Daily Updates

ORDINARY TIME: JANUARY 19

Tuesday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Sts. Marius, Martha, Audivax and Abachum, a group of Persian martyrs of the third century who died for the faith in Rome. St. Canute was king of Denmark; he was put to death out of hatred of his faith and his zeal in working for its extension in his kingdom. He was killed in St. Alban’s Church in Odense.

It is also the feast of St. Henrik or Henry an Englishman, and preached the faith in the North with his countryman, Cardinal Nicholas Breakspear, the apostle of Norway, and legate of the holy see, afterward Pope Adrian IV. by whom he was raised to this see, in 1148. Saint Eric, or Henry, (for it is the same name,) was then the holy king of Sweden. Our saint, after having converted several provinces, went to preach in Finland, which that king had lately conquered. He deserved to be styled the apostle of that country, but fell a martyr in it, being stoned to death at the instigation of a barbarous murderer, whom he endeavored to reclaim by censures, in 1151. His tomb was in great veneration at Upsal, until his ashes were scattered on the change of religion, in the sixteenth century.

St. Marius and Family
Their feast does not appear in the Roman calendar until the twelfth century. The Acts of these martyrs are wholly legendary. They give the following details. Marius was a Persian of noble extraction. With his wife, who was also noble-born, and his two sons, Audifax and Abachus, he came to Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II (268-270) to venerate the graves of the martyrs. They visited the Christians in prison, encouraged them by word and deed, and shared with them their goods. And like Tobias of old, they buried the bodies of the saints.

It was not long before they themselves were arrested; and when neither threats nor allurements could make them offer sacrifice to the idols, they were savagely flogged. Martha was the first to die, but not before she had fervently exhorted her husband and sons to endure steadfastly whatever tortures might be inflicted for the faith. All were beheaded in the same place and their bodies thrown into the fire. Felicitas, a saintly Roman woman, succeeded in recovering the half-burnt bodies and buried them on her estate.

St. Canute
St. Canute, king of Denmark, was murdered in St. Alban’s Church, Odense, July 10, 1086. The Martyrology confuses him with his nephew, St. Canute the Duke, who died on January 7, 1131, and was canonized November 8, 1169, by Pope Alexander III. St. Canute is also called Canute the holy, or Danish Knut, or Knud, Den Hellige, or Sankt Knut, or Knud.

The son of King Sweyn II Estrithson of Denmark, Canute succeeded his brother Harold Hen as king of Denmark. Canute opposed the aristocracy and kept a close association with the church in an attempt to create a powerful and centralized monarchy.

In ecclesiastical matters, Canute generously patronized several churches, including the Cathedral of Lund, Denmark’s archbishopric; established a Benedictine abbey at Odense; and supported apostolic preaching throughout Denmark. In temporal matters, he attempted an administrative reform, particularly an enforced levying of tithes that incurred the wrath of the rural aristocracy. In 1085 he reasserted the Danish claims to England and, with the count of Flanders and King Olaf III of Norway, prepared a massive invasion fleet that alarmed the Norman-English king William I the Conqueror.

Canute’s plan, however, had to be abandoned suddenly, for those aristocrats who opposed his tax policy revolted as he was preparing to embark for England. He fled from the rebels, led by his brother Prince Olaf, to St. Alban’s Church, Odense, which he had founded, and was assassinated there with the entire royal party.

Canute was buried in St. Alban’s, renamed c. 1300 St. Canute’s Cathedral. Miracles were recorded at his tomb, and, at the request (1099) of King Erik III Evergood of Denmark, he was canonized (1101) by Pope Paschal II.

Patron: Zeeland, Denmark.

Symbols: Knight with a wreath, lance, and ciborium.

St. Henrik
To call St. Henrik obscure is only possible to an English speaking Catholic. For us, he is so obscure that he does not even have an entry in the voluminous 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia. But, to Finnish Catholics, he is the nation’s patron and one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages, and of today.

Henrik was born Henry, an Englishman, sometime in the early 12th century. It is unknown where he began his ecclesiastical career, but in 1152 he appears as a companion of papal legate and fellow Englishman Nicholas Breakspear (later Pope Adrian IV), who spent two years in Scandinavia trying to organize the Church in that region. Henrik appears to have remained behind, where he was later appointed Bishop of Uppsala, primatial See of Sweden, in 1156. This was around one year after Eric IX Jedvardsson, also known as King Eric the Saint, took the throne of Sweden. Henrik, who had a heart for missionary work, found a friend and supporter in the zealous King Eric, who was anxious to spread the Faith into neighboring Finland as a means of not only winning souls, but stabilizing his own borders.

Allegedly, Eric organized a sort of crusade to bring Finland under Swedish rule and spread the Faith, although there is no contemporary evidence of such a military adventure. What is certain is that, at the behest of King Eric, the Bishop of Uppsala was persuaded to go to Finland to spread the Faith in that region. He was not in Finland long when he was murdered by a pagan Finn, to whom tradition assigns the name Lalli. According to some accounts, his martyrdom occurred as a result of Henrik attempting to enforce a canonical penalty on a murderer; in the more popular tale, Henrik stops to purchase some food from a local woman before crossing a frozen lake by slegde. When the woman’s husband Lalli returns home, she tells him only that Henrik came and took the food but neglects to mention that he also paid for it. In anger, Lalli follows Henrik out upon the ice of the lake where he murders him and takes his mitre home in gloating triumph. According to tradition, Henrik was martyred on January 20th, 1156.

