Sacred Liturgy Ministries

St. Onuphrius of Egypt, abbot: Onuphrius (Greek: Ὀνούφριος, romanized: Onouphrios; also Onoufrios) lived as a hermit in the desert of Upper Egypt in the 4th or 5th centuries. He is venerated as Saint Onuphrius in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic churches, as Venerable Onuphrius in Eastern Orthodoxy, and as Saint Nofer the Anchorite in Oriental Orthodoxy.

Onuphrius was one of the Desert Fathers who made a great impression on Eastern spirituality in the third and fourth centuries, around the time that Christianity was emerging as the dominant faith of the Roman Empire. At this time many Christians were inspired to go out into the desert and live in prayer in the harsh environment of extreme heat and cold, with little to eat and drink, surrounded by all sorts of dangerous animals and robbers.
It is uncertain in which century Onuphrius lived; the account of Paphnutius the Ascetic, who encountered him in the Egyptian desert, forms the sole source for our knowledge of the life of Saint Onuphrius. Even the authorship is uncertain; "Paphnutius", a common name of Egyptian origin in the Upper Thebaid, may refer to Paphnutius of Scetis, a 4th-century abbot of Lower Egypt, rather than Paphnutius the Ascetic. "But Paphnutius the Great [i.e. Paphnutius the Ascetic]," Alban Butler writes, "also had a number of stories to tell of visions and miraculous happenings in the desert, some of them in much the same vein as the story of Onuphrius."

The name Onuphrius is thought to be a Hellenized form of a Coptic name Unnufer, ultimately from the Egyptian wnn-nfr meaning "perfect one", or "he who is continually good", an epithet of the god Osiris. A tradition, not found in Paphnutius' account, states that Onuphrius had studied jurisprudence and philosophy before becoming a monk near Thebes and then a hermit.

According to Paphnutius's account, Paphnutius undertook a pilgrimage to study the hermits' way of life and to determine whether it was for him. Wandering in the desert for 16 days, on the 17th day Paphnutius came across a wild figure covered in hair, wearing a loincloth of leaves. Frightened, Paphnutius ran away, up a mountain, but the figure called him back, shouting, "Come down to me, man of God, for I am a man also, dwelling in the desert for the love of God."

Turning back, Paphnutius talked to the wild figure, who introduced himself as Onuphrius and explained that he had once been a monk at a large monastery in the Thebaid but who had now lived as a hermit for 70 years, enduring extreme thirst, hunger, and discomforts. He said that it was his guardian angel who had brought him to this desolate place. Onuphrius took Paphnutius to his cell, and they spoke until sunset, when bread and water miraculously appeared outside of the hermit's cell.

They spent the night in the prayer, and in the morning Paphnutius discovered that Onuphrius was near death. Paphnutius, distressed, asked the hermit if he should occupy Onuphrius' cell after the hermit's death, but Onuphrius told him, "That may not be, thy work is in Egypt with thy brethren." Onuphrius asked Paphnutius for there to be a memorial with incense in Egypt in remembrance of the hermit. He then blessed the traveler and died.

Due to the hard and rocky ground, Paphnutius could not dig a hole for a grave, and therefore covered Onuphrius' body in a cloak, leaving the hermit's body in a cleft of the rocks. After the burial, Onuphrius' cell crumbled, which Paphnutius took to be a sign that he should not stay.

One scholar has written that Onuphrius' life "fits the mold of countless desert hermits or anchorites. ...[However] despite its predictability, Paphnutius' Life of Onuphrius is marked by several unique details. ...The years of Onuphrius' youth were passed in a monastery that observed the rule of strict silence; a hind instructed him in Christian rites and liturgy. During his sixty years in the desert, Onuphrius' only visitor was an angel who delivered a Host every Sunday."

Both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches traditionally mark his feast day on 12 June. A Life of Onuphrius of later Greek origin states that the saint died on June 11; however, his feast day was celebrated on June 12 in the Eastern Orthodox calendars from an early date.

The legend of Saint Onuphrius was depicted in Pisa's camposanto (monumental cemetery), and in Rome the church Sant'Onofrio was built in his honor on the Janiculan Hill in the fifteenth century.

