As his companions began to die in slow agony, Kolbe prayed and sang hymns with them. The next month Kolbe and three others were still alive, having consumed nothing but their own urine. The Nazis gave them lethal injections and cremated them in the death camp’s ovens.
In 1982, Maximilian Kolbe was canonized a saint as the surviving Franciszek Gajowniczek looked on. Today, someone continually places flowers in the bunker at Auschwitz.
AUGUST 15
Simplician (d. 400)
Influence of friends
Simplician is an outstanding example of the catalytic effect an individual may have on the development of impressive achievers. A fifth-century priest in Milan, Simplician carefully studied the already ancient Greek writings of Plato. The famous Bishop Ambrose (December 7) was one of Simplician’s theological students. Ambrose considered Christian Platonists such as Simplician to be “aristocrats of thought.” He recommended the elderly Simplician as his successor.
Augustine (August 28) became a close friend of Simplician, and revealed his spiritual struggles to him. When Augustine commented that he had been reading the works of professor Marius Victorinus, Simplician reported that Victorinus had privately confessed to him, “I want you to know that I am a Christian.” Simplician told Augustine he had replied, “I shall never believe it or consider you a Christian until I see you in the Church of Christ.” Victorinus laughed, asking, “Do the walls of a church make people Christians?” Simplician convinced Victorinus to publicly profess his private conviction. This cost Victorinus his job, because Christians were not allowed to teach rhetoric or literature. This narrative profoundly affected Augustine and contributed to his personal conversion.
An important by-product of Augustine’s relationship with Simplician was one of Augustine’s most important writings: To Simplician on Diverse Questions. Some of Augustine’s best thoughts on human freedom and the sovereignty of God are found in this work. One life touches others in many positive ways
AUGUST 16
Stephen of Hungary (975–1038)
Establishing the Church
Born into a pagan family, Stephen became a Christian at age ten, and worked to promote Christianity in Hungary when he succeeded his father as duke. On Christmas day, 1001, Stephen became the first king of Hungary. He brutally abolished paganism and built churches and monasteries, leading strong efforts of Christian evangelism. He forbade marriages between Christians and pagans. His goal was a Hungarian national church with a vital Roman connection.
Though he had high goals and the best intentions, things did not go well for Stephen. His son, Emeric, was accidentally killed while hunting. A painful, debilitating illness lingered through his final years. Family members began to scramble to succeed Stephen to the throne. Some of his nephews even plotted to kill him.
Though Stephen enforced ruthless politics in order to unify Hungary, he expressed great tenderness and respect for the poor and needy. Once he attempted to take alms into a slum district while wearing a disguise. Some ruffians assaulted him, stealing his purse. He accepted this royal indignity with humility and a sense of humor, continuing to be openly generous to anyone in need.
AUGUST 17
Joan of the Cross (1666–1736)
Radical change
The story of Joan Delanoue’s progress from miserly shopkeeper to saint is fascinating. The youngest of twelve children, Joan inherited her mother’s little trinket shop near the shrine of Notre Dame des Ardilliers in Saumur, Anjou, France. The sale of crockery and religious objects had barely sustained her large family. As a consequence of the financial insecurity, Joan became miserly and avaricious. She worked long hours, keeping the shop open seven days a week. She rented unfit rooms to pilgrims who visited the shrine. She kept no food in her home so that she could turn beggars away. While it would be impossible for her to ever become rich, she worked determinedly to save every penny possible in her small shop enterprise.
The visit of one scruffy pilgrim in 1693 transformed Joan’s life. Frances Souchet seemed to be a religious fanatic who attempted to visit many of the religious shrines. Most first impressions of Frances were negative. She seemed more than a little odd, muttering to herself as she walked. Arriving at Joan’s shop, she announced that God had sent her. Joan accommodated the shabbily dressed widow for the night at a greatly reduced fee.
Something about this visit deeply disturbed Joan, changing her pattern of behavior. She began to attend public worship and eventually closed her shop on Sundays. When the eccentric Frances Souchet made a return visit and spoke what she said were messages from God, she had a dramatic effect on Joan. Attempting a radical change in her life, Joan began to support a poor family with six children that had been living in a stable. This led her to help other needy people. In 1698 she was so preoccupied with serving the indigent, she closed her shop. Poor people began to seek her.
Joan’s home became a haven for the sick, the elderly, orphans, and the destitute. It became known as Providence House. When Joan expressed anxiety about having enough money to support all the people she had taken in, Frances Souchet assured her, “The king of France won’t give you his purse; but the King of kings will always keep his open for you.”
A landslide forced Joan and the Providence House to relocate. After a few years of abortive struggle, Joan began an organization that included the welcomed help of others. The Sisters of St. Anne began their work in 1704. With ecclesiastical approval, she became Joan of the Cross, leading forty religious sisters in outstanding charitable work and prayer.
