, November 14^th, and November 21^st.)

The Romans list St. Clement today also, Pope and Martyr, who died in A.D. 99 or 100. See January 18^th, St. Peter, and also January 25^th, St. Paul. The Byzantine sources say this Clement had been born in Rome of royal ancestry, but had been caught in a storm at sea in his youth with his mother and two brothers and driven off course. His father went to search for them, but he also disappeared. At twenty-four years old, Clement went to search for his lost family. He went to Alexandria, met the Apostle Barnabus and then became friend of the Apostle Peter. There they discovered his two missing brothers, Faustinus and Faustinian, who were already St. Peter's followers. Clement also found his elderly mother, who lived as a beggar, and also his father. The reunited family returned to Rome. St. Peter arrived in Rome for a third time in the twelfth year of the reign of Nero. St. Clement was then Consecrated Bishop to help in the administration of the Church, but he only did so because the Apostle Peter asked him to. St. Irenaeus of Lyons (June 28^th in the Roman Rite, August 23^rd in the Byzantine Rite) also spoke of this Clement.

St Clement was said to be at Philippi with St. Paul in A.D. 57, as recorded in Philippians 4:3. St. Clement was familiar with the Septuagint, probably through St. Luke who traveled with him. His writings reveal that the Septuagint in the possession of Clement was not the same as the "Received Text." Clement succeeded Linus and Cletus as Pope of Rome. The Epistle of Clement may have been written at the end of his life.

(The Romans forged a second Epistle from Clement much later to support Papal claims of "infallibility," but the First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians is very early and has no such overtones. In his First Epistle, Clement does admonish Christians to be obedient, for example in Chapter IX, but that is not unusual in any of the earliest Epistles. A better case for obedience to Bishops was made by St. Ignatius of Antioch whose Feast is December 20^th, although he was not a Roman Patriarch but the Patriarch of Antioch, and therefore could not possibly have been said to be supporting claims of a solely Roman church.)

The acts of Clement recorded in the fourth century state that Clement converted Theodora and her husband Sisinnius with four hundred twenty three others. See Sisennius, July 19^th, who was Baptized by Clement. The people protested these conversions, and he was banished by emperor Trajan to the Crimea where he worked in the quarries. The nearest drinking water was six miles away, and he found a spring for the Christians much closer. His preaching in the Crimea led to the building of seventy five churches, and this caused him to be Martyred by an anchor being tied to his neck and thrown into the sea. The angels built him a tomb beneath the waves, which appeared once a year at an ebb tide much greater than the usual low tide. The glossator of Oengus says, "There is a splendid convent of Clement's under the sea in which he was drowned, and every year, on Clement's feast day, the sea ebbs so that the convent is clear among waves, i.e. among the noises of the waves of the sea; and men go thither to fast; and a certain woman once forgetfully left her child there and it was whole at the end of a year (and came) to meet her again through God's grace and Clement's, the third Pope after Peter, and by emperor Traianus he was drowned in the Mediterranian near the city of Cersona." The Celtic Rite celebrates his day November 21^st and November 23^rd, while the Byzantines celebrate it November 24^th. (Another St. Clement, of Alexandria +217 A.D., celebrated on the Roman calendar December 4^th, is not the same person, but died over one hundred years later.) Another Clement, thought to be an Abbot of Rome, is commemorated in the Celtic Rite on November 14^th. The relics of St. Clement were thought to have been brought to Rome in the ninth century by St. Cyril, and brought to the church of San Clemente on the Coelian, although it is possible that there might be some confusion with the Clement of Okhrida who was a disciple of Ss. Cyril and Methodius. There are other St. Clements such as Clement of Okhrida, one of the Apostles to Bulgaria who helped convert the Slavic peoples in the ninth and tenth centuries (see July 17^th). (For Clement Bishop of Rome, see July 19^th, November 14^th, November 21^st, and November 23^rd.)
 

Also listed today is St. Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium (A.D. 400), a friend and cousin of St. Gregory Nazianzen and St. Basil, both of whom wrote letters to him. He was born in Cappadocia, and was a rhetor at Constantinople. He soon retired near Nazianzus to care for his father, and traded vegetables from his garden for grain from St. Gregory Nazianzus (see March 29^th). In 374, when he was thirty five, St. Amphilochius was elevated to Bishop of Iconium. He did not want to take the office, and his father also complained that he needed the care. St. Gregory said he would also miss St. Amphilochius, but St. Basil congratulated him. Visiting St. Basil at Caesarea (see January 1^st) after his appointment, his sermons were popular among the people. He questioned St. Basil on doctrine and discipline, and requested St. Basil to write his treatise on the Holy Spirit. Amphilochius gave the eulogy at St. Basil's funeral. A council was held by Amphilochius at Iconium against some Macedonian heretics who did not believe in the divinity of the Holy Spirit, and on the same subject at the Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople in 381. He met St. Jerome, and read his work on the Holy Spirit. Amphilochius asked the emperor Theodosius I to forbid the Arians to hold their assemblies, but the emperor refused to do so. (See St. Martin of Tours, November 11^th: Arianism was a problem everywhere.) When Theodosius I named his son Arcadius as the emperor, Amphilochius visited the palace and took no notice of the son's new status, only patting him on the cheek. Theodosius became angry, but Bishop Amphilochius said, "You cannot bear a slight to your son. How, then, can you allow those who dishonor the Son of God?" The emperor realized his error, and made a law forbidding the Arian heretics to hold meetings in public or private. St. Amphilochius also opposed the Messalians, a Manichean sect which emphasized prayer alone in religion, and denounced them in a synod at Sida or Side in Pamphylia, where he presided over a Council in 390 A.D. (Such sects later gave rise to non-Christian heresies.) St. Amphilochius is called by St. Gregory Nazianzen a Bishop without reproach, and an angel and herald of truth. St. Amphilochius was also known to heal the sick by his prayers. St. Amphilocius is also celebrated today according to the Byzantine Rite calendar, listed in Orthodox Dogmatic Theology by Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky. (St. Gregory Nazianzen, who died in 390 A.D., and is celebrated in the Celtic Rite March 29^th, in the Byzantine Rite January 25^th and at the feast of the Three Hierarchs January 30^th, and in the Roman Rite May 9^th, is considered one of the highest authorities in the Church, and is one of the few Saints honored among the Byzantines as a "Theologian;" see the notes on the term "Theologian" under St. John the Apostle and St. Peter.)
 

