SS. Nereus and Achilleus| S. Pancras| S. Domitilla| Daily Meditation| Daily Quote by S. Padre Pio| Divine Mercy Reflection
SS. Nereus and Achilleus
(1st century)
Both Calendars
Devotion to these two saints goes back to the fourth century, though almost nothing is known of their lives. They were praetorian soldiers of the Roman army, became Christians and were removed to the island of Terracina, where they were martyred. Their bodies were buried in a family vault, later known as the cemetery of Domitilla. Excavations by De Rossi in 1896 resulted in the discovery of their empty tomb in the underground church built by Pope Siricius in 390.
Two hundred years after their death, Pope Gregory the Great delivered his 28th homily on the occasion of their feast. “These saints, before whom we are assembled, despised the world and trampled it under their feet when peace, riches and health gave it charms.”
Comment:
As in the case of many early martyrs, the Church clings to its memories though the events are clouded in the mists of history. It is a heartening thing for all Christians to know that they have a noble heritage. Our brothers and sisters in Christ have stood in the same world in which we live—militarist, materialist, cruel and cynical—yet transfigured from within by the presence of the Living One. Our own courage is enlivened by the heroes and heroines who have gone before us marked by the sign of faith and the wounds of Christ.
Quote:
Pope Damasus wrote an epitaph for Nereus and Achilleus in the fourth century. The text is known from travelers who read it while the slab was still entire, but the broken fragments found by De Rossi are sufficient to identify it: “The martyrs Nereus and Achilleus had enrolled themselves in the army and exercised the cruel office of carrying out the orders of the tyrant, being ever ready, through the constraint of fear, to obey his will. O miracle of faith! Suddenly they cease from their fury, they become converted, they fly from the camp of their wicked leader; they throw away their shields, their armor and their blood-stained javelins. Confessing the faith of Christ, they rejoice to bear testimony to its triumph. Learn now from the words of Damasus what great things the glory of Christ can accomplish.”
St. Pancras
(d. 304?)
Both Calendars
St. Pancras Railway Station in London got its name from an early Christian martyr about whom we have very little information. He is said to have been martyred at 14 during the persecution of Diocletian. He was buried in a cemetery which later was named after him. Pope Gregory the Great built a monastery for Benedictines and, when Augustine of Canterbury (a Benedictine) came to England, he named the first church he erected after Pancras. Hence the name of the railway station.
Pancras (Pancratius) appears in fictionalized form in Cardinal Wiseman’s novelFabiola. German farmers had a saying that three saints whose names are similar—Pancras, Servatz and Bonifatz—were the “ice men” because it was often unseasonably chilly on their feast days, May 12, 13, 14.
Comment:
Again we have a saint about whom almost nothing is known, but whose life and death are cherished in the Church’s memory. Details fall away or are mixed with legend. But a single, powerful fact remains: He died for Christ and his heroism sent a wave of inspiration through the Church of his day. It is good for us to share that feeling.
Quote:
“[T]hey will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute” (Luke 21:12–15).
Today we also commemorate in the Latin Calendar S. Domitilla, Virgin and Martyr.
Flavia Domitilla (c. 60–96 ce)
Roman noblewoman. Born around 60 ce; executed in 96 ce; daughter of Q. Petillius Cerialis Caesius Rufus, known as Petillius, and Flavia Domitilla (fl. 60 ce); married T. Flavius Clemens; children: sons T. Flavius Domitianus Caesar and T. Flavius Vespasianus Caesar.
