Bl. Diana, Bl. Cecilia, Bl. Amata

Today is an optional memorial for Dominican nuns to remember Bl. Diana d’Andalò and Bl. Cecilia Caesarini. (That doesn’t mean we all can’t remember them!)

The marvelous cloistered nuns were the first branch of our Dominican family! Bl. Diana & Bl. Cecilia is among the earliest and both knew St. Dominic.

Both came from noble families of note: Bl. Diana's family were powerful nobles in Bologna (with her former title of Lady Diana) while Bl. Cecilia came from the ancient Caesarini noble family of Rome.

Bl. Diana was both beautiful and spoiled. Her life changed when she heard Blessed Reginald of Orleans preach. Becoming enamored with the Dominicans, she longed to start a life as a member of the new order but her family was firmly opposed. Meeting St. Dominic when he stopped in Bologna, she obtained his permission to start a community of sisters, with St. Dominic, himself, putting four of the brothers in that local community under obedience to assist the building of her convent. It wasn’t until after the death of St. Dominic that Bl. Diana was able to overcome the forceful resistance of her family not allowing her to enter religious life. Having a great correspondence with Blessed Jordan of Saxony, the Monastery of St. Agnes was built and she entered in 1223 and was its first prioress.

Bl. Cecilia was the youngest nun in the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria in Tempulo when St. Dominic was founding the Monastery of St. Sixtus in 1220. The Monastery of St. Sixtus was founded by combining various female communities with Bl. Cecilia’s being among them. She received the Dominican habit from St. Dominic. About 1223, she and some others sisters were sent to Bl. Diana’s new Monastery of St. Agnes. Bl. Cecilia became the new prioress.

From both of these blessed we have a fantastic legacy. Through Bl. Diana’s letters are long lost, she kept all her letters from Bl. Jordan of Saxony, giving us great insights to the early days of the Dominican family as well as both BB Jordan and Diana. Bl. Cecilia left us the only physical description we have of St. Dominic! Both women remained at the Monastery of St. Agnes for the remainder of their earthly lives.

Not to be forgotten is Blessed Amata. She was a nun at St. Sixtus with Bl. Cecilia also receiving the habit from St. Dominic. She was beatified in 1891 with Diana and Cecilia but was not included on the calendar because so little is known of her.

The book, St. Dominic's Family by Sr. Mary Jean Dorcy, O.P writes this about her:

Of Sister Amata, we know practically nothing, but that she was a good friend of St. Dominic, which should, after all, be enough to know about anybody. He, according to legend, gave her the name Amata--which means 'beloved'--and very probably he either sent her to the convent in the first place or was the means of her staying there at the time of the drastic reforms, when the nuns left St. Mary's trans Tiber and went to S. Sixtus. There was a Sister Amata from whom St. Dominic is said to have cast out seven devils, but it could hardly have been this one. The facts that he personally named her, and that she is buried with the other two, will have to be her title to honor.

Bl. Cecilia, Bl Diana, Bl. Amata
Let us pray:

Merciful Lord, we welcome in joy the feast of Blessed Diana and Blessed Cecilia. With the help of their prayers may devotion to truth and love for our brothers and sisters fill our hearts and our lives. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint Peter the Martyr

St. Peter the Martyr, also called St. Peter of Verona, is one of too many saints that no longer receive the remembrance that is greatly deserved. He is the Dominican protomartyr and the fastest papally canonized saint of the Church.

The Dominican Ordo for 2010 designates today as his memorial. His feast on the Extraordinary Calendar is 29 April. St. Catherine of Siena died on 29 April but was given the 30th because St. Peter the Martyr already had the 29th. In the “reformed” 1969 calendar, St. Peter the Martyr was bumped off the calendar by St. Catherine as she was moved back by one day.

St. Peter was born 1205 or 1206. The fact that he was born to parents that were heretical Cathars is proof of his divine love for truth and Orthodoxy. In such an atmosphere where his own family ridiculed his orthodoxy, his life was destined to be sacrificed for the faith!

He received the Dominican habit from St. Dominic, himself. He was a mystic that was visited by saints and angels, a gift for which he had to do penance for. On one occasion having celestial visitors in his cell, a passing monk heard female voices coming from his room. This led to his being accused of admitting females within the enclosure, to the great scandal of the house. The Saint said not a word in his own justification, but humbly accepted the severe penance imposed on him.

He became a very active and noted preacher in Northern Italy. His sermons were often complemented by miraculous signs of all kinds including casting out devils and healing the sick. Every day at the elevation of the Mass St. Peter prayed, Grant, Lord, that I may die for Thee, who for me didst die.

