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To make trial of the saint's disinterestedness, the marquis of Tarifa came to him in disguise to beg an alms, on pretence of a necessary law-suit, and received from his hands twenty-five ducats, which was all he had. The marquis was so much edified by his charity, that, besides returning the sum, he bestowed on him one hundred and fifty crowns of gold, and sent to his hospital every day, during his stay at Granada, one hundred and fifty loaves, four sheep, and six pullets. But the holy man gave a still more illustrious proof of his charity when the hospital was on fire; for he carried out most of the sick on his own back; and though he passed and repassed through the flames, and staid in the midst of them a considerable time, he received no hurt. But his charity was not confined to his own hospital; he looked upon it as his own misfortune if the necessities of any distressed person in the country remained unrelieved. He, therefore, made strict inquiry into the wants of the poor over the whole province, relieved many in their own houses, found employment for those that were able to work, and with wonderful sagacity laid himself out in every way to comfort and assist the afflicted members of Christ. He was particularly active and vigilant in providing for young maidens in distress, to prevent the dangers to which they are often exposed. He also reclaimed many who were already leading a course of sin, seeking them out, crucifix in hand, and with many tears exhorting them to repentance. Though his life seemed to be taken up in continual action, he accompanied it with perpetual prayer and incredible corporal austerities. And his tears of devotion, his frequent raptures, and his eminent spirit of contemplation, gave a lustre to his other virtues. But his sincere humility appeared most admirable in all his actions, even amidst the honours which he received at the court of Valladolid, whither business called him. The king and princes seemed to vie with each other who should show him the greatest courtesy, or put the largest alms in his hands. Only the most tried virtue could stand the test of honours, but John remained the same retiring, modest man he was before, preferring humiliation to honour. One day, when a woman called him a hypocrite, and loaded him with invectives, he gave her a piece of money, and desired her to repeat all she had said in the market-place.

Worn out at last by ten years' hard service in his hospital, he fell sick. The immediate occasion was excess of fatigue in saving wood and other such things for the poor, in a great flood. He at first concealed his sickness, that he might not be obliged to diminish his labours, but in the meantime he carefully went over the inventories of all things belonging to his hospital, and inspected all the accounts. He also revised the rules he had made for its administration, the distribution of time, and the exercises of piety to be observed in it. Upon a complaint that he harboured idle strollers and bad women, the archbishop sent for him. The man of God threw himself at his feet, and said, "The Son of God came for sinners, and we are obliged to seek their conversion. I am unfaithful to my vocation because I neglect this; and I confess that I know no other bad person in my hospital but myself." This he spoke with go much humility that all present were moved, and the archbishop dismissed him with respect, leaving all things to his discretion. His illness increasing, the news of it spread. The lady Anne Ossorio was no sooner informed of his condition, than she came in her carriage to the hospital to see him. The servant of God lay in his habit in his little cell, covered with a piece of an old coat instead of a blanket, and having under his head the basket in which he was wont to collect alms for his hospital. The poor and sick stood weeping round him. The lady, moved with compassion, despatched secretly a message to the archbishop, who sent immediately an order to S. John to obey her as he would himself, during his illness. By virtue of this authority she obliged him to leave his hospital. In going out, he visited the Blessed Sacrament, and poured forth his heart before It with fervour; remaining there absorbed in his devotions so long, that the lady Anne Ossorio caused him to be taken up and carried into her carriage, in which she conveyed him to her own house. She herself prepared, with the help of her maids, and gave him with her own hands, broth and medicine, and often read to him the history of the passion of our Divine Redeemer. The whole city was in tears; all the nobility visited him; and the magistrates came to beg he would give his benediction to the city. He answered, that his sins rendered him the scandal and reproach of their country, but recommended to them his brethren the poor, and his religious that served them. At last, by order of the archbishop, he gave the city his dying blessing. The archbishop said Mass in his chamber, heard his confession, gave him the viaticum and extreme unction, and promised to pay all his debts and to provide for all his poor.

The saint expired on his knees, before the altar, on the 8th of March, in 1550, at the age of fifty-five. He was buried by the archbishop, and all the clergy, both secular and regular, accompanied by the court, the nobles, and the whole city, with the utmost pomp. He was honoured by many miracles, beatified by Urban VIII., in 1630, and canonized by Alexander VIII., in 1690. His relics were translated into the church of his brethren in 1664. His Order of Charity to serve the sick was approved of by pope Pius V.

