28 febbraio feste santi e memorie

28 FEBBRAIO SANTI FESTE E MEMORIE

Saints Apôtres NYMPHAS et EUBULE, disciples de saint Paul (Ier siècle).

Saints MACAIRE, RUFIN, JUSTE et THEOPHILE, potiers de profession, martyrs sous Dèce, peut-être à Rome (vers 250). 

 

http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/95635

Saint NESTOR, évêque de Magydos en Pamphylie, martyr sous Dèce (vers 251).Nestore era vescovo di Magydos in Panfilia, regione dell'Asia Minore. Fu ucciso in spregio alla fede nel 251 a Perge mediante crocifissione. Una "Passione" greca del martire narra che, durante la persecuzione ordinata dall'imperatore Decio, il governatore della Panfilia Poplio fece ricercare i cristiani della zona per farli sacrificare agli dèi. Nestore si prodigò per mettere in salvo la comunità cristiana di Magydois. Ma non si preoccupò della sua sorte. Dopo il rifiuto di abiurare e sacrificare agli dèi pagani, fu preso prigioniero. Dapprima venne giudicato dal senato e dal tribunale locale. Poi lo condussero a Perge per essere sottoposto a un nuovo processo. Durante il tragitto si verificò un terremoto. Dopo essere stato condannato e torturato fu giustiziato
Saint martyr ABRICIUS, mort par le glaive.

Saint MARTIN, évêque de Mayence en Rhénanie, qui confessa la foi orthodoxe face à l'arianisme (vers 350). 

 St Germanus of Dacia Pontica (Dobrogea)

http://oca.org/saints/lives/2014/02/28/205437-st-germanus-of-dacia-pontica-dobrogea

Saint BARSOS ou BAR-JESUS, évêque de Damas.

Saint VINDEMIAL, évêque de Vérone (Vème siècle).

 

 

 

 

Saintes MARANA et CYRA, femmes de la noblesse devenues ascètes en Syrie (Vème siècle).

Saints Marana and Kyra, sisters by birth, lived during the fourth century in the city of Veria (or Berea) in Syria. Their parents were illustrious and rich, but the sisters left home and departed the city when they had reached maturity.

Having cleared off a small plot of land, the holy virgins sealed up the entrance to their refuge with rocks and clay, leaving only a narrow opening through which food was passed to them. Their little hut had no roof, and so they were exposed to the elements.

On their bodies they wore heavy iron chains and patiently endured hunger. During a three year period, they ate food only once every forty days. Their former servants came to them, wanting to join their ascetic life. The saints put them in a separate hut next to their own enclosure and they spoke to them through a window, exhorting them to deeds of prayer and fasting.

The life of the holy ascetics Marana and Kyra was described by Bishop Theodoret of Cyrrhus in his RELIGIOSA HISTORIA. Out of respect for his hierarchical dignity, the holy virgins allowed him into their dwelling. Theodoret conversed with them and persuaded them to remove the heavy chains they wore under their clothing. Kyra, who was weak in body, was always stooped under their weight and was unable to sit upright. Once he left, however, they resumed wearing the chains.

So they lived in asceticism for forty years. They disturbed their solitude only to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to pray at the Sepulchre of the Lord. During their journey (which took twenty days) they ate no food until they had prayed at the Holy Places. On the way back, they also went without eating. They did the same thing at another time, when they journeyed to the grave of the Protomartyr Thekla (September 24) at Seleucia, Isauria.

Sts Marana and Kyra died in about the year 450. Their ascetical life equalled that of the great male ascetics of the desert, and they received the same crown of victory from Christ the Savior.

 

Troparion (Tone 6)
Through asceticism, holy struggle and virtuous life you have become our first ideal, an ornament for all women excelling men at bravery, shining with virtues; O Aleppian faithfuls, Marona and Kyra, intercede for us to Christ the Lord to grant us his majestic mercy.

Saint PROTERE, archevêque d'Alexandrie, martyr par la main des Monophysites (457).

SIX martyrs d'Egypte, martyrs avec saint Protère par la main des Monophysites (457).