Antony, the archbishop of Novgorod, writing around 1200 AD, stated that Onuphrius' head was conserved in the church of Saint Acindinus (Akindinos), Constantinople.

For several decades Orthodox seminarians in Poland have begun their spiritual training in the monastery of St. Onuphrius in Jablechna. It is said that the saint himself chose the place for it, appearing nearly four hundred years ago to fishermen and leaving them an icon of himself on the banks of the river Bug.

The St. Onuphrius Monastery in Jerusalem is located at the far end of G*i Ben Hinnom, the Gehenna valley of hell, situated within the site of a Jewish cemetery from the Second Temple period. The structure is built among and includes many typical burial niches common to that period. The monastery also marks the location of Hakeldama, the purported place where Judas Iscariot hanged himself.

Saint Onuphrius was venerated in Munich, Basel, and southern Germany, and the Basel humanist Sebastian Brant (who named his own son Onuphrius) published a broadside named In Praise of the Divine Onuphrius and Other Desert Hermit Saints. Onuphrius was depicted in a 1520 painting by Hans Schäufelein.

Images of Saint Onuphrius were conflated with those of the medieval "wild man". In art, he is depicted as a wild man completely covered with hair, wearing a girdle of leaves.

He is depicted at Snake Church (Yilanlı Kilise) in the Göreme valley open-air museum in Cappadocia, Turkey.

He became the patron saint of weavers due to the fact that he was depicted "dressed only in his own abundant hair, and a loin-cloth of leaves". He (S. Onofrio) was named co-patron of the city of Palermo in 1650.

His name appears very variously as Onuphrius, Onouphrius, Onofrius and in different languages as Onofre (Portuguese, Spanish), Onofrei (Romanian), Onofrio (Italian), etc. In Arabic, the saint was known as Abū Nufir (Arabic: ابو نفر) or as Nofer (Arabic: نوفر), which, besides being a variant of the name Onuphrius, also means "herbivore".Onuphrius and Onofrio are sometimes Anglicized as Humphrey, an unrelated name that is usually given a Germanic etymology.

Fr. Columba Kelly, OSB, (October 30, 1930-June 9, 2018) a Benedictine monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey since 1952, was a well-known composer and teacher of Gregorian chant.

He finished his doctorate in Church music at Musica Sacra in Rome in 1963, just as Roman liturgy was moving from Latin into English in the United States.

In 1964, Fr. Columba was appointed choirmaster for Saint Meinrad, where he began his work of composing English-language chants based on the principles used to create the original Gregorian Chant repertory. That same year, he also began teaching at Saint Meinrad College and Saint Meinrad School of Theology.

For 12 years, he taught summer courses at St. Joseph College's (Rensselear, IN) Liturgical Musical Program. He led numerous workshops on chant, throughout the United States, at the Abbey of Solesmes in France, and for Benedictine communities in Australia.

Fr. Columba also directed Saint Meinrad's chant schola in a program of Latin and English chants produced for CDs: an Advent/Christmas CD, a Christmas CD and a Lent/Easter CD. In 1999, he directed the schola in a performance at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. He assisted in a number of special projects and compositions regarding Gregorian Chant.

His settings of the Responsorial Psalms and Refrains for Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter seasons have been published by Gregorian Institute of America, Chicago, IL. His chant style setting with SAB chorus of the St. John Passion for Good Friday has been published by Oregon Catholic Press, Portland, OR. He also wrote two books on chant, published by Edwin Mellen Press.

As part of his legacy, Fr. Columba created a body of English chant based on the natural rhythm of spoken word. The liturgical books at Saint Meinrad include nearly 2,000 responsories and antiphons written by Fr. Columba. This music, which represents only part of his work, forms the day-to-day music of the Archabbey. This work has been carried on with the assistance of his confreres, Fr. Samuel Weber, OSB, Fr. Tobias Colgan, OSB, and others.

