St. Denis (October 9), or, "you can't keep a good man down".

   I have a particular interest in St. Denis as about a year and a half ago, I had the opportunity to visit the cathedral-bascilica dedicated to his honor in Paris. While the overtones of a religious pilgrimage were there (now what train do I need to take?), it was in no small part due to my interest in the famous Cavaille-Coll organ, which really put Aristide Cavaille on the map as an organ builder in the mid-late 19th century.   I have a recording or two from that instrument, and it is frequently featured in tours of significant instruments in the city.  Needless to say, the church itself is amazing. Moreover, it is the burial ground of dozens and dozens of kings and other royalty from the history of France. Of interest, there is a building project about to commence there to restore its north tower, which was damaged by weather many years ago.

   Anyway, the saint we celebrate today, St. Denis (Dionysius), along with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius are all martyrs c. 250AD during the Decian persecution. St. Denis, himself, is recognized as the first bishop of Paris.  The story from the Golden Legend tells us that the prefect sent from Rome arrested Denis and tormented him for confessing the faith.   After being beaten, bound, and mocked, he was scourged and then cast into prison. The next morning he was to be executed on a gridiron, but tormented his executioners while roasting over the fire, "Thy word is refined by fire, and thy servant has loved it!" They then threw him to hungry wild beasts, upon whom he have his priestly blessing and they became tame and gentle.  Next he was thrown into an oven, then nailed to a cross before being returned to jail, un-executed.

   He celebrated Mass in prison, where he received a special revelation of the presence of our Lord Jesus. After more torture and failed attempts at execution, it was decided that he should be beheaded. (Afterall, that should work, right?) And in front of an idol of the Greek god Mercury, he was dispatched.

   But instantly his body stood up, he took up his head, and mached for two miles through the streets of Paris amidst a chorus of angels praising God... although some sources say he went on a 6 mile walk, which ironically is how far the bascilica of St. Denis is from Notre Dame.  The chanting of the angels inspired many converts that day, even among the prefect's household.  We look at how the Church is persecuted in our own day, and it is important to remember that, it is hard to keep a good man down. Denis lost his head, but was not done giving glory to God and serving the purposes of his glory.  He had a 10k to complete first!

   That's the short definition of what it means to be a martyr.   Yeah, the direct translation from the Greek a "martyr" is a "witness"... but in the Christian parlance, there is no such thing as an ordinary martyr.  God's grace and glory shines forth through our human weakness, for in following the example of Christ who laid down his life, those who are take on the same weakness are made strong by bearing witness to the Almighty.
   And so, in honor of the day, here is a YouTube video of Pierre Pincemaille, the organist titulaire of St. Denis, offering an improvisation from the famous Cavaille-Coll...

Old collect for St. Valentine

There were no fewer than three St. Valentines who were martyrs in the first three centuries of the Church, however very little is actually known about them.  The name Valentine generically means, valens = "strength" or "virtue", and tenens = "holding", "possessing", which could be a description of this martyr's witness as one who held fast to the faith during persecution, as much as it could be a proper name.  Here's a clip from the 13th century Golden Legend (a most popular hagiography on the saints, akin to Bulter's Lives of the Saints) hosted over at Fordham: click here.

The St. Valentine commemoration disappeared from the missal with the reform of the calendar, presumably as an effort to trim some of the lesser-known and apparently-apocryphal saints in favor of those whose historical witness is more certain.  Today's actual commemoration in the missal is for the sainted brothers of the East, Cyril and Methodius, February 14 being the date of the death of St. Cyril in 869.

 

In the old missal, the collect for the Valentine commemoration remains:

 

Præsta, quaesumus, omnípotens Deus: ut, qui beáti Valentíni Mártyris tui natalítia cólimus, a cunctis malis imminéntibus, eius intercessióne, liberémur.  Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, Filium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.

 

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we who honor the birth of the martyr St. Valentine into eternal life, may be freed from all evil that threatens us, through his intercession.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for the age of ages.  Amen.

 

It's days like this where the Tridentine discipline of allowing multiple commemorations (up to three collects) would be most welcomed in our current ritual... three collect prayers could be offered, the first would be for the proper Lenten weekday, the next would be for the commemoration, and then the priest could even add a third prayer, for instance, for the pope (which would be very fitting to use again and again over the coming weeks) or for another lesser, devotional purpose.

--Fr. Tom Donovan