Pope Innocent IV made him inquisitor of Lombardy in 1232. It is said that wherever he appeared there was universal renunciation of errors and heresies. So great was his success to bringing those in error back to the Church that it’s no wonder the wrath of heretics was so violent towards him. He was attacked by assassins on the road between Milan and Como in 1252. His martyrdom had been mystically revealed to him and he approached happily. One of his assassins was so affected by the saint’s holy martyrdom that he entered the Order of Preachers, himself, and remained for forty years.

Saint Peter was canonized by Pope Innocent IV in the piazza outside the Dominican Church at Perugia, less than a year after his martyrdom.

Prayer

Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we may imitate with due devotion the faith of Blessed Peter, Thy Martyr, who, for the extension of that same faith, was made worthy to obtain the palm of martyrdom. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Queenship of Mary

It's the end of May when we celebrate Our Lady during her
Feast of the Queenship of Mary!

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God…that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Blessed Andrew Franchi, B.C.O.P

Bl. Andrew Franchi's memorial day is today according to the Extraordinary calendar. 27 May was his day on the Ordinary calendar.

He was born in Pistoia, Italy, in 1335 and came from a noble family. He entered the Dominican order at the age of 14. He was in the order during the time of the Black Death and worked to bring back regular observance after the plague. He had served as prior in three different convents while still a young age.
As bishop of Pistoia, he was known for his preaching and austerity. He was a preacher of peace, devoted himself to the poor, and known for his devotion to the Infant Jesus, Mary, and the Three Kings.

He died 1401 and was declared Blessed by Pope Benedict XV in 1921.
He is one of the incorruptables!

Trinity Sunday

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
qui dedisti famulis tuis, in confessione verae fidei,
aeternae Trinitatis gloriam agnoscere,
et in potentia maiestatis adorare Unitatem:
quaesumus; ut, eiusdem fidei firmitate,
ab omnibus semper muniamur adversis.

Fr. Aidan Nichols, OP on Liturgy

Study

Thanks (said sarcastically) to one of my good friends, an Orthodox priest, a new personal phase of Fr. Aidan Nichols has entered my head.

Here's a great comment on the Liturgy he made during an interview.

Q. So you would see the Liturgy as playing a key role in divesting people of false ideas, especially in the Church?

A. Yes. It has to be Scripture and the Liturgy. Of course, the Liturgy is where Scripture, in a sense, comes most fully into its own, in the liturgical preaching and in the way in which the Liturgy is textured out of myriad biblical references.

But it has to be Liturgy that is not denatured so that it simply becomes an instrument of political correctness. Because in that case you’re losing precisely its power to challenge and transform the way people are when they arrive. If the function of the Liturgy is simply to affirm people in their secular identities or those aspects of decent living that are available through secular agencies, then I don’t see the Liturgy as having any special evangelical force. It must lift people up to something beyond their secular consciousness.

Translation of the body of our Holy Father St. Dominic

24 May is the day the Order celebrates the feast of the translation of the body of St. Dominic.

By the urging of the Saint, himself, Dominic was given a simple burial in an unadorned church tomb, being placed in a simple wooden coffin. Although it was attested that "no spices or aromatical perfumes of any kind were placed therein," the spot very soon afterward began emanating a "sweet and penetrating perfume" filled the church. Miracles also followed and continuously increased.

Despite the discouragement of St. Dominic's friar brethren, the translation of his body to a new coffin for interment in a new tomb took place 12 years after his death on 24 May. When the flagstone of his simple tomb was removed, the strong perfumed aroma filled the entire church. It was during this event that another miracle took place:

Tradition says that during the translation of the relics of Saint Dominic de Guzman 1267, when the body was exposed to view, the head was seen to turn towards Blessed John [Vercelli]. Embarrassed, John moved to another part of the church, giving his place to a cardinal. The head of Saint Dominic was seen by all to turn again toward John.

The marble tomb St. Dominic's precious body was interred is greatly adorned, including 4 carvings by Michelangelo.

One of the angel candleholders by Michelangeo at St. Dominic's tomb

MEMORARE TO ST. DOMINIC

REMEMBER, O most dear and holy Father St. Dominic, that, at the close of thy mortal career, thou didst raise thy pure hands to heaven and pray:
"Holy Father, since by thy mercy I have ever accomplished thy will, and have kept and preserved those whom thou hast given to me, now I recommend them to thee : do thou keep them, do thou preserve them." Animated with unbounded confidence in thee. O tender Father, I cast myself at thy feet, beseeching thee to plead still for thy poor helpless children, to protect us amidst the dangers of om- earthly pilgrimage, to guard and keep us. Be mindful, O great Father, of the comforting assurance thou didst make in thy last moments to thy weeping brethren, promising that after death thou wouldst assist thy children. O Father, fulfil thy word, and help us by thy prayers.

The Ark of St. Dominic in Bologna, Italy