Saint ROMAIN, fondateur du monastère de Condate (aujourd'hui la ville de Saint-Claude dans le département français du Jura) (463).  primi contatti del monachesimo orientale col mondo latino furono propiziati dai frequenti esili ai quali venne condannato S. Atanasio. E  nel secolo IV infatti che prese il via il monachesimo occidentale, destinato a produrre effetti di spirituale perfezione e di civile progresso.
Basti ricordare S. Benedetto. Il primo monastero in Gallia sorse nel 371 per opera di S. Martino di Tours: poi si ebbe una improvvisa fioritura di abbazie, in una delle quali, ad Ainay, presso Lione, troviamo all'inizio del V secolo il monaco Romano.
Non contento della pur rigida regola che vigeva nel suo monastero, col permesso dell'abate, munito di un testo della Sacra Scrittura e con gli attrezzi da lavoro sulle spalle, egli si inoltrò tra le inesplorate montagne del Giura. Di lui si persero poi le tracce, ma ciò non impedì che qualche anno dopo suo fratello Lupicino, rimasto vedovo, ne scoprisse il romitaggio e si aggregasse a lui, attirando dietro di sé altri uomini. Romano e Lupicino fecero spazio ai nuovi venuti, erigendo un primo grande monastero a Condat e un secondo a Leuconne. Poi li raggiunse anche una loro sorella, per la quale eressero un terzo monastero, poco lontano, in località detta La Beaume. I due fratelli condividevano in perfetta armonia il governo delle nuove comunità. I loro temperamenti, diametralmente opposti, si completavano a vicenda: Romano era uno spirito tollerante, incline alla comprensione e alla magnanimità; Lupicino era austero, intransigente con la regola, della quale pretendeva l'assoluta osservanza. Così, dopo un raccolto eccezionale, avendo i monaci scordato le rigide norme dell'astinenza, Lupicino fece gettare le provviste nel torrente e ordinò che a mensa venisse servita soltanto una minestra d'orzo. Dodici monaci non ressero a tanta austerità e abbandonarono il convento: fu Romano a correr loro dietro e ad implorarli con le lacrime agli occhi di far ritorno all'ovile.
La sua bontà trionfò anche in questa occasione. Più tardi, durante un pellegrinaggio alla tomba di S. Maurizio a Ginevra, compiuto in compagnia di un suo monaco, S. Pallade, avendo trovato riparo per la notte nella capanna dove si celavano due poveri lebbrosi, Romano non esitò ad abbracciarli. Il mattino dopo quei due relitti umani constatarono di essere completamente guariti e corsero in città a raccontare l'accaduto. Altri prodigi si verificarono durante quel pellegrinaggio. Poi il dolce e piissimo Romano tornò definitivamente alla solitudine di Condat dove precedette il fratello e la sorella nella tomba, nel 463. Era nato verso il 390.

Saint LUPICIN, frère de saint Romain, fondateur du monastère de Lauconne (aujourd'hui Saint-Lupicin) (480).

Les deux frères, saint Romain et saint Lupicin, sont considérés comme les "Pères du Jura" et c'est à eux que l'on doit l'introduction du monachisme dans la Franche-Comté et la Suisse romande.

Saint CHIO (SYMEON) des Cavernes (Mrvimévi), ascète géorgien (VIème siècle). (Autre mémoire le 9 mai.)

Saint LLIBIO (Pays de Galles, VIème siècle).

Saint MAIDOC (MADOC), évêque dans le Pays de Galles (VIème siècle).

Sainte CECILINE, ermite dans le Nantais en Bretagne (VIème-VIIème siècles).

Saint SILLAN (SILVANUS), higoumène en Irlande (vers 610).

Saint RUELLIN, évêque de Quimper en Bretagne, disciple de saint Tugdual (vers 650).

 

 

 

Saint BASILE le Confesseur, compagnon d'ascèse de saint Procope le Décapolite, qui souffrit pour les saintes Icônes sous Léon III l'Isaurien (747). (Office traduit en français par le père Denis Guillaume au tome II des Ménées.) 
Saint OSWALD, Danois de nation, moine à Fleury puis évêque des sièges réunis de Worcester et de York en Angleterre (992).