March 9

S. Pacian, B. of Barcelona, in Spain, before A.D. 390.

S. Gregory Nyssen, B.C. in Cappadocia, circ.A.D. 390.

S. Bosa, B. in Northumbria, A.D. 705.

SS. Cyril and Methodius, App. of the Sclaves, 9th cent.

S. Vitalis of Sicily, Ab., A.D. 994.

S. Catharine of Bologna, V. in Italy, A.D. 1463.

S. Frances of Rome, W., A.D. 1440.

S. PACIAN, B. OF BARCELONA

(BEFORE A.D. 390.)

[Roman Martyrology, and those of Ado, Notker, &c. Authority: – Mention by S. Jerome in his Ecclesiastical Writers, c. 106, 107, 132.]

Very little is known of this Spanish bishop, except that he was the author of some short works, of which one, named Cerbus, is lost. His "Epistles against the Novatians," his "Call to Penitence," and "Book on Baptism," addressed to catechumens, are extant. His son, Flavius Dexter, probably born before Pacian received episcopal orders, was an intimate friend of S. Jerome. Pacian died at an advanced old age in the reign of Theodosius.

S. GREGORY, B. OF NYSSA

(ABOUT A.D. 390.)

[Roman Martyrology. Greek Menæa on Jan. 10th; the Coptic Church on Oct. 14th and Nov. 22nd. Authorities: – His own works; S. Gregory Nazianzen, in his letters; Socrates and Theodoret, in their Ecclesiastical Histories.]

S. Gregory was a younger brother of the great S. Basil, (June 14th,) and S. Macrina, (July 19th), and son of the holy Eusebius and Emmelia, who are commemorated on May 30th. Having lost his parents, he grew to reverence his brother Basil as a father, and his sister was to him as a mother, the instructress of his youth. He was educated in every accomplishment of the age, and became a rhetorician. He was married to a virtuous wife, named Theosebia, who is highly praised by S. Gregory Nazianzen in his ninety-fifth epistle, in after years, as "an honour to the church, an ornament of Christ, the utility of our age, the confidence of women, the fairest and most illustrious amidst the beauty of the brethren, truly holy wife of a priest, his peer in honour and worthy of the great mysteries." These expressions, though somewhat exaggerated, at least point Theosebia out as having been held in high honour by the great saint of Nazianzus. Gregory took the order of Reader, but instead of pressing forward to the diaconate and priesthood, showed an inclination to pursue a wholly secular avocation as a rhetorician, and this drew down on him a sharp reprimand from Gregory Nazianzen. Moved by this admonition, Gregory now resolved to turn his back upon worldly ambition, and devote himself wholly to the service of God. He was ordained bishop by his brother, S. Basil, in 371, when he was aged about thirty-two; and it is supposed by Baronius that Gregory lived with his wife in continence after his ordination, and that she was a deaconess. Nazianzen calls her his "holy and blessed sister," but this is slender ground for the conjecture. It must be remembered that the celibacy of the clergy, which is now required by the Western Church, with such advantage, was not a matter of rule for some centuries, and never prevailed in the Oriental Church. There cannot be much doubt as to the great benefit to the Church of a celibate priesthood, but it is a mistake to endeavour to force the facts of history to demonstrate that celibacy was of primitive obligation. It was always felt to be most seemly, and when Western Christendom became sufficiently organized to admit of the rule being made, the popes and councils did what was evidently for the good of the Kingdom of Christ in requiring the clergy to lead celibate lives.

The see of Gregory was Nyssa, a city of Cappadocia, of no great importance, but the brilliant qualities of the bishop, and his orthodoxy, made him soon conspicuous as a leader of the Catholics, and an object of great dread to the Arians, who prevailed on Demosthesus, the deputy-governor of the province, under the Arian Emperor Valens, to banish him. He spent eight years in exile, wandering from place to place, suffering everywhere persecution from the Arians. Shortly after the accession of Gratian, Gregory was restored to his see, and assisted at the Synod of Antioch, in 379, where he received the charge of visiting the scattered churches in Arabia. To enable him to execute this arduous work, the emperor Theodosius accorded to him the use of the government post-horses and chariots.