Flavia Domitilla was the third woman in three generations of her family to bear the same name. Her grandmother, Flavia Domitilla (fl. 39 ce), was the daughter of Flavius Liberalis (a Roman freedman, meaning freed slave), who attracted an offer of marriage from Titus Flavius Vespasianus. Vespasian was a general when he married Flavia Domitilla (39 ce). In 68, the emperor Nero was deposed, initiating civil war. In this conflict, three military rivals preceded Vespasian to the throne, but by the end of 69 he had secured his imperial claim through violence. Flavia Domitilla had three children with Vespasian: another Flavia Domitilla (fl. 60 ce), Titus, and the notorious Domitian (the first two of whom were of adult age by 69). Flavia Domitilla (fl. 60 ce) married Petillius (a partisan of Vespasian) by 60 and thereafter remained loyal to Vespasian's cause. Vespasian rewarded Petillius with a suffect consulship (his second) in 74. At the time of his marriage, Petillius already had two sons (Rufus and Firmus), both of whom also supported the Flavian imperial house (the former serving as consul ordinary in 83 under Domitian). In about the year 60, a daughter was born to Petillius and Flavia Domitilla, who was the third to bear the name Flavia Domitilla. This Flavia Domitilla, who was the granddaughter of one emperor (Vespasian) and niece of two others (Titus and Domitian), was about ten when her family began its imperial odyssey.
A political prize of the first order because of her connections, this Flavia Domitilla married T. Flavius Clemens probably early in the reign of Domitian (r. 81–96). Several political reasons were behind this union. First, the angst-ridden Domitian, conscious of his family's lowly social background (his grandmother was the daughter of a Roman freedman), was loathe to marry his niece to someone of loftier ancestry, lest such a son-in-law threaten his imperial authority. Clemens made an excellent choice, for, far from creating political problems, his marriage to Flavia Domitilla actually helped to consolidate Flavian power, because Clemens was the grandson of the older brother of Emperor Vespasian. In addition, Clemens was likely to remain Domitian's trustworthy ally since he was neither particularly gifted in the political arena nor ambitious. A "solid" citizen, Clemens rose through the imperial ranks under the patronage of his imperial relative Domitian until Clemens reached the acme of his career in 95, at which time he became one of Rome's consul ordinaries.
Flavia Domitilla's marriage to Clemens was a successful match. They had two sons: T. Flavius Domitianus Caesar and T. Flavius Vespasianus Caesar. Because Emperor Domitian's own marriage to Domitia Longina produced no offspring, these sons were adopted by their great-uncle Domitian as his heirs. Had things thus remained, at least one of Flavia Domitilla's sons would have become the next Roman emperor. However, such was not to be, and Flavia Domitilla's hopes for the future were dashed during the year of her husband's consulship. Domitian suffered from a deep-rooted sense of social inferiority, while possessing an autocratic personality. He styled himself dominus et deus ("lord and god") to distance himself from everyone else, and exhibited a cruel streak throughout his reign, especially against the senatorial class upon which he ironically had to rely heavily for help to rule the vast Roman Empire. Executions for treason (some were guilty) began as early as 87, but the real storm broke out in 93. As a result, a reign of terror enveloped the powerful throughout the empire which caused Domitian's popularity to plummet sharply. It is little wonder that by 95 Domitian felt the need to staff important offices with "safe" occupants, like Clemens.
Not even Clemens' disposition and marriage, however, would save him from the increasingly paranoid Domitian when Domitian learned of Clemens' intellectual interest in an "atheistic" religious doctrine. It is not known for certain which of these sects attracted Clemens, whether it was in Christianity or in Judaism that he began to dabble, but from Domitian's perspective it mattered little: both religions rejected all but one God, undermining (among other things) Domitian's claim to be "[the] lord and [a] god." Whether or not Clemens understood the political ramifications of his religious interests, Domitian interpreted his pursuits as treasonous, since they called into question one very real prop (the "divinity" of the emperor) to his imperial power. Equally unknown is whether or not Flavia Domitilla shared her husband's nascent religious explorations (although it is quite possible she did—later Christians claimed that she maintained an interest in their religion). Nonetheless, preferring to err on the side of rigor, Domitian acted as though she did for certain. The emperor "suitably" punished both: Clemens was executed immediately and Flavia Domitilla was exiled to the small island of Pandateria before her own execution in 96. Further, their sons — Domitian's erstwhile heirs — disappear at this time from the historical record, almost certainly the victims of Domitian's deadly paranoia.