Figlio di genitori danesi, divenne monaco benedettino a Fleury in Francia e ritornò prete in Inghilterra nel 959. Su raccomandazione di san Dunstano di cui Osvaldo condivideva gli ideali monastici fu nominato nel 961 vescovo di Worcester, dove trasformò il Capitolo in una comunità monastica; fondò anche due monasteri a Westbury-on-Trym presso Bristol e quello più influente di Ramsey per il quale ottenne in prestito da Fleury s. Abbone, quale maestro.
Quando fu nominato arcivescovo di York, gli fu concesso di tenere anche la Diocesi di Worcester. Nella reazione antimonastica che seguì la morte di s. Edoardo martire, le comunità monastiche furono temporaneamente disperse. Ebbe come caratteristica personale la gentilezza, la cortesia e gioiosità che lo fecero molto amare dal popolo.
Morì a Worcester il 28 febbraio 992 dopo aver lavato i piedi a dodici poveri ed essersi seduto con loro a tavola. Il suo corpo fu traslato in un nuovo sepolcro da s. Wulfstano anch egli vescovo di Worcester dal 1062 al 1095.

 

Troparion — Tone 1

Dweller of the desert and angel in the body, / you were shown to be a wonder-worker, our God-bearing Father Basil. / You received heavenly gifts through fasting, vigil, and prayer: / healing the sick and the souls of those drawn to you by faith. / Glory to Him who gave you strength! / Glory to Him who who grant granted you a crown! / Glory to Him who through you grants healing to all!

Kontakion — Tone 2

Podoben: “Seeking the highest...” / You received a revelation of God from on high, O wise one, / and withdrew from the midst of the world’s tumult. / You lived the monastic life with honor, / receiving the power to work miracles and heal diseases by grace, / most blessed and holy Basil.

 

 

http://oca.org/saints/lives/2014/02/28/100615-venerable-basil-the-confessor-companion-of-the-venerable-procopi
 

Saint NICOLAS de Pskov, fol-en-Christ qui empêcha la destruction de Pskov par Ivan IV le Terrible (1576). (Tropaire et kondakion traduits en français par le père Denis Guillaume au tome II du Supplément aux Ménées.)

Blessed Nicholas of Pskov lived the life of a holy fool for more than three decades. Long before his death he acquired the grace of the Holy Spirit and was granted the gifts of wonderworking and of prophecy. The Pskov people of his time called him Mikula [Mikola, Nikola] the Fool. Even during his lifetime they revered him as a saint, even calling him Mikula the saintly.

In February 1570, after a devastating campaign against Novgorod, Tsar Ivan the Terrible moved against Pskov, suspecting the inhabitants of treason. As the Pskov Chronicler relates, "the Tsar came ... with great fierceness, like a roaring lion, to tear apart innocent people and to shed much blood."

On the first Saturday of Great Lent, the whole city prayed to be delivered from the Tsar's wrath. Hearing the peal of the bell for Matins in Pskov, the Tsar's heart was softened when he read the inscription on the fifteenth century wonderworking Liubyatov Tenderness Icon of the Mother of God (March 19) in the Monastery of St Nicholas (the Tsar's army was at Lubyatov). "Be tender of heart," he said to his soldiers. "Blunt your swords upon the stones, and let there be an end to killing."

All the inhabitants of Pskov came out upon the streets, and each family knelt at the gate of their house, bearing bread and salt to the meet the Tsar. On one of the streets Blessed Nicholas ran toward the Tsar astride a stick as though riding a horse, and cried out: "Ivanushko, Ivanushko, eat our bread and salt, and not Christian blood."

The Tsar gave orders to capture the holy fool, but he disappeared.

Though he had forbidden his men to kill, Ivan still intended to sack the city. The Tsar attended a Molieben at the Trinity cathedral, and he venerated the relics of holy Prince Vsevolod-Gabriel (February 11), and expressed his wish to receive the blessing of the holy fool Nicholas. The saint instructed the Tsar "by many terrible sayings," to stop the killing and not to plunder the holy churches of God. But Ivan did not heed him and gave orders to remove the bell from the Trinity cathedral. Then, as the saint prophesied, the Tsar's finest horse fell dead.

The blessed one invited the Tsar to visit his cell under the belltower. When the Tsar arrived at the cell of the saint, he said, "Hush, come in and have a drink of water from us, there is no reason you should shun it." Then the holy fool offered the Tsar a piece of raw meat.

"I am a Christian and do not eat meat during Lent", said Ivan to him. "But you drink human blood," the saint replied.