He assisted at the council of Constantinople, in 381, when he was chosen to make the funeral oration upon S. Meletius, patriarch of Antioch, and was delegated to be one of the bishops to visit Pontus. In 385, he preached at Constantinople the funeral oration of the empress Flacilla, and he was present at the dedication of the church of the Ruffini, in Constantinople, in 394. The exact date of his death is not known, but it is certain that he died at an advanced age.

It is unnecessary here to give a list of the writings of this eloquent doctor, a large number of which have been preserved.

S. BOSA, B. C

(A.D. 705.)

[Wilson, in his Anglican Martyrology. Authority: – Bede.]

The monastery of Streaneshalch, now Whitby, was founded and governed by S. Hilda, towards the middle of the seventh century. It was a double community, under the rule of S. Columba, which S. Aidan had introduced among the Northumbrians. S. Hilda governed a congregation of men, as well as one of women, who lived in separate dwellings; and such was her care that no less than five bishops issued from this monastery, all of them men of singular merit and sanctity.

The first of these saint-like prelates named by Bede, was Bosa, who, upon the removal of S. Wilfrid, was taken from the solitude of the cloister, and ordained bishop of York by S. Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, in the year 678. He most worthily administered the see till 700, when S. Wilfrid being recalled, he humbly resigned his charge, and returned to his monastery.

But S. Wilfrid being again expelled, S. Bosa was once more called forth to the pastoral administration of the see of York, and this he discharged till his death, which took place in the year 705. He was a man of great sanctity and humility, says Bede. He had for his successor S. John of Beverley, from the same monastery.

SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS, APP

(9TH CENT.)

[Roman Martyrology. S. Cyril by the Greeks on Feb. 14th, and S. Methodius on May 11th. Authorities: – The Life of S. Clement, a pupil of Methodius, pub. by Pampereus, Vienna, 1802; the Pannonian Life of Methodius; notices in the Life of S. Ludmilla; the Chronicle of Nestor; Cosmas of Prague, &c. The chronology in this article is from the treatise on Cyril and Methodius by Philaret, B. of Rigá, Milan, 1847.]

Cyril and Methodius, the apostles of the Sclaves, were brothers, the sons of a man of rank in Thessalonica. Constantine, who afterwards in religion assumed the name of Cyril, the younger, was educated at the court of Constantinople, along with the youthful emperor Michael, from the year 842, by the illustrious Photius, who instructed him in logic, philosophy, mathematics, and languages. His talents and accomplishments afforded him every prospect of a brilliant career in the world, but he chose to lay them at the foot of the cross, and, receiving sacred orders, was appointed librarian to the palace. Soon after, he retired to a little monastery, but was drawn from it again to give lectures on philosophy.

Methodius, his elder brother, as soon as his education was accomplished, entered the army, and was appointed to the government of the Græco-Sclavonic province, which, according to the Pannonian legend, he held for ten years.

In the year 851, Cyril retired to Mount Olympus, along with his brother, who had also resolved to desert the world, and lived in seclusion and the practice of self-discipline. In 858, some dignitaries of the Chazars, a Hunnish race, besought the emperor to send them a learned man to instruct them in the true faith, and Cyril and Methodius were chosen for this purpose.

How long they spent on this mission is not known exactly. They tarried till they could organise the church among the Chazars, and then retired to the Crimea where they worked together at making a Sclavonic translation of the Holy Gospels. It was whilst there that they discovered what they believed to be the relics of S. Clement of Rome, lying together with the anchor, which had been attached to his neck, where the faithful had reverently laid him. They raised the holy remains, and translated them to Constantinople.

In 862, the Sclavonic princes of Pannonia, Rostislaw, Swaetopolk, and Kotel requested the emperor Michael and the patriarch Photius, to send them teachers, "because they were without true instructors for the people," and they desired to have instruction and divine worship in their own language. It appears that missionaries of the Latin Church had already penetrated amongst them, but probably had been unable to master the Sclavonic tongue; at any rate, the Pannonians refused to accept them, and turned instead to the East.