Fr. Columba worked with recreating melismatic chants for English texts developed to fit (more or less) the Latin melody. Although the music for the English is similar to that for the Latin, it is not the same. Rather, it has been crafted to respect the rhythm and meaning of the English text.

He was one of the foremost experts on Gregorian chant in the United States. Father Columba finished his doctorate in church music at Musica Sacra in Rome just as the Roman liturgy was moving from Latin into English. He attended most of the sessions of Vatican II while studying in Rome.

During the last 35 years of life, in addition to his teaching, directing and composing for the Gregorian Schola at St. Meinrad Archabbey, in St. Meinrad, Indiana, he created a body of English chant based on the natural word rhythm of spoken word.

Here is a link to a blog on the O Antiphons. https://www.ocp.org/.../o-come-o-come-emmanuel-lyrics-o...

St. Mariam Theresa, (April 26, 1876- June 8, 1926) born Theresa Chiramel Mankidiyan, was the founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family. The Indian Syro-Malabar Catholic nun was best known for her frequent visions and ecstasies, as well as receiving the stigmata. She founded 3 convents, 4 schools and an orphanage.

Theresa Chiramel Mankidiyan was born in Puthenchira in Irinjalakuda Revenue Division of Thissur district on April 26, 1876, to Thoma and Thanda. Theresa, named in honor of St. Teresa of Avila, was baptized on May 3, 1876.

The Mankidiyan family was once rich, but after Theresa’s grandfather married off seven daughters, selling property for each dowry, they became poor.

As a young girl, St. Mariam Theresa dedicated herself to the Lord and practiced severe fasts and night vigils. She also made a private vow to remain chaste and was moved by an intense desire to love God. Her worried mother desperately tried to discourage her pious daughter from these activities, because she was starting to thin down.

On May 2, 1888, Theresa’s mother passed away. After her mother's death, Theresa left behind her elementary school education and began her search to discern her own vocation in life. Theresa devised a plan to leave her home for a life of penance in the hills, but she changed her mind and returned home to her family.

Theresa was heavily involved in apostolic work with poor families during her late 20s. She helped the poor, nursed the sick, visited and comforted the lonely people of her parish.

She desired a formal area where she and her friends could continue their work, so in 1903, Theresa approached the Archbishop of Thrissur, Mar John Menachery, with the request to build a house of retreat. He denied her request and suggested she try to join a religious congregation instead. He recommended she join the new Congregation of the Franciscan Clarists. However, Theresa left, as she did not feel a calling toward it.

Throughout much of her life, Theresa received several different spiritual experiences, like prophecy, healing, aura of light, and sweet odor. She also had frequent ecstasies and levitations. On Fridays, people would gather around to witness St. Mariam Theresa lifted high and hanging in the form of a crucifix on her bedroom wall.

She also bore a stigmata, like St. Padre Pio's, but she kept it hidden from the public. Theresa was also tormented by diabolical attacks and vexations throughout a lot of her life. Bishops began to wonder if Theresa might be a plaything for the devil.

From the years 1902 to 1905, Theresa was subjected to several different exorcisms by the Venerable Joseph Vithayathil, under the bishop’s orders.

Years after leaving the Congregation of the Franciscan Clarists, in November 1912, St. Mariam Theresa joined the Carmelites at Ollur. However, she left after a couple of months because she insisted, she did not feel drawn to them either.

In 1913, she was permitted to set up her own house at Puthenchira and on May 14, 1914, she founded the Congregation of the Holy Family. She became the first superior of the order. They led a life of prayer and strict penance, much like hermits. However, they continued to visit with the sick and help the poor and needy.
In 1926, an object fell on Theresa leg, causing a wound. Her injuries continued getting worse, and she was admitted to the local hospital. The doctors deemed her condition to be fatal, and she was moved back to her convent. On June 7, 1926, she received her final sacraments and the Viaticum.

A day later, at 10:00 pm, St. Mariam Theresa died from her leg wound, exacerbated from her diabetes. Her final words were, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph; I give you my heart and my soul."

St. Mariam Theresa was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 9, 2000, and canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 13, 2019. She is the patron saint of the Congregation of the Holy Family, and her feast day is celebrated on June 8.