DECEMBER 12 – ST. VALERY, ABBOT – ST. FINIAN, BISHOP.
THIS Saint was born at Auvergne, in the sixth century, and in his childhood kept his father’s sheep. He was yet young when he took the monastic habit in the neighboring monastery of St. Antony. Seeking the most perfect means of advancing in the paths of all virtues, he passed from this house to the more austere monastery of St. Germanus of Auxerre, and finally to that of Luxeu, where he spent many years. He travelled into Neustria, where he converted many infidels, and assembled certain fervent disciples, and laid the foundation of a monastery. Saint Valery went to receive the recompense of his happy perseverance on the 12th of December in 622.
St. Finian was a native of Leinster, was instructed in the elements of Christian virtue by the disciples of St. Patrick, and passed over into Wales; but about the year 520 he returned into Ireland. To propagate the work of God, our Saint established several monasteries and schools. St. Finian was chosen and consecrated bishop of Clonard. In the love of his flock and his zeal for their salvation, he was infirm with the infirm, and wept with those that wept. He healed the souls, and often also the bodies, of those that applied to him. He departed to our Lord on the 12th of December in 552.
WORD OF THE DAY
FILIOQUE. A term meaning “and from the Son,” which over the centuries became the center of controversy between the Eastern Churches separated from Rome and the Catholic Church. The Eastern Christians first objected to the insertion of this phrase in the Nicene Creed, which now states that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son.” The last three words had not been in the original creed but were added later, with the approval of Rome. After the ninth century the Eastern leaders challenged not only the addition but the doctrine itself, whether the Holy Spirit proceeded not only from the Father but also from the Son. In recent years the issue has become more historical than doctrinal, since those who believe in Christ’s divinity, whether Eastern or Western Christians, all accept the fact that the Third Person proceeds from the Second as well as the First Person of the Trinity. Given this common faith, the verbal expression has become secondary.
Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)
ST. ANDREW NOVENA
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, o my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.
(It is piously believed that whoever recites the above prayer fifteen times a day from the feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30th) until Christmas, will obtain what is asked). This formula of the prayer bears an Imprimatur from † Michael Augustine, Archbishop of New York. New York, February 6, 1897.
DAILY ADVENT MEDITATIONS
Deepen your appreciation of the Incarnation and our salvation with The Great Truths Series by Fr. Richard Clarke S.J. Read today’s “Rejoice Always & The Eternal Consequences of Sin” but consider this:
“The object of His coming will be to judge the living and the dead. All that is now hidden will be made manifest before the world. All the secret thoughts and whispered words, and actions concealed from the eyes of men, will then be made manifest. How should I like to have all my base and low motives dragged to light, all my unkind words revealed to those against whom they were spoken, all those actions, of which I cannot myself think without shame, proclaimed so that all may behold them?”
This article, DECEMBER 12 – ST. VALERY, ABBOT – ST. FINIAN, BISHOP. is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
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