Enduring both physical and spiritual stress, Joan died in 1736 at the age of seventy, beloved by others, and called a saint long before her sainthood became official by the signature of Pope John Paul II in 1982.
AUGUST 18
Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga (1901–52)
Acting on experience
A poor boy who lost his father at the age of four, Alberto decided he wanted to care for others who also knew poverty. After attending the Jesuit College in Santiago, Chile, he became a Jesuit himself. Alberto was ordained in 1933 and began to teach.
In 1944, Alberto began to plan El Hogar de Cristo, a shelter for the homeless and abandoned. This developed along the lines of Boys Town in the United States. He also started a Christian labor union known as the Chilean Trade Union Association. Active social service distinguished his ministry. Alberto died of pancreatic cancer in Santiago on August 18, 1952, at the age of fifty-one.
AUGUST 19
John Eudes (1601–80)
Teaching teachers
One of the great Christian ministries is helping other Christians perform their ministry well. John Eudes, a seventeenth-century French priest, demonstrated this. He was an outstanding speaker, writer, and parish missionary. As he traveled he observed the ineffective ministry of many local clergy. John saw the need for a better-educated clergy and attempted to establish a seminary at Caen. When this met with opposition, he founded the secular Society of Jesus and Mary in 1643 and began to train other parish priests. There are seminaries in Canada and the United States today that have their roots in this French soil.
AUGUST 20
Bernard of Clairvaux (ca. 1090–1153)
Active spirituality
Born to nobility near Dijon, France, Bernard became a major influence in twelfth-century Christianity. He and his five brothers were extraordinarily intelligent and capable. When he became a Cistercian monk in 1112, he is reported to have brought four of his brothers and about thirty of his friends with him. Eventually his youngest brother and his father also joined with him. Bernard’s sister remained behind for years, but also entered the religious life as a result of his guidance.
In 1115 Bernard accepted the assignment to establish a new monastery at Clairvaux. This work prospered under his leadership. An outstanding speaker and writer, with an astonishing command of sacred Scripture, Bernard was popular throughout Western Europe. People in positions of sacred and secular authority sought his c
ounsel.
His writings reveal a thoroughly human mixture of character traits. Sometimes assertive, authoritarian, and a little irritable, in other passages he is remorseful, tender, supportive, and caring. Bernard did not hesitate to expose malice and to denounce a lack of common sense in the eminent and mighty. He expressed disgust when he saw unkindness and bigotry in anyone.
Beneath this active and influential exterior lies a profound mysticism. Bernard’s prayer experience sustained and nurtured him throughout his busy life.
AUGUST 21
Victoria Rasoamanarivo (1848–94)
Courageous service
In spite of the fact that the London Missionary Society had established a mission in Madagascar three decades before her birth, Victoria was born into paganism. The mission resulted in several thousand converts to Christianity, and in missionaries teaching at least thirty thousand Madagascans to read. As usual, the missionaries were quick to provide translations of the Bible.
A monarchy had ruled Madagascar since the sixteenth century. During Victoria’s life, the queen of Madagascar was hostile to Christianity and exiled many of the missionaries. When the queen died in 1861 it became possible for them to return. Jesuit missionaries also set up shop in the country. In 1869 the new queen was baptized a Christian.
Victoria began studying in one of the mission schools and became a Christian convert. Unfortunately, political struggles made being Catholic very difficult in Madagascar. In the popular thinking, Catholicism was connected to French imperialism. King Radama II had a close working relationship with France. He was deposed, and everything associated with France came under fire. Catholic missionaries were asked to leave.
Victoria began a difficult ministry of helping fellow Christians during years of persecution. Exhibiting enormous courage, she defended them in court and in public. Her work helping fellow Christians who were poor and imprisoned nearly exhausted her. She was only forty-six years old when she died.
AUGUST 22
Philip Benizi (1233–85)
Humility
After studying medicine at Paris and Padua, Philip Benizi became a physician in thirteenth-century Florence at the age of nineteen. Following a natural interest, he became well-read in both the Scriptures and the church fathers. At twenty-one, he abandoned medicine and became a lay member of an austere local religious community. Living in a little cave behind the church, he tended the garden and performed other manual labor from 1255 to 1258.
While conversing on a trip to Siena, Philip surprised his companions with his knowledge of Scripture and church doctrine. He was quickly elevated to positions of greater responsibility, and became one of the foremost preachers in Italy. His talent as an organizer and administrator accomplished more, but more important, he was an outstanding mediator. He is remembered for his role in bringing peaceful resolutions to difficult church conflicts, and for attracting the irreligious into the church.
AUGUST 23
Rose of Lima (1586–1617)
Social service
The first named saint in the Western Hemisphere was a young woman born to Spanish parents in Lima, Peru. She was such a beautiful baby that her maid said she was “like a rose.” The name stuck. Rose, whose real name was Isabel de Flores, remained attractive as she grew up. Her parents took pride in her beauty, and she received many spontaneous comments of admiration from others. Suitors expressed great interest, raising the notion that she might marry well and bring fortune to her family. Her father had lost his moderate wealth through failed speculation in mining.
