MAY
MAY 1
Bernard Von Der Lippe + 1224
Knight, husband and father, he became a crusader and later, entrusting his wife and younger children to his eldest son, he entered Marienfeld. Subsequently, he was elected abbot of Dunamunde and appointed bishop of Selburg. His son, bishop of Utrecht, consecrated him and soon together they consecrated another son, Gerard, bishop of Bremen. Until his final days, he worked tirelessly for his people.
Martin Felderer + 1868
Monk of Stams, in Tyrol, a man of great candor of soul, gentle and courageous.
MAY 2
St Mafalda + 1265
Living in the milieu of a royal court, entering into a political marriage which was later annulled, Mafalda, like her sisters Teresa (June 17) and Sancha (March 13), experienced the call to give herself completely to Christ and entered the Cistercian monastery of Arouca. Cheerfulness and deep prayer were especially the marks of her sanctity. The Church of 13th century Portugal owes much to her and her sisters for their dedication to Christ in the poor and suffering.
MBS, pp. 136-138
Candidus of St Bernard Furlong + 1616
Irish, he went to Spain and entered the monastery of Nogales. He was later sent back to Ireland, where he preached the gospel with much success.
MAY 3
Bl Alexander + 12th century
A nephew of the king of Scotland, who was childless, he was heir to the throne. Through the encouragement of his sister, he relinquished his earthly crown for Christ and became a lay-brother at the abbey of Foigny in France. Only on his death bed did he reveal his noble birth and went to be crowned by Christ with eternal glory.
MBS, p. 135
Malachy Shial + 1642
While he was ministering in the parish attached to the monastery of St Mary of Newry, he was seized by Protestant soldiers and hanged from the beams of a wooden bridge.
MAY 4
Walter + 12th century
Lay-brother of Melrose, Scotland. He was especially close to his abbot, St Waldef, and spent most of his religious life serving in the guest house which, at that time, was a hospice for the poor and sick. In response to his prayers, God often multiplied bread to feed the poor.
MBS, pp. 138-140
Catherine 12th century
She was named Rachel by her Jewish parents at her birth in Brabant, Belgium. Through a priest who was a friend of her father's, she as a child learned about the Catholic faith. One night she seemed to hear the Blessed Virgin calling to her, "Catherine". She fled from her home to the convent of Parc aux Dames where she was baptized taking the name Our Lady had given her, and became a nun known for her grace and serenity of soul.
Diego + 1601
Oblate of Valparaiso, simple, humble and prayerful.
MAY 5
St Martin (Sacerdos) 1139-1210
Martin was born of a noble Castilian family. Deeply moved at his father's death, he determined to give himself completely to Christ and finally obtained his family's approval to enter the abbey of Cantavos. In 1164 the community transferred to a new site called Huerta and there, although only twenty-six, Martin was elected abbot. His community loved him, as did most of Spain. In 1185 he was elected bishop of Siquenza, but nine years later, he persuaded the Pope to accept his resignation and returned to Huerta, to the prayer and hiddenness he loved so much.
MBS, pp. 140-142
"What you begin, begin perfectly."
MAY 6
Pontius + 1181
Abbot of Grandselve and Bishop of Clermont. His special joy -- the eighth degree of humility. As bishop he helped settle disputes between the Church and secular powers, and, with Abbot Hugh of Bonnevaux, finalized the negotiations between Pope Alexander III and Frederick Barbarossa.
Lekai, p. 64; MBS, p. 142
Vital Lehodey 1857-1948
Born in Hambye, France. After his ordination to the priesthood in 1880, he spent nine years in the diocesan ministry before entering Bricquebec where he was elected abbot the day after his solemn profession in 1895. He remained in this office until 1929 when, because of ill health, he resigned.
His three great works, The Ways of Mental Prayer (1908), A Spiritual Directory for Religious (1910) and Holy Abandonment (1919), reveal his growing departure from the rigor and pessimism of his time and a return to the Church's mystical tradition, the primacy of love and contemplation in the spiritual life. He died at Bricquebec on the feast of the Ascension.
