Canticle Apocalypse 15
A hymn of adoration
Great and wonderful are your works, Lord God Almighty;
just and true are your ways, King of all nations!
Who, Lord, will not revere and glorify your name? For you alone are holy.
All nations will come and worship in your presence,
or your judgments have been seen by all.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
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May 6th - St. Dominic Savio
(1842-1857)
It is no surprise that some teenagers have been canonized as martyrs. There
have been many teenaged martyrs like fifteen year old Ponticus of Lyons (177
AD); sixteen year old Dojuko of Osaka, Japan (1597 AD); thirteen year old Kizito
of Uganda (1886 AD). But a teenager canonized for heroic virtue rather than
martyrdom, that's another matter.
St. Dominic Savio is a modern youth who qualified.
Dominic was born near Turin, Italy in 1842, one of the ten children of a
blacksmith. In the 1850s, St. John Bosco was beginning to establish in Turin his
apostolate to homeless and neglected boys. Dominic's pastor suggested to Don
Bosco that Dominic might be a good aide. Bosco was, indeed, impressed when he
met young Savio; so Dominic became in 1854 one of the first students in St.
John's new Oratory of St. Francis de Sales.
Though only twelve, Dominic already showed great personal and spiritual
promise. He also demonstrated a fine spirit of leadership. In fact, he
established among the "ragamuffin" students at the Oratory a group called the
Company of the Immaculate Conception. In addition to having certain common
spiritual projects, this group helped with the chores and assisted the priest in
dealing with the problem students. Interestingly enough, all the boys who
belonged to Dominic's "Company" joined the Salesian Fathers when Don Bosco
founded that religious order in 1859.
Young Dominic, we say, had genuine gifts of leadership. He was active in
the sports that were a part of Don Bosco's educational regime. He had a
cheerful, laughing disposition, and was a good storyteller, which especially
pleased the younger boys. But he was also able to put a spiritual twist into his
influence over the students. One day two boys got into a bitter fight, and were
at the point of throwing stones at each other. Dominic broke in between them and
held up a little crucifix. "Before you fight," he said, "look at this, both of
you, and say, 'Jesus Christ was sinless, and He died forgiving His executioners;
I am a sinner, and I am going to outrage Him by purposely seeking revenge?' Then
you can start your fight - and throw your first stone at me!" It was a quick
warning, and it worked. The fighters decided to make peace.
A bright boy like Dominic could have become stuck-up. That he did not is a
tribute to St. John Bosco, who guided him well towards genuine holiness. He
developed the art of self-denial, and God even granted him deep gifts of prayer.
His whole program (one perfectly apt to a person of his age and situation) was
to do as well as possible whatever he was called upon to do. "I can't do big
things," he said, "but I want all I do, even the smallest thing, to be for the
greater glory of God."
If Dominic did not himself enter the Salesians in 1859, it was because God
took him in 1857. The cause of his death was apparently tuberculosis. In his
last hours of suffering, he was confused and delirious. Then suddenly he came
to. He smiled and said, "I am seeing the most wonderful things!" Those were his
last words. Pope Pius XII proclaimed him a saint in 1954.
Teenagers can be heroes. They have the idealism and good will. It's up to
us to give them the challenge.
This Version Taken From:
http://www.stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/
Spiritual Bouquet: He who seeks the glory of the One who sent him is truthful,
and there is no injustice in him. St. John 7:18
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Martyrology
At Rome, the Apostle and Evangelist St. John, before the Latin Gate. By order of
Domitian, he was brought in chains from Ephesus to Rome, and by decree of the
Senate was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil before the Latin Gate. He came
forth from it more healthy and more vigorous than when he had entered it. A
totum duplex feast.
At Damascus, the birthday of St. John Damascene, priest, confessor and Doctor of
the Church. He was celebrated for his learning and holiness. By means of his
writings and preaching, he powerfully defended the veneration of the holy images
against Leo the Isaurian. Because of the calumnies of the Emperor, the Saracen
caliph ordered the saint's right hand to be cut off. When St. Damascene
commended himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose images he had defended, his
hand was instantly restored to him, entire and sound. His festival is observed
on March 27.
At Cyrene in Libya, St. Lucius, bishop. St. Luke mentions him in the Acts of the
Apostles. (1)
At Antioch, St. Evodius. St. Ignatius, writing to the people of Antioch, says
that Evodius was ordained the first Bishop of Antioch by the Apostle St. Peter
and ended his life there by a glorious martyrdom.
In Africa, the holy martyrs Heliodorus, Venustus, and seventy-five others.
In Cyprus, St. Theodotus, Bishop of Cyrinia. In the reign of the Emperor
Licinius, he suffered many grievous trials; but when peace had been restored to
the Church, he gave up his soul to God.
At Carrhae in Mesopotamia, St. Protogenes, bishop and confessor.
In England, St. Eadbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, famous for his learning and
holiness.
At Rome, St. Benedicta, virgin.
At Salerno, the transferal of the body of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist.
His holy body had been borne from Ethiopia into various lands, and at last was
taken to Salerno where it was buried with great honor in the church dedicated to
his name. +
(1). Acts, 13:1
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