TSI lists Columbanus, also called Columban or Columba of Luxeuil and Bobbio today. Much of the Lections and Propers of the Celtic Rite are drawn from the libraries of Luxeuil and Bobbio, so we are especially grateful to the work of St. Columbanus, one of the most major of the Irish Saints. He died A.D. 615. (The popular name Columba means "dove.") St. Columbanus brought monasticism back to Gaul, which much earlier had been a great center of monasticism under St. Martin of Tours (see November 11^th) and St. Gregory of Tours. As the training of St. Patrick had come from the earlier monastic tradition in Gaul, the Irish gift back to the area was a continuation of their own tradition given back to them. (See St. Germanus of Auxerre, May 28^th.)

Columban came to the continent of Europe before 575 A.D. at a time when continuous wars caused by territorial disputes between the barbarian tribes who had moved into Europe had either destroyed much of religion, or caused many heresies to take hold. According to Montalembert the Frankish kings were generous to the church but at the same time continued in the ways of barbarian conquest. They also preferred the Arian heresy which said that Christ was only human, not divine, because then they did not have to take Christianity particularly seriously. Germany had become pagan when overrun by Teutonic tribes. (The Teutonic knights much later were famous for their defeat by St. Alexander Nevsky over the ice in Russia, and at that time many settled in Russia yielding many German names among the Russians, and an admixture of their theology in a few places.) Anglo-Saxon England was also still pagan in 575, not receiving the mission of St. Augustine of Canterbury sent by Pope St. Gregory the Great until 597, and the Irish mission at Lindisfarne by St. Aidan at the invitation of king Oswald in 635. Boniface did not come into Germany until 716, long after several Irish monks had missionized there and set up churches and monasteries. Italy itself was overrun by Lombards who were Arians (see Ursus of Aosta February 1^st and Fridian March 18^th both who tried to overcome Arianism). At that time, Ireland was not only the center of monastic zeal, but also of education and Orthodox Christianity.

Columbanus was born in Leinster, studied in childhood under Sinnel at Lough Erne one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland (see November 12^th). Sinnell had been one of the Saints who had been students of St. Finian of Clonard. Columbanus completed his education at Bangor under St. Comgall (see May 10^th). Columbanus decided to preach the Gospel in foreign lands where God would direct him, and St. Comgall gave him twelve monks from Bangor to go with Columbanus. They went through England, landed at St. Malo in Gaul and traveled there from west to east. They were invited by Sigibert who died in 575 to settle in his territory at the ruins of the old Roman fort at Annegray on the border between Austrasia and Burgundy. Immediately their domain was the place of miracles, and a wonder of Irish austerity in their monastic rule, attracting attention in both kingdoms. They expanded in 590 due to the numbers of novices, visitors, sick and poor who came to them. At that time Luxeuil was built, and two years after that Fontaines, all a few miles from eachother. Monks continuously sang there, and endowments came from the wealthy.

This created uneasiness among those who were made nervous by such discipline, who were afraid that a display of true Christianity would mean that they themselves would be required to take the religion seriously. Also, there were minor disputes between Pope St. Gregory the Great and the Irish, including the date of Easter, in a letter dated 600, and Gregory asked them to be obedient to local Bishops in Gaul. (See Finan February 17^th: the Irish date of Easter was the earlier Roman date observed by St. Patrick and the earlier Roman Patriarchate, but the calculation of the Vernal Equinox had been changed in Alexandria, and was a matter of dispute for quite awhile throughout the Christian church.) Gregory also wrote to Chonon of Lerins asking him to reform observances and speaking of "our son Columbus the presbyter." Chonon visited Luxeuil as a result of that letter. The Bishops summoned Columbanus to discuss his Celtic Easter, but he begged not to go "lest he contend in words." (See the monastery of Lerins, May 24^th.) Columbanus in return drew attention to scandals of young king Thierry whose behavior was ignored by Bishops who frequented the court. This caused the anger of the old queen Brunehaut, who earlier had caused the murder of Desiderius Bishop of Vienne. Because of her, Columbanus was banished from Thierry's kingdom in A.D. 610. Although th