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    Saints of Old
    Saints of Old
    Saints of Old
    Ebook137 pages2 hours

    Saints of Old

    By Patrick Coffey

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    About this ebook

    Some of the saints of old we know little about and others we know much. But, we do know that the high esteem in which these men and women were held by their contemporaries and in which they have been held down to the present day, attests to the heroic quality of their saintliness.

    We can learn something from their lives.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateMay 26, 2011
    ISBN9781462001316
    Saints of Old

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      Book preview

      Saints of Old - Patrick Coffey

      Copyright © 2011 by Patrick Coffey

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      iUniverse

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-0130-9 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-0131-6 (ebk)

      Printed in the United States of America

      iUniverse rev. date: 4/20/2011

      Contents

      1. The Martyrs of Rome and the Roman Empire

      2. Early Popes

      3. Saint Ignatius of Antioch

      4. Saint Cecilia

      5. Saint Agnes

      6. Saint Helena

      7. Saint George

      8. Saint Alban

      9. Saint Vincent

      10. Saint Martin of Tours

      11. Saint Nicholas

      12. Saint Monica

      13. Saint Augustine of Hippo

      14. Saint Ambrose

      15. Saint Jerome

      16. Saint Patrick

      17. Saint Brendan

      18. Appendix to Saint Brendan

      19. Saint Columba

      20. Saint Aidan

      21. Saint Leo (Pope Leo the Great)

      22. Saint Benedict

      23. Saint Gregory (Pope Gregory the Great)

      24. The Venerable Bede (Saint Bede)

      25. Saint Boniface

      26. Saint Walburga

      27. Saint Wenceslas

      28. Saint Stephen, King of Hungary

      29. Saint Anselm

      30. Saint Margaret of Scotland

      Foreword

      In this book there are stories about the lives of some Christian saints who lived in the first ten centuries after the birth of Jesus Christ.

      My reading about Christian saints happened almost fortuitously. Of course, my interest was small at first but grew. I delved deeper into the lives of many of these saints. I was touched by them. There is beauty in the faith, courage and constancy shown in their lives. They were exceptional. I felt like writing about them.

      Are there saints of modern times? Yes, of course. There are many—and of different religions—and some of them exceptional ones.

      I was born and grew up in England of Irish/Scottish parents. After schooling, the Second World War being on, I joined the British Navy which found me in the Pacific at the end of and after the war. I became interested in a career in Medicine and was admitted to medical school in Britain. Not long after graduation I was married and my wife and I immigrated to Canada. Later still, I trained in General Surgery and practiced this specialty. My wife and I have four children and ten grandchildren.

      We live on the shores of Lake Ontario, and on a clear day we can see a small glimpse of New York State, U.S.A.

      The Martyrs of Rome

      and the Roman Empire

      Those early Christians of Rome and the Roman Empire, how brave they were! They knew they were in danger of being persecuted, perhaps being put to death by the Roman authorities, if discovered. They had to meet together, pray and practise their faith in secret. In Rome this was in private houses or in the catacombs, underground places in Rome. (See Endnote 1).

      Many of these private houses where Christians met were the homes of prominent citizens of Rome who had become Christians and they had houses large enough to hold many people. They courageously opened their houses for meetings. In fact, these houses became secret churches. Many of these prominent citizens later lost their lives as a result of so doing. Some of these citizens were not just affluent but some of them were actually high officials in the court of the current Emperor, and it only took a sudden change from a benign Emperor to a fierce one, and for someone looking for a position in the court to denounce the Christian official to the Emperor, for the official to lose his life as a martyr.

      These houses, where it was usual to have meetings and divine services, had to be converted. There was a large room or a hall or an atrium for masses, baptisms etc. In this atrium there was an altar, which had been consecrated to Christ. There was a raised platform with a desk for the reader. The reader read the Sacred Scriptures from scrolls of papyrus, kept carefully guarded; for all copies of the scrolls had to be written laboriously by hand. There was a pool of water for baptisms. Finally, (and with thanks to the writings of C. Bernard Ruffin for all these details), there was usually an adjoining room for other meetings and meals.