Flavia Domitilla's story, however, did not end there. One of her stewards, a man named Stephanus, both remained at Domitian's court after her fall and loyal to her memory. Seeking revenge for the unjust murder of his mistress, her husband, and (probably) her sons, and perhaps fearing his own death as a party to their "illegal" religious activities, Stephanus plotted Domitian's overthrow. Feigning injury so as to wrap one of his arms in a bandage, Stephanus hid therein a knife. He then picked his time carefully and attacked Domitian in his bed. However good a steward Stephanus was, he was a terrible assassin. Making an initial mess of Domitian's murder, he needed help from fellow conspirators before the emperor was physically overcome. Regardless, the plot succeeded.
Ironically, the act that avenged Flavia Domitilla simultaneously transferred the empire to another dynasty and killed the last living scion of her house.
Daily Meditation
Inspirational Souls:
Saints play important parts in your story, my story, our story. And the better we know them, the more inspired we will be to emulate them.
Quote by S. Padre Pio:
Holiness means loving those who curse us, who hate and persecute us, and even doing good to them.
Divine Mercy Reflection
Reflections on Notebook Two: 112-188
We now enter into Notebook Two of the six notebooks that make up the Diary of Saint Faustina. The reason for having more than one notebook is simply that when one notebook was filled by Saint Faustina she began with a new one. Therefore, there is nothing particularly different from one notebook to the other. However, for the purpose of this current book of daily reflections, each reflection will begin to be lengthened, starting here with Notebook Two, so as to help you, the reader, enter more deeply into the beautiful mysteries of faith and our shared spiritual life that have been revealed in these writings of Saint Faustina.
You are invited once again to take one reflection each day and to ponder it throughout the day. Try to pray the prayer for each reflection each morning, noon and evening. Allow each mystery reflected upon to become a source of wisdom and understanding for you.
Reflection 132: The Incomprehensible God
One common tendency we all have is curiosity. We easily become curious about almost everything, desiring to know. Magazines, news articles, shows, daily gossip sessions, etc., all have as their aim the satisfaction of our curiosity. This curiosity must turn into a desire to know God and all He speaks to us. But, with that said, we must also know that we cannot know. The wisdom and Will of God are so far beyond our limited minds and hearts that we will never be able to understand their mystery. Life is a mystery. Struggle and hardship are mysteries. Love is a mystery. And yet, as we humbly face the countless mysteries of life, we also face the incomprehensible mystery of God. Interestingly, knowing that we do not know, and understanding that we cannot understand, present us with the great mystery of God. In the face of this incomprehensible Mystery, we are in the presence of God. This is a gift! This silencing of our understanding before the mystery of God enables us to face life in faith. Faith is a way of knowing without fully comprehending. It’s a gift enabling us to walk through life in darkness, yet with clarity and certainty (See Diary #651).
Do you find that you do not understand God or His ways? Do you look at your life and wonder, “Why this?” or “Why that?” or “Where is God in all of this?” God and His ways are a mystery. But, as a mystery, you are invited to enter in with the darkness of faith. This will only make sense if you let the Holy Spirit penetrate your thoughts and teach you in a new way. Your “understanding” of the Mind and Will of God will not so much be like other forms of knowledge; rather, your knowledge will be new, certain, clear, deep, and yet mysterious at the same time. Allow yourself to be taught by faith and you will be able to face any and every mystery and hardship that you encounter in life.
Lord, oh Incomprehensible Mystery! I stand before You in awe and in darkness. Yet in the darkness of my understanding, I reaffirm my faith and trust in You. As I face the mystery of my life and, even more so, the mystery of Your life, I allow You to consume me with the gift of faith. Help me to believe without seeing and to know without understanding. Most importantly, I desire and choose to give my life to You, oh Incomprehensible Mystery, and I choose You above all else. Jesus, I trust in You.
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