Finnish cultural tradition has taken a macabre interest in speculating about the fate of Lalli, the murderer. All traditions agree that Lalli died soon after Henrik, unrepentant and tormented. The favorite story of Lalli tells how he came home from the murder wearing the bishop’s mitre. When he went to remove it from his head, his scalp came off with it; thus St. Henrik is often depicted in medieval iconography standing on top of Lalli, who is always depicted as bald. Other stories tell of Lalli being pursued relentlessly by a band of mice who constantly tried to eat him alive. There are tales of Lalli climbing a tree or moving from house to house to escape the gnawing mice; finally he seeks refuge at sea, but the mice some how find him and he and the mice end up drowning together. The gnawing mice which relentlessly seek to devour Lalli are an apt symbol of the gnawing of conscience.

Henrik soon became the national saint of Finland, although he was largely ignored outside of Scandinavia. In Scandinavian countries, his feast day (January 20th) is the occasion of a tremendous festival called Heikinpäivä. The Heikinpäivä festival, though originally a Finnish solemnity, is actually more important in other areas of the world that were settled by Finns than in Finland itself, which has lost touch with much of its Catholic past. The region of the world that is best known for its festive celebration of Heikinpäivä is Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which was settled by Finns in the 19th century. The Michigan celebrations are largely civic and cultural in nature, having lost a lot of the relevance to the martyr-saint, but it is still a real treat to visit the north during the time of the this festival.

Excerpted from Unam Sanctam Catholicam

Patron: Against storms, Finland.

Symbols: Bishop being murdered at Mass with young King Saint Eric; bishop being murdered by a man wielding an axe; trampling on Lalli.

Things to Do:

• Read this article from Catholic World Report, Finland’s patron saint, rediscovered.
• Read about the history and significane of St. Henrik here.
• Read about St. Henry’s Pilgrimage.

 

MASS READINGS

January 19, 2021 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

Almighty ever-living God, who govern all things, both in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the pleading of your people and bestow your peace on our times. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2021-01-19&

Daily Meditation: Hebrews 6:10-20

Hold fast to the hope that lies before us. (Hebrews 6:18)

The year 2020 presented some unique challenges for all of us: a global pandemic and disrupted plans, economic hardship, and for many, political and racial tensions. Any one of these things could have shaken us—not to mention any personal trials we may have faced or may still be facing.

In light of all that has happened and is still unfolding, this verse from today’s first reading can encourage us: “Hold fast to the hope that lies before us” (Hebrews 6:18). As Christians, we can place our hope in the promise that one day we will be united with God in heaven. No illness, no financial loss, no disappointment or canceled plan or other kind of strife can thwart that promise. That’s the hope that the author of Hebrews held out to the early Christians, and that’s what he holds out to us as well. If we try our best to stay close to the Lord and follow his commands, our hope is sure and certain.

But how do we hold fast to hope? By hanging on and gritting our teeth through the difficulties? No! Our hope lies in the faithfulness of God. We can be confident that he will see us through every trial as we trust in him.

That’s not just a vague promise. God gives us three tangible sources of grace that can strengthen and renew our hope. In the Eucharist, Jesus becomes present to us, healing us, strengthening us, and nourishing us. In the Scriptures, the Lord teaches us who he is, how much he loves us, and the wonderful plans he has for us. And through our relationships, God blesses us with family, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ who can provide us with the love and support we need to get through our trials. In all of these ways, we can experience a foretaste of heaven, and our hope grows stronger.

Life can be hard at times; we know what it’s like to feel hope slipping away. When that happens, don’t let yourself sink into frustration or despair. Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist, in Scripture, and in other people are the lifelines that God is throwing out to you. Take hold of them, and don’t let go!

“Lord, all of my hope is in you.”

Psalm 111:1-2, 4-5, 9-10
Mark 2:23-28

19TH JANUARY 2021 (PRAY FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY)
Hebrews 6:10-20; Psalm 111:1-2,4-5,9,10c; Mark 2:23-28
THE SABBATH AND MAN

“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” Mark 2:27-28
▪It was hunger that drove the disciples into the field of grain, which made them to start picking heads of grain. The Pharisees who think more about the law than about their fellow human beings could not stomach such an “ugly scene” – breaking the law of the sabbath. Martin Luther King Jr., in one of his speeches, spoke about toughness of mind and tenderness of heart.
~ The toughness of mind entails the ability to be critical, to judge matters before arriving at the conclusions. Many are weak that they jump into conclusions even before examining the situation. This involves having the wisdom of a serpent. The Pharisees though experts in law, showed they were weak in mind.
~ The tenderness of heart is to have the innocence of a dove. When we are tenderhearted, we will easily be moved by compassion more than by prejudices. A good number of times, we judge more than we show mercy.
▪It was to this that the Lord called their attention, by referring them to the Old Testament, which they held so dear. There is no one way to mercy, it is always two ways. How we want to be treated at any given time, requires how we ought to treat people when we find them in similar circumstances.
~ What happened in the gospel is an expression of what we may call the love of the law more than the love of fellow man. As long as we love the law more than fellow man, humanity suffers.
~ How many people have been condemned by the lovers of the law, for being found in similar situations like the apostles? Think of those people we are quick to condemn for living bad lives, without raising a finger to help them from the causes of their actions!
▪Dear friend, in order to achieve the unity of Christians for which we are praying for, we must love our fellow human beings more than we love the law. It does not negate the importance of the law, rather, examining the context of an action with the law. We must look at each other with mercy because the Christ we follow is the Lord of all. May He be the path through which we arrive at each other. Amen
O Lord, grant that we may all be one in heart and mind
May God bless you
Fr Joseph Chukwugozie Ikegbunam

Blessed Sacrament Parish, Stowe and Most Holy Name of Jesus Parish, Morrisville, Vermont, USA