None were better calculated to execute this mission than the brothers Methodius and Cyril, the former of whom had for some years governed a Sclavonic province, and both had been born at Thessalonica, on the confines of Sclavonic peoples, and where the language was familiar to the natives. The emperor and the patriarch felt this, and sent for them, and laid before them the desire of these heathen princes for the Gospel. The brothers at once undertook the mission, and set forth. On their way, Methodius was the means of converting the king of the Bulgarians. Boris had a sister, who was a Christian, having been brought up at Constantinople, whither she had been carried captive. The prince, who was passionately fond of hunting, desired the emperor to procure him a picture, which should illustrate his favourite pursuit, and adorn the hall of a new palace he had erected. Methodius was commissioned by the emperor to execute this task, and he appeared before king Boris, not as a missionary, but as a painter. "Let it be a good picture," said the prince, "large and terrible." "So shall it be," answered Methodius, "but one thing I demand, – that I may be left undisturbed here to complete my picture, that no one may see it till it is finished." The king reluctantly gave his consent, and day after day passed, and the painter was not seen. He remained closely shut up within the palace. Weeks rolled by, and Boris chafed with impatience and curiosity. At length the doors were thrown open, and the king entered. Methodius had painted the Last Judgment on the wall of the new hall. Above sat Christ on the great white throne, and below were men receiving sentence, and the angels dividing them. An awe and wonder fell on the king's heart as he contemplated the picture. "What meaneth this?" he asked. And Methodius seized the opportunity of preaching to him righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. He explained to the king the whole doctrine of the final judgment of men, their fate depending on their works in this world, and the king trembled. He went on to speak of the glories prepared for the baptized who keep the faith. Great and purifying thoughts swelled the bosom of the prince, and going up to the painter, he said, with his head bowed, "Take me, and teach me, that I too may pass to the beautiful side of the picture."

And when Cyril and Methodius had preached the Word of God among the Bulgarians, they journeyed on, bearing the bones of S. Clement, and their Sclavonic translation of the Holy Gospels, into Moravia, where they laboured about four and a half years with great success. The bishops of the neighbouring German provinces, however, viewed the mission of these Easterns with jealousy, and complained to pope Nicolas I. of their performing the liturgy in the Sclavonic language. The unsuccessful war waged by Rostislaw with the Germans, and the deposition of Photius at Constantinople, who had commissioned the two apostles, gave Nicolas the opportunity of summoning the two Greek missionaries to Rome. On their journey (in 868) they were subjected to vexatious treatment at Venice, on account of their cause, but pope Adrian II., who had succeeded Nicolas, dreading to lose Moravia and Pannonia, received them with great cordiality, permitted them to celebrate the divine mysteries in Sclavonic at the grave of the Apostles, ordained their disciples, Formosus and Gonderik,³⁸ bishops, three others priests, and two lectors. He also sanctioned the use of the Sclavonic liturgy. The following account from the Lections of the Olmutz Breviary will not prove uninteresting. "The blessed Cyril, by the grace of God, after he had converted the Moravians, invented new alphabetical letters, and translated the Old and New Testaments, and many other things from Greek or Latin, into the Sclavonic tongue; and he appointed to be sung Mass, and the other canonical hours in the church. And to this day they are thus sung in Sclavonic parts, especially in Bulgaria, and thereby many souls are drawn to Christ the Lord. And when after some time the said Cyril went to Rome out of devotion, he was rebuked by the sovereign pontiff and the other rulers of the church, because, contrary to the canons, he had appointed the holy Mass to be sung in the Sclavonic tongue. But he, humbly endeavouring to satisfy them, but not able to convince them wholly, snatched up the Psalter, and read the words of the Psalmist, 'Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.' Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum. And he said, 'If every one that hath breath is to praise the Lord, why, my fathers, do ye forbid me to perform the Mass in the Sclavonic tongue, or to translate other things from Latin and Greek into the vernacular? Finding the people simple and ignorant of the ways of the Lord, I, by the inspiration of God, found this means of drawing many to God. Therefore, pardon me, my fathers, and, following the example of S. Paul, the doctor of the Gentiles, – Forbid not to speak with tongues. (I Cor. xiv. 39.)' And they, hearing him, and wondering at his sanctity and faith, gave him authority in those parts to say Mass, and sing the Canonical Hours, in the aforesaid tongue."

