Saint of the day sep 20
St. EUSTACHIUS
pray for us.
Patron against fire; difficult situations; fire
prevention; firefighters; hunters; hunting;
huntsmen; Madrid; torture victims; trappers
Died: 118
St. Eustachius called by the Greeks
Eustachius, and before his conversion
named Placidus, was a nobleman who
suffered martyrdom at Rome, about the
reign of Adrian together with his wife
Theopista, called before her baptism
Tatiana, and two sons Agapius and
Theopistus. These Greek names they must
have taken after their conversion to the
faith. The ancient sacramentaries mention
in the prayer for the festival of St.
Eustachius his profuse charities to the
poor on whom he bestowed all his large
possessions some time before he laid
down his life for his faith. An ancient
church in Rome was built in his honor,
with the title of a Diacony; the same now
gives title to a cardinal. His body lay
deposited in this church, till, in the twelfth
age, it was translated to that of St. Denis
near Paris. His shrine was pillaged in this
place, and part of his bones burnt by the
Huguenots in 1567; but a portion of them
still remains in the parish church which
bears the name of St. Eustachius in Paris.
How noble is it to see integrity and virtue
triumphing over interest, passion, racks,
and death and setting the whale world at
defiance! To see a great man preferring the
least duty of justice, truth, or religion, to
the favor or menace of princes; readily
quitting estate, friends, country, and life,
rather than consent to any thing against
his conscience, and at the same time,
meek, humble, and modest in his
sufferings; forgiving from his heart and
tenderly loving his most unjust and
treacherous enemies and persecutors!
Passion and revenge often make men
furious; and the lust of power, worldly
honor, applause, or wealth may prompt
them to brave dangers; but these passions
leave them weak and dastardly in other
eases, and are themselves the basest
slavery, and most grievous crimes and
misery 2E Religion is the only basis on
which true magnanimity and courage can
stand.
It so enlightens the mind as to set a
man above all human events, and to
preserve him in all changes and trials
steadily and calm in himself; it secures
him against the errors, the injustices, and
frowns of the world, is by its powerful
motives the strongest spur to all generous
actions, and under afflictions and
sufferings a source of unalterable peace,
and overflowing joy which spring from an
assured confidence that God's will is
always most just and holy, and that he will
be its protector and rewarder. Does religion
exert this powerful influences in us? Does
it appear in our hearts, in our actions and
conduct? It is not enough to encounter
dangers with resolution; we must with
equal courage and constancy vanquish
pleasure and the softer passions, or we
possess not the virtue of true fortitude.