November 2022 – Superhero Saints

Patron Saint Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit – Blessed Helena Stollenwerk

Helena Stollenwerk was born on November 28, 1852, to Hans Peter Stollenwerk and his third wife Anna Bongard She had one sister, Caroline. Her Father died with she was just seven years old. Her mother remarried the following year to a man with three daughters from a previous marriage. The youngest daughter became a very close friend to Helena.

As a child, she dreamed of going on mission trips to China. She tried to find a convent that sent missionaries around the world, but she was not able to find one.

In 1882 she met Arnold Janssen, who was in the Netherlands at the time. He encouraged her idea of beginning a new religious group for women. For a time she served at Janssen’s St. Michael the Archangel Mission House. In 1884, she was joined by Hendrina Stenmanns.

On December 8, 1889, Stollenwerk became of postulant of a women’s congregation began by Janssen, the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit. She made her vows on March 12, 1894. She became abbess of the congregation on August 12, 1898.

Stollenwerk helped prepare sisters that went out on missions around the world. She sent the first missionaries to Argentina in 1895. She other missionaries to Togo in 1897. Janssen’s asked her to resign from being Superior General. She had been in that position for 8 years.
In the fall of 1899, she was diagnosed with meningitis. She died in 1900. Her final words were “Jesus: I die for You.”

Her cause for sainthood became in 1950 in Roermond, the collection of documents and interviews about her life. The miracle required for her beatification occurred in 1962. Her writings received approval in 1983 from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. On April 2, 1982, Stollenwerk was titled a Servant of God. Pope John Paul I confirmed her life of heroic virtue and name Stollenwerk as being Venerable on 14 May 14, 1991. The miracle from 1962 was investigated and was approved as a medical miracle on November 26, 1993. Pope John Paul II approved the miracle as well and on May 7, 1995, beatified Stollenwerk. The current postulator for this cause is Sister Ortrud Stegmaier.

Patron saint of Mariners and stone cutters- Pope Saint Clement I

The Book of Popes makes a list that makes Linus the second in line of the Bishop of Rome, or Pope. Peter was the first. It also says that Peter ordained two bishops, Linus and Cletus, for priestly service, while he spent time praying and preaching. It was Clement that he entrusted the Church as a whole, Saint Jerome listed Clement as “the fourth bishop of Rome after Peter, if indeed the second was Linus and the third Cletus. A tradition that began in the 3rd and 4th century, has identified him as the Clement that Paul mentioned in Philippians, a fellow laborer in Christ.

A large congregation existed in Rome in 58 when Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans. Paul arrived in Rome c. 60 (Acts) Paul and Peter were martyred there. Nero persecuted Roman Christians after Rome burned in 64. The congregation suffered further persecution under Domitian (81–96).

Clement was the first of early Rome’s most notable bishops The Book of Popes indicated Clement had known Peter. Clement is known for his letter to the church in Corinth, saying there is an apostolic authority of bishops as rulers of the church. Clement writes to the troubled congregation in Corinth, where certain bishops have been replaced. Clement calls for repentance and reinstatement of those who have been replaced, in line with order and obedience to church authority, since the apostles established the ministry of “bishops and deacons.”He mentions “offering the gifts” as one of the functions of the clergy. The epistle offers valuable insight into Church ministry at that time and into the history of the Roman Church. It was considered important and was read in church at Corinth along with the Scriptures.

Do we then think it to be a great and marvelous thing, if the Creator of the universe shall bring about the resurrection of them that have served Him with holiness in the assurance of a good faith, seeing that He showeth to us even by a bird the magnificence of His promise? — Clement of Rome 1885b, 1 Clem 26:1

According to a 4th-century legend, Clement was banished from Rome to the Chersonesus during the reign of Emperor Trajan and was set to work in a stone quarry. Finding on his arrival that the prisoners were suffering from a lack of water, he knelt down in prayer. Looking up, he saw a lamb on a hill, went to where the lamb had stood, and struck the ground with his pickaxe, releasing a gushing stream of clear water. This miracle resulted in the conversion of large numbers of the local pagans and their fellow prisoners to Christianity. As punishment, Clement was martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown from a boat into the Black Sea. The legend recounts that every year a miraculous ebbing of the sea revealed a divinely built shrine containing his bones. The oldest sources on Clement’s life, Eusebius and Jerome, say nothing of his martyrdom.

St. Illtud

St. Illtud was popular but there are very few sources about his actual life. It is believed to have been born around 540. According to some accounts, he was the disciple of Bishop Germanus of Auxerre in France. Illtud was a great scholar who had studied the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. He had also studied philosophy, geometry, rhetoric, grammar, and arithmetic. He was an educated Briton living shortly after Rome’s departure.

It was also believed he was the son of a Breton prince and a cousin of King Arthur. His parents wanted him to be a priest or monk. They had him educated in literature for this reason. He soon gave up his religious upbringing, deciding instead to pursue a military career. He married a wife named Trynihid and became a soldier in Wales. First, he served King Arthur, and then King Poulentus. This is why he is called St. Illtud the Knight. One afternoon, he was with a hunting party who sent a message to the abbot. The group demanded the abbot feed them. The abbot found them to be very rude and improper but graciously offered them a meal anyway. Before they could enjoy the meal, the ground opened up and swallowed the whole party as just punishment for their impiety. Only Illtud was spared. He went to St. Cadog, begging forgiveness for his sins. The abbot told him to quit being selfish. He should go back to his religious upbringing. Illtud gave up his wife, and became a hermit.

Illtud helped pioneer the monastic life of Wales. He founded a monastery at Llantwit Major. This became the first major Welsh monastic school. Some students were believed to be Saint Patrick, Paul Aurelian, Taliesin, Gildas, and Samson of Dol. Saint David is also believed to have spent some time there.