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By the time this article is published, there will be less than two weeks until school is out for everyone (unless you’re a senior, in which case congratulations for your graduation). Two weeks until we pass another year in our high school career, making us veterans to our former grades. St. Julius the Veteran can relate. He knows work and also stayed loyal to his values. For the final Saint of the Month article this year, I decided to cover a saint who was pretty much already done with his service, but kept going anyway. This is St. Julius the Veteran. While much of St. Julius is shrouded in mystery and awkward internet articles, it makes telling his tale that much easier because they all agree on the most important points. Julius was born in 255 in an unknown location, but we know he was able to get to Rome because he spent a large chunk of his life (27 years) as a conscript for the Roman Army. After his service, he decided to keep going and racked up seven military campaigns as a conscript and a veteran. That came in handy when he was interrogated by the prefect Maximus. What I did not mention was that during all of his service, Julius was Christian. We do not know when he became Christian, but he was always loyal to God in his service. But this was a drawback in the Roman army, since you were supposed to be loyal to THEIR gods. So even with his spotless track record, Julius was arrested and interrogated for the diabolical crime of not sacrificing to the Roman gods. The interrogator was a prefect called Maximus, who was pretty impressed with Julius’s commitment. Maximus even called Julius a “wise and serious man.” Since he was so impressed, Maximus offered Julius a deal: host the next sacrifice, and get immunity from all future charges, a 10-year bonus plan, and of course, his freedom. The prefect even offered to take the hit for the sacrificial sin, which was a much better deal than the average torture-them-and-kill-them routine that was common back then. Of course, you don't just get recognized by the church for accepting subterfuge. Julius denied all offers. When Maximus asked why he feared a dead man (Jesus) over living emperors, Julius responded, “It was he who died for our sins to give us eternal life. This same man, Christ, is God and abides for ever and ever. Whoever believes in him will have eternal life; whoever denies him will have eternal punishment.” Of course, this kind of declaration can get you killed by Ancient Romans, and Julius found that out very quickly. Though at that point, he was so tired of this interrogation that he blatantly stated how living with the Romans would be death for him, and he chose literal death so he might ”live with the saints forever.” Needless to say, he was put on the chopping block, doomed to death by sword. In early 304, Julius was taken to Durostorum, a Roman camp in modern-day Silistra, Bulgaria. His final words before he lost his head were, “Lord Jesus Christ, I suffer this for your name. I beg you to receive my spirit together with your holy martyrs.” His request was accepted, and he became known in church history as a martyr. He now goes by St. Julius the Veteran, and his feast day is May 27. If there’s any takeaway from his story, it's that Julius was a committed guy. He was loyal to Jesus to the end and was ready to go from the moment his last test (the interrogation) was over. He got his big break, and it's time we enjoy ours. Good luck with your finals St. Anthony, and thank you for your service.