Lekai, p. 211; NCE, vol. 8, pp. 619-620
"Let us open our hearts to love, to gratitude, to confidence and to holy abandonment." Letters
"Since Our Lord is everything for us: the beginning, the way and the end, it is fitting that we be completely occupied with him in prayer." The Ways of Mental Prayer
"The person who works with God progresses every moment; the one who separates himself from him falls, or wears himself out in useless agitation." Holy Abandonment
MAY 7
Adam + 1243
Abbot of La Trappe.
Mechtilde of Bierbeke + 1272
Abbess of Florival, Belgium.
Leopold + 1786
Abbot and restorer of Engelszell in Austria. For forty years he was a kind and gentle father to a growing community of fervent monks, inspiring their return to regular observance.
MAY 8
Isidore Simon + 1688
Abraham Beugnier + 1698
Two monks of La Trappe, both desiring to be humble with the humble Christ, saw in the Rule of St Benedict and the life at La Trappe the way to achieve their goal.
Nunraw
Brother Ninian Charles McCafferty 8th May 1991 - 75
born 11 October 1915 |
entered 1 November 1952 |
professed 8 May 1958 |
died 8th May 1991 |
MAY 9
Pacifica + 1868
When her community of Vaise was transferred to Maubec, she was given the task of restoring this monastery. Her first concern was for her sisters, and she loved and served them with intense joy.
MAY 10
Ephrem Godard + 1695
He had been a parish priest before becoming a monk at La Trappe. He suffered from epilepsy and severe nervous tension, but bore these humiliations with serenity of soul.
Mary Benedetta Frey + 1913
A nun of the convent of La Duchessa in the city of Viterbo, Italy. Three years after her profession she suffered typhoid fever and other complications which kept her bedridden for fifty-two years. Amid her sufferings she was gentle, courteous and affable to all.
MAY 11
Jerome Minart + 1837
Monk of Boneffe, Belgium. Forced to leave his monastery by French revolutionists, he became a pastor at Namur. He helped St Julie Billiart in her founding the Sisters of Notre Dame and also helped his own Cistercian sisters to found their abbey at Colen, where he was buried.
MAY 12
A commemoration is made of the family of St Peter, archbishop of Tarentaise (September 11). St Peter's mother and sister entered the Cistercian Abbey of Betton and his father and two brothers, Lambert and Andrew, followed him to Bonnevaux.
Simeon Cardon + 1799
Prior of Casamari, and five of his monks were killed by drunken soldiers as they were reverently gathering up the Sacred Species which had been thrown on the ground by sacrilegious hands.
MAY 14
Gilbert Brown + 1612
Last abbot of Sweet Heart, Scotland. As the Catholics of the surrounding area faithfully clung to their faith, he was able for thirty years to hold his position against persecutors and oppressors. In 1590, he was expelled from his monastery. He remained in the vicinity until 1605 when he was arrested, imprisoned and then exiled. He went to France and became rector of the Scottish college in Paris.
Anna von Wellenberg + 1623
Abbess of Tanikon in Switzerland, she died at the age of thirty-six while her community sang the Te Deum at her request. Being an accomplished organist, she revitalized the liturgy. Through her efforts, the abbey buildings were restored and the community increased. She was filled with charity for the poor and with zeal to maintain the Catholic faith in the countryside where the abbey was located. Her humble kindness to all -- her spiritual daughters as well as the neighbors of the abbey -- won for her the love and veneration accorded the saints.
Les moniales pp. 101-102
Charles le Bras 1829-1873
Monk of Timadeuc, greatly devoted to Mary.
MAY 15
Bl Helinand + 1235
A troubadour at the court of Philip II, he left the world at the age of thirty-five in 1194 to enter the abbey of Froidmont where he later became prior. He wrote numerous homilies, letters, treatises on self-knowledge, a favorite theme of Cistercians, and good government, as well as a world chronicle. Vers De La Mort, perhaps his most famous work, was written to persuade his former companions to look beyond this world and its allurements. He, however, was most "at home" commenting on the Rule to his community.
