Author Topic: St Bernardine of Siena (Read 625 times)

poche · « **on:** May 20, 2014, 02:45:50 AM »

Bernardine was born in Carrara, Italy, in 1380. Even as a boy he nursed the sick during a time of pestilence in Siena. During a severe illness he decided upon entering a monastery and becoming a Franciscan. His superiors assigned him the task of preaching, and he submitted humbly despite a throat affliction. God heard his petition, and the ailment was miraculously cured.

A powerful and eloquent preacher (Pius II called him "a second Paul") and a zealous apostle, Bernardine traveled the length and breadth of Italy, inculcating love and reverence toward the holy Name of Jesus. He exerted a powerful influence upon his contemporaries, inaugurating a genuine reformation within the Church. Seldom has a saint had so many and so distinguished followers (including St. John Capistran). Upon entering a city, Bernardine had a standard carried before him upon which was the holy Name of Jesus (IHS) encircled with twelve golden rays and surmounted by a cross.

When he preached, this symbol was placed alongside the pulpit; or he would hold in his hand a tablet bearing the divine monogram in letters large enough to be visible to the entire audience. It was also his zealous appeals that induced many priests to put the Name of Jesus on the altars and walls of their churches, or to have little cards with the inscription distributed among the people. At his instigation the public buildings in many cities of Italy were adorned with the monogram suitably enlarged, as can still be seen in Siena. At the Council of Florence St. Bernardine labored strenuously to end the schism (1439).

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2014-05-20

poche · « **Reply #1 on:** May 20, 2014, 02:52:52 AM »

A recently acquired rare engraving of St. Bernardino of Siena (1370-1444), on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, affords a good occasion to reflect on the Holy Name of Jesus. The engraving, the best surviving example of the first realistic portrait in print form, shows the saint holding the monogram of Christ as he often did during his popular sermons.

St. Bernardino would hold up for veneration the monogram of Christ's Name — the letters "IHS" — surrounded by rays. This ancient monogram is a Latin form of the Greek monograms for Iesous Christos, "IH XP" and "IC XC." It became even more popular after St. Bernardino persuaded a playing card maker in Bologna whose business had been ruined because of the saint's preaching against gambling — to make holy cards depicting it instead of making his usual fare.

The engraving based on Bernardino's death mask was made in Germany by an anonymous artist shortly after 1450 when the saint was canonized. It shows a large crucifix (mandated by Pope Martin V when he approved Bernardino's use of the monogram disk) and a dove flying toward the saint's mouth, presumably indicating the Holy Spirit inspiring him. The child at his feet might be a soul, while the tiaras symbolize the approval of three popes.

An engraving is produced by incising lines with a tool called a burin into a copper plate. The plate is then inked and wiped so that the ink only remains in the incised lines. When the inked plate is put through a press, every impression that results is an original work of art. The process, requiring great skill, made it possible for people of modest means to own original art.

The Holy Name of Jesus

January is traditionally the month of the Holy Name of Jesus, and Jan. 3 has been restored by Pope John Paul II as the feast of the Holy Name. This feast, still celebrated by the Franciscan order on Jan. 14, commemorates the circuмcision of Christ, where he received the name Jesus, in Aramaic Yeshua, that was given by the angel Gabriel from God (Lk 1:31). It means the one who saves. When a Jєωιѕн child was circuмcised, he was accepted as a son of Abraham and a full member of his family. The Christian practice of infant baptism was adapted from this Hebrew ritual.

We honor the Holy Name because of the command of Christ: that we should pray in His name. "Holy Father, protect them in Your Name that You have given Me" (Jn 17:11-12). As St. Paul wrote to the Philippians: "at the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth (Phil 2:10). By means of this devotion, we also make amends for improper use of the Holy Name. Honor to the Holy Name is the reason that devout Catholics bow their heads at the sound of "Jesus both inside and outside the liturgy.

One Catholic Web site, beautifully describing the Holy Name, observes that "As the name of each individual person embraces the totality of the person, the most Holy Name of Jesus also embraces the totality of the divinity. When we think of a person, we remember the name, and we visualize their image. Equally, when we think of Jesus, we remember His-name and we visualize the image of God in Jesus. 'For in Jesus the whole fullness of deity dwelled bodily' (Col 1:19, 2:9)."

St. Bernardino's Lasting Fame

By promoting the Holy Name devotion, St. Bernardino of Siena made people more aware of the individual personality. Although he refused all worldly honors, this charismatic Franciscan preacher is the very first canonized saint for whom we not only have an extensive record of his ideas, but we also know exactly what he looked like.

Bald and toothless, Bernardino is depicted wearing the beige Franciscan habit. In Washington's National Gallery of Art, his popularity is attested to by several beautiful paintings of the Italian Renaissance period that were once in churches. One early panel (c. 1460) pairing Bernardino holding the monogram disk with St. Anthony Abbot, is painted by Jacopo Bellini, the pioneering Venetian artist. In another panel, Vincenzo Foppa, a painter active in Milan before 1500, portrays the Franciscan friar holding an open book inscribed Pater manefestavi nomen (Father, I have manifested [Thy] name) from John 17:5,6, words recited by St. Bernardino while he was dying. On the book's facing page is the monogram IHS.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=6318

shin · « **Reply #2 on:** May 20, 2014, 05:06:48 AM »

'I wish to point out to thee ten offences against God, all occasioned by dress. . . The first is vanity; and it is vanity when thou dost wear that which is not suited to thee. . . The second sign of sin is called variety. Knowest thou what is meant by variety? It consists in garments in checks, all embroidered and flowered and with stripes of different colours. . . The third sign of sin is regard for appearance. This sign is generally to be perceived because there is no one who does not seek to have the most costly clothes that may be had. . . The fourth sign of sin which displeaseth God, is called costliness, on the part of those who demand costly garments of gauze or silken stuffs. . . The fifth sign and sign of the displeasure of God is injustice. . . whence come these possessions, whence come these garments. . . most times, it is made up of robbery, of usury, and of the sweat of the brow of peasants, and of the blood of widows, and of the marrow of wards and orphans. . . The first of the other five is called superfluity: whereas you must reflect that when God gave the garment of skin to Adam, he gave it to him out of decency, and to protect him from the heat and cold, so that it might be fitted to his needs, and in this all the holy Doctors agree. . . the second sign and sin which displeaseth God is called the desire to attract notice. . . the third sin is called fashion. . . the fourth is called enticement. . . Damaging loss is the last. How many goods have you lying useless in your house, and how many are there of you who, for all that they have very many, buy yet more of them?'

St. Bernardine of Siena

Nadir · « **Reply #3 on:** May 20, 2014, 05:27:19 AM »

That's an amazing quote, shin. Where does it come from?

I am certainly at fault here.

shin · « **Reply #4 on:** May 20, 2014, 05:58:04 AM »

A book of his collective sermons. :)

'Every time that these three come before thee, good, better, and best, if it be possible to thee, attach thyself always to the best. If thou canst not have the best, see that thou dost attach thself then to the better before the good. This is what God doth wish that we should do, and this alone, in order that we may all become virtuous men.'

St. Bernardine of Siena

shin · « **Reply #5 on:** May 20, 2014, 06:11:30 AM »

The book.

shin · « **Reply #6 on:** May 20, 2014, 06:14:11 AM »

'Woman, wouldst thou please thy husband? Yes. Then speak little, do not chatter as many women do -- chia, chia, chia, chia, -- who never cease in order to rest. O she is a bad neighbor, a chatterer.'

St. Bernardine of Siena