Cyril died in Rome shortly after, Feb. 14th, 869, in a monastery into which he had retired; but Methodius, according to the entreaty of his dying brother, returned to Moravia, to find that the hostility of the German prelates and clergy was not allayed. Political disturbances, fomented by the Germans, broke out between 869 and 901, and Rostislaw was reduced to ruin. Methodius held himself aloof from these contests, and in 870 went with his disciples into Pannonia, where the court received him and gave up to him the castle of Salava in Mosburg, as a residence. Kotel now besought the pope to consecrate Methodius archbishop of Pannonia, and his request was complied with. But the German clergy, especially the archbishops of Salzburg and Mainz, who unfortunately were ambitious rather of extending their authority than of preaching the Gospel to the people, were exasperated by this to the highest pitch, and they stirred up against him the German emperor and the Moravian prince Swaetopolk, and brought matters so far that he was driven into banishment for a year and a half or two years. Pope John VIII. restored to him his see in 874. At last the Moravian Sclaves saw through the ambition of the bishops his opponents, and expelled them the country, at the same time writing to the pope to request him to appoint Methodius archbishop of Moravia. This John VIII. consented to, and "from this time," says the contemporary writer of the Pannonian history of S. Methodius, "the divine doctrine began to grow and spread rapidly, and heathenism and superstition to disappear." But the archbishops of Salzburg and Mainz, who claimed jurisdiction over the Sclavonic races, though not converted by them, could not forgive Methodius the loss of their power and position in the country. They hastened to Rome, and complained that Methodius was heretical on the subject of the Double Procession, that he taught the independence of the Moravian Church, and that he celebrated the Liturgy in the vulgar tongue. Pope John thereupon, in 878, forbade the performance of the Liturgy in Sclavonic, and in the following year summoned Methodius to appear before him in Rome. The German-Latin prelates triumphed; they appeared in Moravia, and declared that Methodius was deposed, and that his authority had been transferred to them. But pope John, on the appearance of the apostle before him, was satisfied of his orthodoxy, and confirmed him in his position and authority over the Moravian Church. Disappointed in their hope of ruining Methodius at Rome, the German prelates now spread the report that the archbishop had incurred the displeasure of the emperor by his submission to the pope. Methodius was therefore obliged to make a journey to Constantinople, where he was cordially received by the emperor Basil, and then dismissed with many presents. As soon as it was proved that the report of the anger of the imperial court was false, the enemies of Methodius endeavoured to dispose Swaetopolk, the prince, against him; and this they were the more able to effect, because the prince was a man of immoral life, and had incurred the reprimand of the archbishop on more than one occasion. Gradually, influenced by these treacherous apostles of Mammon, rather than of Jesus Christ, Swaetopolk became alienated from Methodius; but in spite of all their efforts, and the coldness of the prince, all the Sclavonic races, from Croatia and Dalmatia to the confines of Poland, heard in their own tongue the celebration of the Divine mysteries, and looked to Methodius as their archbishop. Moreover he effected the conversion of the Bohemian Duke Borivoi, and introduced Christianity into his lands. He founded at Prague the church of Our Lady, and another dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul; and died on April 6th, 885.

Relics of S. Cyril at Rome in S. Clemente, and at Brunn, in Moravia. In Art S. Cyril is represented in a philosopher's long habit, and bearded. S. Methodius as an archbishop with the pallium, holding in one hand a picture of the Last Judgment.

S. CATHARINE OF BOLOGNA, V

(A.D. 1463.)

[Roman Martyrology. Her name was inserted by Clement VIII., in 1592; and she was canonized by Benedict XIII., in 1724. Authority: – Her life written by F. Paleotti, about fifty years after her death.]