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Last edition, I told the inspiring story of Saint Martin X, the patron saint of aliens. The incredibly brave, incredibly charitable St. Martin X was also incredibly fake. To make up for this tall tale, I am writing a second article this month for Saint of the Month. This is a woman who made a decision several decades ago that is still a controversial issue today. And in defending life, she caused her own death. This is the story of a woman who is an epitome of the church's best examples of motherly love. This is St. Gianna Beretta Molla. Gianna Beretta Molla was born on October 4, 1922, in Magenta, the kingdom of Italy. She was the 10th of 13 children. The family moved when she was three, and she ended up living in the Lombardy region of Italy. Gianna grew up loving God and her family, and was a big fan of prayer. In 1942, at the age of 20, she went to Milan to study medicine. She also joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society. In both of her jobs, she specialized in helping mothers, babies, the elderly, and the poor. Gianna received her degrees in medicine and surgery in 1949 and opened a medical office in 1950. She offered her services to a group called the Catholic Action, who were dedicated to spreading the word of God. Gianna tried to go out into the world, but her health wouldn’t permit her to. She chose the next best thing: the vocation of marriage. In late 1954, she met Pietro Molla, whom she would marry less than a year later. She’d have three children in four years. Somehow, she managed to balance a work life with a mother's life, and cared for both her patients and her children. Gianna was a woman who could take anything the world threw at her. Then her fourth pregnancy came around, which came with a baby and a fatal tumor. Even when she knew it would cost her her life, Gianna sacrificed everything so her fourth child could be born. She had alternate options available that would have let her live, but they would have killed the child in the process. She didn’t have the luxury of modern medicine to help her make the choice. Gianna just kept pushing and did everything she could as a mother and a doctor during her last few months. She prayed to God to have mercy on the baby as the pain grew worse. She died a week after the baby was born, on April 28, 1962. For her services, she was beatified and canonized by Pope John Paul II within 10 years (1994-2004.) She is the patron saint of mothers, unborn babies, and physicians. She never misses Mother's Day. In Christian religion and theology classes everywhere, you’ve probably prayed or written an essay about some down-to-earth saint. However, this month I wanted to take a look at a Saint who’s out of this world. This is the story of St. Martin X, the Patron Saint of Aliens. Martin Cosmo was born on Earth, 1961. He studied astrology, theology, and mathematics, and trained to be an astronaut in the Iocus Space Center. He passed their tests with average scores, and there was nothing extraordinary about him beside the fact that he did everything correctly. Among other qualified astronauts, Martin volunteered to participate in the Mercury Mission, which aimed to create livable conditions for humans on the planet Mercury. On the way to Mercury, the space shuttle broke down, so Martin went outside to fix it. His tether to the ship was extremely lengthy, so he could easily maneuver around to fix the broken pieces. However, when the ship started up again, no one realized Martin was outside, so they took off without him. Martin's tether was still hooked to the shuttle, but the force of the rocket sent him wheeling in the direction of the sun. He was getting closer and closer to the gravitational pull of the sun and was starting to feel the burn. Miraculously, just before the suit could take any external damage, the line finally went taut, and Martin was pulled back by the rocket. By now, his fellow astronauts realized their mistake and turned off the jets so Martin's body could catch up. When it did float by, the astronauts dragged him in. Much to their surprise, Martin was still alive. What should have been a fatal accident only knocked him unconscious. A few hours later, Martin woke up in one of the medical beds. He asked his crewmates what happened, and they told him about the accident. When Martin told them about how close he got to the sun, one of his friends joked, “It must be a sign from God.” Martin was a religious man, so when he heard that, he began believing it to be true. There was no other way he could have survived. He laughed and thanked his friends for bringing him back and then forgave them for leaving him out there. Then he went back to his room to pray, which became a habit of his for the rest of his life. The Mercury Mission was a complete success. The astronauts' greenhouses held up, and the dusty ground was converted into gardens of vegetables and planting soil for trees, which produced plenty of oxygen. They even met alien tribes of nomads who managed to survive Mercury's environment, all of whom were excited to try a potato for the first time. Soon, more rockets followed the original, and regular contact with Earth from Mercury became possible in five years. Legend has it that Martin played a big hand in the development of the Mercury Mission. Martin and his original crew would go on to steal a rocket and travel to other planets to set up more greenhouses. He would be