Scholars select neglected saints

But who are the neglected saints of the past 20 centuries who deserve more attention as the Church marks the Jubilee Year of 2000?

According to a panel of scholars, there is no shortage of forgotten holy men and women whom Catholics should pay more attention to. There are even some famous saints who merit a different emphasis, they said.

The panelists -- theologians and Church historians -- were asked to select a saint they felt had been neglected and to share why he or she deserved more attention. Their answers are part of The Evangelist's year-long series of monthly articles leading up to the millennium.

DAMASUS I

"He was pope at a major turning point in the Church: 366-384. The Church was enjoying its newly gained freedom and acceptance in the Roman Empire," Father Skok explained. "Although Damasus was elected pope by a large majority, over-zealous adherents of his predecessor rejected his election and chose their own candidate, the deacon Ursinus, had him ordained a bishop, and resorted to violence and bloodshed to seat him as pope. A sign of things to come, civil authority stepped in to preserve the papacy of Damasus and to exile his rival.

"That relationship between civil authority and religious authority became crystallized when the Emperor Theodosius decreed in 380 that the official religion of the Roman Empire was that doctrine which the Apostle Peter preached to the Romans and of which Damasus was the head. Now the pope, bishops, and priests had official status in the Empire, and they began to develop the titles and vesture which went with that status.

"At the urging and encouragement of Pope Damasus, St. Jerome undertook the gargantuan task of translating the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate). That Bible was the standard Latin text until the revision authorized by Pope Pius XII."

Father Skok noted that Pope Damasus also had to deal with "major Christological and Trinitarian heresies (Arians, Macedonians, Sabbatians, Novatians, and Apollinarians), which denied the equal place of the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Trinity and which denied either divinity or humanity to Jesus Christ. We still use the creed of the First Council of Constantinople at Mass."

Summing up his selection, Father Skok said: "Pope St. Damasus presided over the Church at a pivotal time which was to shape much of its future history."

THERESE OF LISIEUX

"It may seem strange to speak of the Little Flower as underrated," he admitted, "but she has been buried under such a heavy veneer of sentimental piety that the true greatness of this remarkable women -- this saint for the modern world who can do so much for the unity of the churches -- remains largely hidden.

"In a century when Marian apparitions multiplied and the development of private devotions became a virtual cottage industry, Therese's piety was centered on Jesus alone because He was the one who brought her to her Father. Her 'Story of a Soul' breathes a theology of the cross reminiscent of Paul and Luther."

Prof. Dwyer calls Therese "a saint for Christian unity. Today, when some leading Protestant theologians have begun to re-examine the notion of sainthood and to mourn its absence in their churches, she stands ready as a model for Catholics and Protestants alike. She exemplifies a piety profoundly nourished by Scripture, an understanding of faith as absolute trust in God, and a concept of grace that made her want to appear before God with no merits of her own, relying only on His unlimited mercy."

PATRICK

"The historical Patrick was born a Christian in the Roman province of Britain, was kidnapped by Irish pirates when he was 16 and spent six years as a slave in Ireland, when, urged on by voices he heard, he escaped. Patrick was sent as a bishop to Ireland and worked among the pagans. He may not have driven out snakes or taught with a shamrock, nor was he even the first bishop in Ireland; but he was one of the greatest missionaries in Christian history, converting the northern half of an almost completely pagan country -- a remarkable achievement."

MOTHER CABRINI

"It had been her life-long dream to go to China as a missionary. However, Pope Leo XIII insisted that she go to the United States to work among the Italian immigrants. She left Italy for New York in 1889, accompanied by six sisters. Working among the Italian immigrants, she established orphanages, schools and Columbus Hospital, and held adult classes in Christian doctrine."

Prof. Cesareo noted that "despite her frailty, Mother Cabrini, who became a naturalized American citizen, crossed the sea 30 times and within 35 years established 67 houses with more than 1,500 daughters, founding institutions similar to what she had established in New York throughout the United States, South America and Europe."

ISIDORE

"Because of his basically ecological sensitivity, Isidore was rewarded with some angelic help when he most needed it (so the story goes). In an age of artificial growth hormones in milk, agribusiness and factory farms, that sort of earth-centered spirituality could provide some saving grace."

RITA OF CASCIA

"But she is more remarkable for her insights into the intergenerational cycle of violence," Prof Tilley explained. "She tried to raise her sons so that they would not become enmeshed in their father's lifestyle. She is a model for women who are trying to stop violence and abuse in their own households and their neighborhoods."

PETER CLAVER

"He and his associates of interpreters and assistance workers would board the slave ships on their arrival. He would feed and care for the sick and dying on deck, and would then enter the holds where he faced indescribable squalor as he continued his work of physical and spiritual assistance. This work with the slaves continued until they were taken off to the interior of the continent."

Father Fiore noted that St. Peter Claver "baptized some 300,000 persons during his 40-year ministry. While he could do nothing to stop the slave trade itself, he gave witness to the humanity of the enslaved persons, a fact denied both by slavers and even theologians of the day. Furthermore, he serves as a model even today of that love which overcomes racial hatred to find respect and commonality. These are virtues sorely needed in today's world where racism and ethnic hatreds are tearing at the fabric of human society."

PACHOMIUS

"Born in Egypt near the end of the third century, Pachomius became a convert to Christianity because of the kindness shown him by Christians in Thebes while he was a conscript in the imperial army. At that time, if a person became a monk, it meant being a hermit. Pachomius, convinced that God desired him to found communities (Greek: 'coenobia') of monks and nuns, did so in a remarkable way, so that by the time he died in 348 there were nine monasteries of monks and two of nuns in upper Egypt, numbering thousands of members."

The saint's legacy, Father Wiseman said, are "the hundreds of thousands of 'cenobitic' monastics since his day who rightly look to him as their spiritual father. Pachomius brought this about not primarily because of some special talent for organization but because he was a humble and patient man, so adept at explaining the Scriptures that people flocked to him simply to imbibe his wisdom and learn by his example of loving concern for everyone, above all for those who were sick in body or spirit."

CELESTINE V

Pope Celestine V "was a holy hermit who modelled himself on John the Baptist," Father Dallen said. "He was unanimously elected pope in 1294 when he was 79. 'It is wonderful how many serious mistakes the simple old man crowded into five short months,' a historian says. Curia, kings and Church suffered. Privileges and offices were distributed like candy -- often the same positions to three or four rivals!

"He and the cardinals simultaneously decided it was time for him to return to a life of prayer. He solemnly promulgated a decree that the pope could resign and then proceeded to do so. He died at 81 in 1296 and was canonized 17 years later. Perhaps those pursuing careers in the hierarchy should keep Celestine in mind and draw the proper moral."

VINCENT DE PAUL

"He clearly had a major impact on his time and on later centuries as well. As one example, the influential Enlightenment thinker, Voltaire, who was often quite critical of the Church, had great respect and admiration for the man whom he referred to as 'Monsieur Vincent.' Vincent showed to the world something of the human face of God."

(10-28-99) [[In-content Ad]]