Frightened by the fulfillment of the saint's prophecy and denounced for his wicked deeds, Ivan the Terrible ordered a stop to the looting and fled from the city. The Oprichniki, witnessing this, wrote: "The mighty tyrant ... departed beaten and shamed, driven off as though by an enemy. Thus did a worthless beggar terrify and drive off the Tsar with his multitude of a thousand soldiers."

Blessed Nicholas died on February 28, 1576 and was buried in the Trinity cathedral of the city he had saved. Such honors were granted only to the Pskov princes, and later on, to bishops.

The local veneration of the saint began five years after his death. In the year 1581, during a siege of Pskov by the soldiers of the Polish king Stephen Bathory, the Mother of God appeared to the blacksmith Dorotheus together with a number of Pskov saints praying for the city. Among these was Blessed Nicholas (the account about the Pskov-Protection Icon of the Mother of God is found under October 1).

At the Trinity cathedral they still venerate the relics of Blessed Nicholas of Pskov, who was "a holy fool in the flesh, and by assuming this holy folly he became a citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem" (Troparion). He also "transformed the Tsar's wild thoughts into mercy" (Kontakion).


Sainte KYRANNA, vierge originaire du village d'Avissoka près de Thessalonique, martyre par la main des Musulmans (1751).

 

Le 28 février, mémoire de Sainte KYRANNA, qui accomplit son Martyre dans les tourments, en 1751

Originaire d'un village proche de Thessalonique, la belle Kyranna menait une vie chaste et pieuse jusqu'au jour où un janissaire chargé de la collecte des impôts, dévoré d'un amour satanique à son égard, commença à la presser de ses instances. Comme la jeune fille restait inflexible, son amant déçu la conduisit de force auprès du juge de Thessalonique et, produisant d'autres soldats comme faux témoins, il prétendit qu'elle avait accepté ses propositions de mariage et lui avait promis de se convertir à l'Islam. A toutes les accusations, la vaillante servante du Christ répondait : « Moi, je suis Chrétienne, et je n'ai d'époux que le Christ, auquel j'offre en dot ma virginité. C'est Lui que j'aime et je suis prête à verser mon sang pour Lui! Voilà ma réponse et n'attendez rien d'autre de moi. » Puis, penchant pudiquement son regard vers le sol, elle s'enferma dans le silence, et son coeur se trouva alors rempli d'une joie indicible qui lui faisait oublier les horreurs des tribulations de cette vie. Désemparé par l'attitude de cette frêle jeune fille et par l'aspect radieux de son visage, le magistrat la fit jeter en prison, chargée d'entraves.

Persévérant dans ses désirs impudiques, le janissaire obtint l'autorisation de se rendre dans le cachot de la Sainte avec d'autres comparses, et ils venaient la tourmenter à tout moment par ses infâmes propositions accompagnées de menaces de mort. Comme Kyranna ne daignait même pas les regarder, ils s'acharnèrent avec fureur contre elle : l'un la frappait avec un bâton, un autre avec le plat de son épée, un autre à coups de pied ou à coups de poing. Puis, lorsqu'ils s'étaient retirés, son geôlier venait la suspendre par les aisselles et s'épuisait à la frapper à coups de verges, malgré les réprimandes et les cris de révolte des autres détenus de droit commun. Dans tous ces tourments, la Sainte Martyre restait aussi impassible que si quelqu'un d'autre souffrait à sa place, et elle refusait toute nourriture qu'on lui présentait.

Le septième jour, comme le geôlier n'avait pas permis l'entrée de la prison aux janissaires, ceux-ci le dénoncèrent au magistrat qui le convoqua pour le reprendre. A son retour, celui-ci déversa toute sa haine et sa colère sur la Sainte. Il l'avait laissée suspendue, ensanglantée, quand une lumière divine entoura soudain son corps et illumina toute la prison, pendant que son âme remontait glorieuse vers son Epoux céleste, en laissant derrière elle un sublime parfum. Le geôlier, repentant et tremblant sous les sanglots, chargea un Chrétien de décrocher le corps de la Sainte et de le préparer pour les funérailles.

Quand la nouvelle du miracle se répandit dans la ville, le lendemain, les Turcs, pleins de honte, concédèrent le corps aux Chrétiens pour qu'ils l'ensevelissent en-dehors de la ville

Saint ARSENE (Matséïévitch), métropolite de Rostov, martyr sur ordre de Catherine II qui le fit emprisonner parce qu'il défendait les droits de l'Eglise (Russie 1772).