Lekai, p. 233; MBS, p. 44; NCE, Vol 6, pp 1002-1003
Elizabeth Baeten + 1467
When prioress of Valduc, in Belgium, she learned of the restoration of regular observances in other convents, and to study it more closely, went to Argenton. In 1460 the abbot of Villers appointed her abbess of Valduc. She reformed her convent with the help of nuns from Argenton, and then resigned her office in favor of one of these. She died four years later.
Margaret van der Elst + 1618
Lay-sister of Roosendael, Belgium.
MAY 16
Jeanne de Courcelles de Pourlans + 1651
Her father, the baron of Pourlans, sent her to Tart to be educated. At sixteen, she entered the community and, through the efforts of her father, was made abbess. However, desiring to reform Tart, she asked to make a regular Cistercian novitiate, received the novice's veil from Nicholas Boucherat and set about the reform gradually and with wisdom. It was officially approved by the General Chapter of 1623. On September 27, 1626, a brief of Urban VIII placed Tart under the jurisdiction of the bishop. Mother Jeanne reformed other convents in her gentle, humble way.
Les moniales, pp. 103-104
MAY 17
Tuccius + 1459
Lay-brother of the monastery of San Salvatore in Tuscany. Before entrance, he had been a simple herdsman and found the occupation conducive to prayer. The saintly abbot of San Salvatore received him and in the years that followed guided him in prayer, humility and loving acceptance of God's will.
MAY 18
Commemoration of the Irish Cistercian monks who remained steadfast in their faith at the time of the persecution during the 16th and 17th centuries. Patrick O'Connor and Malachy O'Kelly, monks of Boyle, with others, were hanged, drawn and quartered.
MAY 19
William + 1246
Abbot of Citeaux. A man of peace, he helped to reconcile the kings of France and England. He retired to Clairvaux and died there.
Stephen of St Joseph + 1645
Lay-brother of the Congregation of Feuillants. He had been a shepherd, devout and modest; in the cloister he was prompt in obedience and aflame with charity.
MAY 20
Guido + 1274
Abbot of Citeaux, he later was made a cardinal by Pope Urban IV who admired him for his virtue and learning. In his role as apostolic legate, Guido summoned a Council at Vienna to reform the Church. He died at Lyons a victim of the plague.
Anne + 1526
As abbess of Wauthier-Braine in Belgium, she inaugurated a return to stricter observance in her monastery. Zeal for reform coupled with humble charity made her a perfect instrument in God's hands.
"Where there is peace, there is God."
MAY 21
Alexius + 1701
A Scotsman, born into a prominent Protestant family. The monks of La Trappe played a great part in his conversion. Subsequently, he entered La Trappe, and gave himself to God with the same enthusiasm and ardor with which he had formerly sought the things of the world.
Jacques de la Roche 17th century
Having been a Benedictine monk, he joined the Congregation of Feuillants. He had great zeal both for preaching and for prayer.
Christian de Chergé, Luc Dochier, Christophe Lebvreton, Michel Fleury, Bruno Lemarchand, Célestin Ringeard and Maul Favre-Miville + 1996
Monks of Our Lady of Atlas, Tiburine, Algeria. Having chosen to remain as Christian contemplative witnesses in a Moslem country in spite of increasingly dangerous circumstances, they were kidnapped by terrorists on the night of March 26-27, 1996, held as hostages for 2 months, and then slain.
MAY 22
Petronilla of the Cross + 1608
A nun of St Anne's Convent, Avila.
Bernard Mullet + 1713
Influenced by his devout parents, he became a secular priest and, when his mother died, he entered La Trappe at the age of forty-nine. His humility and charity endeared him to his confreres.
MAY 23
Remigius + 1348
Abbot of San Salvatore di Settimo in Tuscany, outstanding for his learning and piety.
John Marie Tassin de Villemain + 1795
A Sulpician priest, he was exiled from France in 1793 and took refuge at La Val Sainte. After his profession he was made prior, and in this office he was faithful, humble, simple and patient. He had a longing for death, and after two years his desire was granted.
MAY 24
Bernard Rigaud + 1899
Originally a monk of Sept-Fons, he was sent by Dom Sebastian Wyart to take part in the restoration of Citeaux when it had been purchased by the Cistercians of the Strict Observance in 1898. His hidden virtue and total dedication to God bore fruit in the offering of his life for the accomplishment of this restoration. God accepted his offer and within a year took him to himself.