Rose, however, never married. Taking Catherine of Siena (April 29) as her role model, she dedicated her life totally to God. A handful of reports from four centuries ago create mixed images about her treatment of herself. We know she attempted to damage her attractive complexion by rubbing pepper on her face and lime on her hands. Where do we draw the line between spiritually valuable physical austerity and masochism? Did she suffer from bulimia?
Through needlework and gardening, Rose helped to provide for her family’s needs. Moving out of the house into a little hut in the garden, she devoted herself to prayer. She began works of mercy among the poor. A room in her family home became an infirmary where she took care of sick children and the elderly. Some consider her the originator of social service in Peru.
Rose died at the age of thirty-one. By then she was highly regarded by a wide spectrum of society. The crowds that turned out in Lima to show their respect were large, delaying her funeral for several days.
AUGUST 24
Nathanael Bartholomew (first century)
Without guile
The New Testament records slight variations in the names of Christ’s twelve apostles. The first three Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles mention Bartholomew. Interesting, that’s all they do— mention him. They report nothing he said or did. In the first three Gospel accounts, Bartholomew is listed beside the name of Philip. The Gospel of John tells us that Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus. Bartholomew is what we would call a “last name.” Bar means “son of” and tholomew would be the father’s name. Given the consistent connection with Philip, the scholars believe the two names may apply to the same individual.
Fortunately, the Gospel of John gives us a rather full picture of Nathanael. We first meet him under a fig tree reading the Scripture, meditating quietly. Christ said Nathanael was without guile, referring to a desirable childlike honesty and openness. This character trait probably prompted his famous question to Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
AUGUST 25
Joseph Calasanz (1557–1648)
Heroic patience
Joseph Calasanz, a nobleman from Peralta de la Sal, Spain, worked as an ordained priest until a mystical experience confirmed his desire to travel to Rome. Providing a free education for poor and homeless children weighed heavily on him. He resigned his office as vicar general, and with three other priests established Le Scuole Pie in 1597.
The school quickly attracted students, and it soon became necessary to relocate and enlarge its facilities to accommodate them. By 1611, the school’s enrollment included twelve hundred children. Joseph Calasanz opened other schools, and his organization expanded, receiving recognition as a religious congregation.
At the age of sixty-five, Joseph faced perplexing difficulties. Mario Sozzi, one of the priests in his congregation, gained a position of authority and began to misuse his power. Overbearing and devious, Sozzi brought false charges against Calasanz, claiming that he was criminal and senile. The resulting embarrassment culminated in the loss of the founder’s leadership of his schools. Sozzi never suffered any punishment for his misdeeds and died in 1643. Two years later, a formal inquiry reinstated Calasanz, but political intrigue continued. In 1646, his congregation was degraded to a society of priests governed by bishops.
After patiently suffering a quarter of a century of difficult trials, Joseph Calasanz died at the age of ninety.
AUGUST 26
Fillan of Glendochart (eighth century)
Turning aside
Fillan is one of those saints who is real, but known to us mostly as a legendary figure. An eighth-century Scotsman, Fillan of Glendochart became a popular saint who symbolized endurance, security, and assistance.
One early account of his life indicates that he became a Scots Irish monk as a young man and lived for years in a simple dwelling near St. Andrew’s in Scotland. Soon after accepting an assignment to a position of high ecclesiastical authority, he changed his mind, deciding instead to retreat alone to the hills around Glendochart, in Perthshire. There he worked with others to construct a church.
Fillan’s “Quigrich” is a magnificent silver-plated shepherd’s crook that is one of the National Museum of Scotland’s historical treasures.
AUGUST 27
Monica (332–87)
Intercessory prayer
Appropriately, we recognize Monica and Augustine on consecutive days. Monica was Augustine’s
mother. Her son in his Confessions and other writings reports most of what we know about her. If ever there were someone rewarded by persistent prayer, it is Monica. She is the example of a mother who fervently prayed for her son’s conversion, year after exasperating year. Her unfailing pounding at God’s door is precisely the kind of prayer commended by Christ in his parable of the importunate widow.
Early on, her son, Augustine, was a challenging young man who had little use for Christianity. He was twenty-nine when he moved out independently to take up a life in Rome. She followed him, praying all the while. A bishop explained to her that it was pointless to attempt to argue religion with her intelligent son. He would discover the error of his thinking through his reading. The bishop encouraged her to continue praying. “It is not possible that the son of these tears should perish.”
What joy and relief she experienced when her son was baptized in 387. A few weeks later, in her fifty-sixth year, Monica died far across the Mediterranean from her home in Thagaste, North Africa (now Algeria). She said, “Bury this body anywhere. Don’t concern yourselves about it. Nothing is far from God.”
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