Universalis: Today

Monday 12 May 2008
Monday of week 6 of the year
or Saints Nereus and Achilleus, Martyrs
or Saint Pancras, Martyr

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Tomorrow: Tuesday of week 6 of the year
or Our Lady of Fátima
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Let us rejoice in the Lord and extol him with songs.

Saints Nereus and Achilleus, Martyrs: Many saints and martyrs died forgotten, and intercede for us anonymously in Heaven: we shall not know them until the day of judgement. Others are one degree less anonymous: we know their names, and we know that people whose judgement we trust regarded them as saints, but that is all.
Such are Saints Nereus and Achilleus. Pope St Damasus I dedicated his life to establishing and strengthening the Church after the great persecutions, and took much care over the restoration of the Roman catacombs and the proper burial of the martyrs there. He composed a funerary inscription for Nereus and Achilleus, which is too literary to be of much use as an historical document, but does say that they were Roman soldiers who became Christians, refused to serve any longer, and were therefore executed. They were buried in Rome, in the catacomb of St Domitilla. The fact that enough was known about them to identify them suggests that there must still have been a living memory of their martyrdom, which would put their deaths early in the fourth century.
Some legendary “Acts” of the martyrs exist, which make them servants of Flavia Domitilla, a noble Christian woman of the late first century. On the whole, it is likely that the composer of these Acts sought to fill in the gaps in history with what seemed most plausible and most edifying. We, who have a more bureaucratic idea of history, find it difficult to accept such motives, and so we are thrown back on saying that Nereus and Achilleus did exist, did die for their faith, are truly to be venerated as saints – and that this is all that we really need to know. As we pray to be given the strength of purpose that they had, we should be reminded that our own acts of witness are still valuable even if they are not spectacular, even if they do not result in every detail of our biographies being passed down through the ages.
See the articles in the Catholic Encyclopaedia and Wikipedia.

Saint Pancras, Martyr: This Roman martyr is buried on the Aurelian Way just outside Rome. Some legends say that he was born in the East, orphaned, brought to Rome by an uncle, and martyred at the age of fourteen, but there is no particular reason to believe them.
The cult of St Pancras spread widely in the sixth century: in England, the first church that St Augustine built in Canterbury was dedicated to him.
In England today, St Pancras is not much revered, and people no longer name their children after him (as they still do, for instance, in Poland and Italy). This is not due to any major theological shift: it is simply that St Pancras gave his name to a parish in central London, and the parish gave its name to a major railway terminus next to King’s Cross. And who would want to be named after a railway station?
We do not suggest that English parents should inflict on their children the continuing humiliation of a name whose associations have become so bathetic; but all of us, everywhere, can honour the memory of St Pancras (about whom so little is known) by not letting the fear of ridicule dissuade us from doing what is right.
See the articles in Wikipedia and the Catholic Encyclopaedia.

Mid-morning reading (Terce)	Jeremiah 31:33 ©
This is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel when those days arrive – it is the Lord who speaks. Deep within them I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I will be their God and they shall be my people.

Noon reading (Sext)	Jeremiah 32:40 ©
I will make an everlasting covenant with them. I will not cease in my efforts for their good, and I will put respect for me into their hearts, so that they turn from me no more.

Afternoon reading (None)	Ezekiel 34:31 ©
You, my sheep, are the flock I shall pasture, and I am your God – it is the Lord who speaks.

May 2008
Sun 11	Pentecost
Mon 12	Monday of week 6 of the year or Saints Nereus and Achilleus, Martyrs or Saint Pancras, Martyr
Tue 13	Tuesday of week 6 of the year or Our Lady of Fátima
Wed 14	Saint Matthias, Apostle Feast
Thu 15
Fri 16
Sat 17
Sun 18	The Most Holy Trinity Solemnity

Calendar used: Europe - England - Westminster

Scripture readings taken from the Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. For on-line information about other Random House, Inc. books and authors, see the Internet web site at http://www.randomhouse.com.

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