      These Christians had their own secret sign, (the symbol of the fish), so as to identify themselves as Christians. This is a very simplified diagram of a fish, able to be drawn with just a few strokes. Why fish? The Greek alphabet letters that spelt the word Fish stood for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour. Or, was it that in those early days, Christians seemed to remember the words of Christ when He told St. Peter the fisherman that he would in future be a fisher of men? And, unquestionably, those early Christians were not just disciples, but in important ways were a source of conversion to others.

      The early Christians of Rome were put to death in different ways. One way was quite openly in an arena, for the Romans enjoyed watching them being killed by lions in these arenas. One of the most feared Roman emperors was Nero, who was a weak and evil emperor. In the year 64 AD the great fire of Rome occurred, ravaging a great part of the city. It has been said that Nero sat fiddling with his lyre ostentatiously while the fire raged. Some suspicion fell on Nero himself as to the cause of the fire. So he strongly accused the Christians of starting it. The great Roman historian of the time, Tacitus, wrote that no one believed that the Christians did this, but, nevertheless, they were persecuted even worse than before. Those faithful Christians suffered cruelly, not only in terms of numbers but also in terms of the savage ways they were put to death. However, Nero’s efforts proved fruitless, for the citizens of Rome and the Empire were so impressed by the faith and courage of the martyrs, and so swayed and moved by the story of the life, the miracles and teachings of Jesus Christ that, in time, the martyrs were replaced by men and women who converted to Christianity. (Endnote 2).

      In the first three centuries after Christ, until Emperor Constantine ruled that Christianity should no longer be attacked, but tolerated, (312 AD), (Endnote3), it has been estimated that there were about one million men and women who lost their lives as martyrs in the countries of the Roman Empire.

      Two of the greatest figures of the New Testament can be named among the early martyrs of Rome. They are the great saints, St. Peter and St. Paul. In fact, they were living in Rome in 64 AD, the time of the great fire of Rome, and were martyred later in the time of Nero.

      St. Peter, whose name was originally Simon, was renamed Peter (Petros) by Jesus Christ, because He had chosen him to be the rock (petra) upon which his church would be built. Peter was executed in Rome. It has been said that Peter was crucified, and in deference to his Lord, to whom he considered himself so inferior, and whom he loved so much, chose to be crucified head down. (Endnote 4.)

      St. Paul was singled out by Jesus Christ to be his great follower and apostle, like St. Peter. Also, like St. Peter, his named changed. Saul became Paul. He has been called the apostle of the Gentiles. He was fearless and tireless in his apostleship and like St. Peter ended up his life in Rome and became a martyr, (about 66 AD). He was beheaded.

      St. Lawrence was one of the most venerated and fondly remembered Roman martyrs of the early church. Not only was he greatly admired during his lifetime for his energy, courage, his dedication to Christ, and his soft heart for the poor of Rome, but he was notably honoured after his death, showing the esteem in which he has been held. Emperor Constantine was the first to build a small church over the place where St. Lawrence was buried, and this was enlarged and made more beautiful by Pope Pelagius in the late 500s AD. The building was further added to until it became a basilica. This Basilica of San Lorenzo (St. Lawrence) remains to this day. Numerous churches, over the centuries and in different countries have been named after this saint.

      Lawrence was the chief deacon of Pope Sixtus11. When this pope (and saint) was arrested by the police of Emperor Valerian, (258 AD), Lawrence rushed to where the authorities held Pope Sixtus, greatly concerned, for he was devoted to Sixtus. Lawrence asked the pope, Where are you going without your son and deacon? And, Sixtus replied, I am not abandoning you, my son, for you will follow me in three days, for greater strife is awaiting you.

      St. Lawrence did not go away and hide from the authorities. During those three days he was approached by the prefect of the police and ordered to hand over the finances of the church. Lawrence indicated that they would find the money amongst the poor, for he had already distributed this money to them. St. Lawrence did suffer the same fate as his pope three days later, as foretold, but it is said that he was tortured to death. (Dear readers, I will spare you the details!). St. Lawrence is the patron of the Poor. It is fitting.

      It is remembered that the poor in that day and age meant the ultra-poor, such as those who were near starvation; and the only way the many beggars could stay alive was

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