intergalactically recognized for his black, glittering robes and his sun emblem on his chest from where the sun burned him the worst. He would be the first person to make contact with aliens on every planet he went to. On Jupiter, Martin would help the Ice people set up windmills that would power their snow-cone machines. Around Saturn, he worked with the Slime people to organize a cleanup for Saturn's rings, which were dirty with pollution. They thanked him by giving him a Great Saturn Scepter and a ten-year citizenship plan. Martin even brought alien Dwarves from Pluto back with him to Earth and pleaded a case in court to earn them back their title as a planet. He died on Mars while he was leading a project to reirrigate the ancient rivers. His last words were, “April Fools'!” I hope you enjoyed the tale of my original character (OC), Saint Martin X. He may not have been real, but that never stopped him from traveling to other worlds and having adventures. Adventure is out there, and I hope you’ll go out there to find it. Just don’t forget to watch out for the alien spaceship in the sky. April Fools. Picture by Diego Campbell
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St. Paddy. Patron Saint of Ireland. Victim of Physical Piracy. These are all titles to the titular Saint, Maewyn Succat, better known as St. Patrick. As far as saints go, this guy had a better publicity team. He has his own national holiday, Hollywood movies, and is the patron saint of all of Ireland (you tend to remember people like that.). Seeing as we celebrate his death day every March 17th, I figured it's time to gather people around the Irish campfire and tell a few tales about the most famous Irish missionary in history. The patron saint of Ireland was born in Britannia, today's United Kingdom, in 387 AD. As far as history could tell, he never even intended to go to Ireland. But the pirates who “offered him a ride” (read: kidnapped him) were very “persuasive” (read: threatening.) Yes, St. Patrick was given a lift to the Emerald Isles at age 16 by Irish raiders, and worked as a slave for six more years of his life. He had a strong faith in God though, so when he had a dream of a ship that would take him back to Britain, he saw it as a sign and managed to escape. He made it back to Britain and suffered from starvation and a second forced slavery career before finally reuniting with his family. God isn't done with him yet though. Through dreams and letters, St. Patrick sensed the call of the Irish, asking him to walk amongst them again. When Patrick did return, he was in his element. St. Patrick walked amongst the Irish, baptizing and confirming them. Being a saint in the ancient ADs, he was always at risk of being martyred or imprisoned (wouldn’t you know it, but there is at least one confirmed case of St. Patrick in chains.) But he didn’t care. He kept living life as righteously, virtuously, and honestly as he could, and would go on to convert thousands of people. As the saying goes, "Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny" (C.S. Lewis). And nothing says hardship like getting stolen on a pirate ship. If you’ve ever stepped into a religion class or entered a Sunday mass, you have probably heard of the Holy Trinity. I'm no priest, much less a saint, but if you haven’t heard of it, I’ll try and explain it as simply as I can. The Trinity is the idea that the one true God is made up of three persons (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.) It’s a well known fact within Christian communities that we have come to accept and understand. But try explaining it to a couple of Irish folk with short religious attention spans. It isn’t the easiest task, but St. Patrick was good at getting their attention. He had gathered a small crowd and decided that the teaching of the day would be about the Trinity. Faced with the challenge of explaining the Trinity to an audience whose members have a hundred different other gods they could believe in, St. Patrick used something that would be familiar to the Irish and grew right under their noses. He plucked a shamrock out of the ground and masterfully explained the concept of the Holy Trinity using its three leaves. Just as three leaves make a clover, three persons make God. One day, St. Patrick was walking along the lush hills of Ireland when suddenly he had an idea: “I should get rid of all snakes. Permanently” (St. Patrick, probably). Maybe one too many people were complaining about having snake problems. Maybe he just had a strong case of Ophidophobia (the extreme fear of snakes.) Whatever the case, he wanted those oversized, scaly worms out of his life. And so, according to legend, Patrick thumped his staff on those lush, green hills, and the divine power of God banished the snakes off the Emerald Isles and into the sea. In an interesting twist though, historians and scientists claim that there were never snakes in Ireland for him to banish. We may never know the truth, but one thing is for sure: It makes a good St. Patrick's Day legend. Over the years, St. Patrick has received plenty of criticism. He is an Irish saint who wasn't born in Ireland. Experts say that snakes never lived in Ireland. Some people say St. Patrick didn't even wear green. But even if these stories are exaggerated, the message and meaning St. Patrick was trying to put out are real. He did struggle in life, but managed to find his calling doing work in a place he never expected. He was a good person who did all he could to help the people of Ireland, and it wasn’t in vain. 85% of Ireland today is Christian, a number that probably wouldn’t exist without St. Patrick. Being part-Irish, I probably owe my Catholic faith to St. Patrick. He has been remembered through holidays, movies, and official canonization. You don’t need a four leaf clover to tell that St. Patrick was pretty lucky. By: Diego Campbell Picture via history.com
