From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
October 22nd - St. Donatus (Donagh) of Fiesole, Bishop
Born in Ireland; died 874-876. Legend has it that Donatus was an
Irishman who decided to go on a pilgrimage to Rome with his friend
Andrew. On his return home about 829, he went to Florence, Italy, and
visited nearby Fiesole. Donatus, who was small and unaggressive by
nature, slipped into the cathedral just when the people had come
together to pray for enlightenment before electing a new bishop.
The moment Donatus entered the cathedral of Fiesole, the bells began
ringing. All the cathedral lamps and candles lit of their own accord,
without any human help. The Christians present could only conclude
that this was a divine sign, indicating that the stranger who had just
come in was destined to be their next bishop. Unanimously the puzzled
Irishman was elected, and Andrew became his deacon.
Fortunately, Donatus was a man of exemplary piety and cultivation. In
addition to many other works, Donatus authored two separate lives of
Saint Brigid of Kildare, one in prose and the other in verse. He also
wrote his own epitaph, which still survives and describes him as a
splendid teacher, specializing in grammar and fine writing. The
epitaph adds that the bishop loyally advised and served the Frankish
King Lothaire and the Emperor Louis. Almost certainly he taught them
and members of their household for he was ever willing to instruct the
young.
For 47 years Donatus shepherded the church of Fiesole. At times he
served as a military leader, raising armies and conducting expeditions
against the Saracens. Before he died he obtained from the king a
charter of independence for the bishops of Fiesole with the power to
impose taxes and administer their own laws.
He was also a generous supporter of monastic foundations. In 852, he
founded a church and a hospice of his beloved patron, Saint Brigid at
Piacenza and placed it under the protection of Saint Columban's
monastery at Bobbio. This church was declared a national monument in
1911.
Long after his death, a legend developed that Donatus had an Irish
traveling companion who became his archdeacon, St. Andrew of Fiesole,
but there is no satisfactory evidence for Andrew's existence
(Attwater, Bentley, Delaney, Montague).
In art he is a bishop with an Irish wolfhound at his feet. Sometimes
he is shown pointing out a church to his deacon, St. Andrew of Ireland
(August 22) (Roeder).
Saint Quote:
Chastity is the lily among virtues and makes men almost equal to angels.
--St. Francis de Sales
Bible Quote:
And rising in the morning, they offered holocausts, and peace victims,
and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go, get thee down: thy people,
which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned. And
when he came nigh to the camp, he saw the calf, and the dances: and
being very angry, he threw the tables out of his hand, and broke them
at the foot of the mount=C2 (Exodus 32:6-7,19) DR
<><><><>
Truly, O blessed Mother, a sword has pierced your heart. For only by
passing through your heart could the sword enter the flesh of your
Son. Indeed, after your Jesus -- who belongs to everyone, but is
especially yours -- gave up his life, the cruel spear, which was not
withheld from his lifeless body, tore open his side. Clearly it did
not touch his soul and could not harm him, but it did pierce your
heart. For surely his soul was no longer there, but yours could not be
torn away. Thus the violence of sorrow has cut through your heart, and
we rightly call you more than martyr, since the effect of compassion
in you has gone beyond the endurance of physical suffering.
Or were those words, Woman, behold your Son, not more than a word to
you, truly piercing your heart, cutting through to the division
between soul and spirit? What an exchange! John is given to you in
place of Jesus, the servant in place of the Lord, the disciple in
place of the master; the son of Zebedee replaces the Son of God, a
mere man replaces God himself. How could these words not pierce your
most loving heart, when the mere remembrance of them breaks ours,
hearts of iron and stone though they are!
Do not be surprised, brothers, that Mary is said to be a martyr in
spirit. Let him be surprised who does not remember the words of Paul,
that one of the greatest crimes of the Gentiles was that they were
without love. That was far from the heart of Mary; let it be far from
her servants.
-- Saint Bernard of Clairvaux from a sermon
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