MAY 25
Gilbert of Hoyland + 1172
He was perhaps sent by St Aelred to ensure the successful changeover to the Cistercian observances at Swineshead. Very likely he was exiled about 1170 in the controversy over St Thomas Becket, accounting for his death at the Cistercian Abbey of L'Arrivour near Troyes in France. He is remembered for his forty-eight sermons on the Song of Songs, a continuation of St Bernard's commentary. They reveal to us a man of literary culture who made this serve the Biblical mysticism of his day.
CF 14; CS 68; NCE, vol. 6, p. 477
"...faith enfolds, reason upholds, understanding beholds."
Sermon 4
"For to love is already to possess; to love is also to be assimilated and united. But why not, since God is charity." Sermon 6
Allard
Monk of Loccum in Saxony, he was tried by a grievous disease.
Br. Columba
Nunraw
Brother Columba Joseph Tierney 25 May 1985
25/5.1985 - 62
Nunraw
Born 3 June 1923 |
| Entered 2 February 1947 |
| Professed 7 August 1953 |
| Died 23rd May 1985 |
MAY 26
Bl Ascelyn c. 1123-1195
A relative of St Bernard, Ascelyn was born around 1123 not far from Clairvaux. On the death of her father, when she was still a baby, her mother took her to the convent of Boulancourt where they both were to live for many years.
Eventually, Ascelyn entered the community, became its prioress and was instrumental in the establishment of Cistercian life at Boulancourt which had been following the Rule of St Augustine. Some in the community opposed the change and, on St Bernard's advice, Ascelyn went to the abbey of Poulangny for four years. Her nearness to God gave her such wisdom, discernment and power over his Heart, that she was often consulted by Churchmen of her day.
She resumed her role as superior at Boulancourt and enjoyed the love and admiration of her spiritual daughters. She died in their midst on the Friday of the octave of Pentecost.
MBS, pp. 156-159
"I know nothing good of myself except that I always have God present in my mind."
Henry 12th century
He joined St Bernard who was preaching the Crusade in Germany, first as his interpreter and later his monk. He lived to a great age, broken in body, but with a heart overflowing and enlarged.
MAY 27
Geoffrey of Aignay + 12th century
One of the first to enter the abbey of Clairvaux under St Bernard, he was a true monk, humble and obedient. St Bernard, recognizing his skill as a builder, sent him to construct many of the abbeys of Clairvaux's foundations. While working on a monastery in Flanders, he felt death approaching and returned to Clairvaux where he died in St Bernard's arms.
Anthony Dechange
Lay-brother of Val-Sainte-Marie. He devoted himself to prayer, to silence and to obedience. He was sent to render assistance at Port du Salut, and there he died.
MAY 28
The twenty monks of La Trappe who accompanied Dom Augustin de Lestrange to La Val Sainte are remembered today. Ardently desiring to offer atonement for the crimes of the Revolutionary Terror, they gave themselves to a life of great austerity.
Lekai, p. 181
MAY 29
Waleran + 1142
Waleran entered Clairvaux after meeting St Bernard in 1126. Not long after his profession, he was sent by Bernard with twelve monks to found Ourscamp.
Heylike 12th century
A recluse of our Order who lived in Cologne.
MAY 30
Giacomo + 1231
A monk of San Galgano in Tuscany; a man of piety and simplicity.
M Joseph Staignier + 1730
Abbess of Soleilmont, Belgium. She devoted herself to the service of her sisters with remarkable gentleness and kindness.
Anselm Hirsch 1685-1777
A monk of Furstenfeld in Bavaria, he lived the
monastic life for seventy years.
MAY 31
Herman + 1225
A canon of Bonn, Germany, he became a monk, then prior and later abbot of the abbey of Himmerod. After a few years, he resigned this office and for twelve years gave himself to prayer and the life of a simple monk. He was then sent to found Marienstatt where he died.
Welcome to my series featuring excerpts from the book that started it all - Story of a Soul. I'm calling the series Spiritual Roses from Story of a Soul and I hope that you will visit here every day for an inspirational message from our dear little saint. 
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