February is a month famous for its celebration of love and for being the shortest month, even with an extra day on leap years (February 29). In honor of said celebration of love, this article will go over the St. Valentines who died for their efforts in spreading the love. Flashback to the third century, Ancient Rome, and we will meet Emperor Claudius II. This was a man of opinions, and one of them was that single men make for better soldiers than married men. Thinking along these lines, Emperor Claudius II decided that marriage was overrated and canceled it. He sent out a royal decree that marriage was illegal, and that single men should probably consider military service to fill the dark, empty void in their lives. During this time, there was a priest known as Valentine. He was a man of opinions too, and one of them was that you can’t stop the love. Thinking along these lines, he helped Christians to wed. When Claudius found out, he lost his head, causing Father Valentine to lose his. Valentine died on February 14th. Flash-forward a few years later, and we will meet Bishop Valentine of Terni, Italy. You’d think he would be the patron saint of love, but you’re only half right. His name could be translated into “fallen,” and epilepsy was known as the “falling illness.” Honey was considered “a love potion,” and to an extent bees became symbols of love. Beekeepers were seen as protectors of marriage, so you can see where this is going. Caring not for how obscure these references would be, the Church declared Valentine the patron saint of epilepsy and beekeepers (and love, of course). Being a man of the faith, Valentine was consistently locked up in prisons and jails. Claudius must have been in the same mindset he had for the original Valentine, because he ended up killing this Valentine on February 14th, too. Legend has it that Valentine had become friends with the daughter of one of his jailers. Before his execution, he sent her a note. It thanked her for being his friend and was signed “from your Valentine.” Even though we know their stories, history doesn’t remember which St. Valentine is the original namesake of Valentine’s Day. It could have been the one who dared to encourage love in a time of danger, or it could have been the one who dared to love in a time of despair. It isn’t clear which Valentine is to blame, but I don’t think it matters at this point. Valentine's Day is a day of loving and appreciating the people around us. It’s become a day when sending valentine candy grams is a way to show we care. Where we accept love, even when the world around us doesn’t. It doesn’t matter whom the day was named after because at this point, Valentine's Day wouldn’t be what it is today without the love and guidance of St. Valentine. Both of them. Picture via Catholicsaintmedals.com
This is a Catholic school magazine, so it’s only fair that we start talking a little about our Catholic school religion. This is the start of the series of articles that will talk about recognized Saints. Each article will go over the Saint whose feast day is the release date of the edition. This first article will go over St. Agnes of Rome, a young girl who denied marriage who proved love can be blind. St. Agnes was a young girl living in fourth century Rome, Italy. Her story begins when she was twelve or thirteen years old, the eligible age for marriage at the time. Unfortunately for all the mortal men in waiting, Agnes was already smitten with Jesus, the Son of God, so much so to the point that she had no room for any other men in her life. This didn’t sit too well with the other twelve- to thirteen-year olds in her life, so they exposed her Christianity and stuck her in a brothel. Their plans were foiled, though, because since she was so pure, the other youths refused to approach her. One guy did try, but he was blinded as he made his move. Out of the holiness in her heart, though, Agnes healed said youth with the all-powerful method of prayer. Despite her miraculous love-resisting, she was killed when one Roman Emperor Diocletian decided Christians should lose their life privileges. Ever the Jesus-lover, Agnes refused to give up her faith and died as a martyr in 304 AD. In some portraits, she is shown with a lamb in her arms. It’s a sign of her purity and indicates how she is a Bride of Christ. She has a church in Rome, and on her feast day, two lambs are brought into the church and blessed. Then, the blessed wool is sheared and shipped off to make papal clothes. Even if some people don’t agree with the Jesus part of that story, it’s clear that St. Agnes was ahead of her time when she made her love life clear. She was confident about whom she loved and the way she loved, something that can be hard for people even today. Her devotion is an inspiration to fellow Christians, and her love demonstrates a confidence that is gradually becoming more accepted. |
AuthorEvery two weeks, author Diego Campbell will be writing about a patron saint of the month of publication! Archives
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