Catharine was the daughter of noble parents. Her father, John Vigri, was high in favour with Nicholas d'Este, prince of Ferrara. She was born on the Nativity of the B. Virgin, 1412, at Bologna, where she spent her childhood; but growing up to girlhood she removed with her parents to Ferrara, and became the associate of Margaret, daughter of the prince. At the age of eleven she joined the order of the Poor Clares, and entered the convent of that society in Bologna, with the consent of her parents. "Thus withdrawn from all terrestral occupations," says her biographer, "she began to serve God with such fervour of soul, that all began to marvel at her. So great was her gentleness, so great her reverence and obedience towards others, as long as she lived, that she soon became beloved and pleasant to all, and almost venerable in her early girlhood. Wherever she was, and with whomsoever she conversed, she spoke either of God or with God, so that, though her body was on earth, her soul was ever in heaven. And although she was tormented with grievous temptations which tried her almost out of measure, yet was she always of a glad countenance." She grew daily more devoted to prayer; and her greatest delight was to spend many hours in close communing with God. One Christmas Eve she obtained permission to spend the night in the church, having resolved to recite a thousand times the Angelic Salutation in honour of her who that night bore the Saviour of the world. The hours glided away in the church in all stillness, save for the click of the beads in Catharine's fingers, and in all darkness, save for the glimmer of the red lamp before the Blessed Sacrament. Suddenly, a glory filled the church, and she saw before her the holy Mother bearing her infant Son in her bosom, and smiling on the young religious, S. Mary laid the child Jesus in her arms. It was a moment of supreme felicity, and one painters have loved to recall, as she held to her heart her Redeemer and God, and looked down on His radiant face. Then, trembling between love and fear, she bent her lips to his mouth, and instantly all was dark; the vision had fled. When she returned to her cell she wrote down what she had seen on the margin of her breviary, where it was found after her death.

Margaret d'Este, her little friend in childhood, had grown up, and was married to a good man, Robert Malatesta,³⁹ who, however, died and left her a disconsolate widow. The prince of Ferrara was desirous of marrying his daughter again, but Margaret clung to the memory of her first husband, and besought her friend Catharine to assist her with her prayers. And it fell out that on the very day of the second marriage the bridegroom died. Next night Margaret saw Robert come to her, and extending to her the wedding ring, say, "Margaret, I marry thee again, thou must be mine alone!" and she spent the rest of her days in a holy widowhood. A convent of Poor Clares having been founded in Bologna, S. Catharine was appointed to be the first prioress, in spite of her tears and entreaties to be left to the calm seclusion of her cell, and the subordinate duties of a sister. She dreaded lest the cares and business which fall to a superior should leave her less time for contemplation and prayer.

On her way from Ferrara to her new home she sickened, but persevered in her journey, though carried on a litter to the boat, and when placed in it, was given a blessed candle to hold, as is usual with dying persons, in case she should die on the journey. She however recovered, sufficiently to set the new house in order, and to complete the construction of some of the buildings; and then after the flame of life had again sunk, and once more flickered up, calmly entered into the joy of her Lord on March 9th, 1463, at the age of fifty-one.

Her body, incorrupt, is shown in the church of her convent, through glass, sitting, richly habited, but with face, hands, and feet bare.

S. FRANCES OF ROME, W

(A.D. 1440.)

[Roman Martyrology. Canonized by Paul V., in 1608. Authorities: – Her life by her confessor, John Mattiotti, and another by Maria Magdalena d'Aguillar. The following life is condensed from that by Lady Georgiana Fullerton.]

Frances of Rome was born in stormy days. War was raging all over Europe. Italy was torn by inward dissentions, and the Church was afflicted, not only by the outward persecutions which strengthens her vitality, though for a while they appear to cripple her action, but by trials of a far deeper and more painful nature. Heresy had torn from her arms a great number of her children, and repeated schisms were dividing those who, in appearance, and even in intention, remained faithful to the Holy See. The successors of S. Peter had removed the seat of their residence to Avignon, and the eternal city presented the aspect of one vast battle-field, on which daily and hourly conflicts were occurring. In the capital of Western Christendom ruins of recent date lay side by side with the relics of past ages; the churches were sacked, burned, and destroyed, and the eyes of the people of Rome were turned beseechingly to Heaven to restore to them that tranquillity to which they had almost become strange.

It was at that time, during the pontificate of Urban VI., in the year 1384, that Francesca was born at Rome; that "she rose as a star in a dark night," according to the expression of the most ancient of her biographers. Her father's name was Paul Russa; her mother's Jacobella de' Roffredeschi; they were both of noble descent. On the day of her birth she was carried to the Church of S. Agnes, and there baptized.

Little could the worshippers who may have been praying there that day for a blessing on their bereaved and distracted city, have guessed in what form that blessing was bestowed, and that that little babe, a few hours old, was to prove a most powerful instrument in the hands of God for the extinction of schism, the revival of piety, and the return of peace.