How is the body to become a sacrifice?

Let the eye look on no evil thing, and it has already become a
sacrifice. Let the tongue say nothing filthy, and it has become an
offering. Let your hand do nothing evil, and it has become a whole
burnt offering. But even this is not enough, for we must have good
works also. The hand must do alms, the mouth must bless those who
curse it, and the ears must find time to listen to the reading of
Scripture. Sacrifice allows of no unclean thing. It is the first
fruits of all other actions.
St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans 20.

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12 July – Saints Nabor and Felix of Milan

Died c 304
Martyrs, Roman Soldiers. Martyred during the Persecution under the
Roman emperor Maximian.

12 July is traditionally the Feast day of two early Martyrs of the
Church of Milan, Saints Nabor and Felix, who have long occupied a
prominent place in the Ambrosian Rite. Together with their fellow
Soldier St Victor, they are named in the Communicantes of the
Ambrosian Canon. In the Roman Rite, they have been kept as a
commemoration on the Feast of St John Gualbert, since the early 17th
century.

The Hymn for Vespers of their Feast, which was composed by St Ambrose
himself, refers to them as “Mauri genus – Moors by birth”, since they were from the Roman Province of Mauretania in Africa. It is also sung
on the Feast of St Victor on 8 May, as he was also a Moor and Martyred
in the same persecution – they may have all belonged to a Berber tribe
known as the Gaetuli, a great many of whom served in the Roman armies
in the 3rd and 4th centuries. A later tradition associates all three
of them with the Theban Legion, partly because they were in Milan in
service to the Emperor Maximian, who made his headquarters in that
City and was the persecutor of that legion.

Their 5th century Acts recount that they refused to sacrifice to the
gods worshipped by the Empire and the army and were, therefore,
beheaded at the City of Laus Pompeia (now called Lodi Vecchio). A
noblewoman named Savina, a native of Milan married to a Patrician of
Laus Pompeia, is said to have comforted them in prison and then to
have secretly buried them in her own home after their execution. Once
the persecution had ceased, in the year 310, she brought their relics
to Milan, where they were laid to rest in the Chapel of her family,
the Valerii. This Chapel then came to be known as the Basilica
Naboriana.

Within the Basilica of St Ambrose in Milan, the Chapel known as “San
Vittore in Ciel d’Oro – St Victor in the Heaven of Gold” contains a mosaic portrait of the Bishop of Milan at the time of this
translation, St Maternus, with the Martyrs to either side of him. On
the opposite wall are St Ambrose with Ss Gervasius and Protasius,
underlining the parallels between the two Bishops in their devotion to
the Martyrs. And in point of fact, the place where St Ambrose
discovered the relics of Gervasius and Protasius, was very close to
the Basilica Naboriana.

By 1249, the ancient Church was in very poor condition, and it was
decided to entrust it to the then very new order of the Franciscans,
recently arrived in Milan. A much larger Church was built to replace
it, which was long known as San Francesco Grande. Devotion to the
Martyrs was renewed, to such an extent, that in 1396, their Feast was
declared a public holiday in Milan. In 1472, the relics were moved to
be closer to the High Altar – the skulls of the two Martyrs were
separated from the other bones and placed in their own bust-shaped
Reliquaries, which were traditionally exposed on the Altar on major
Feast days.

In 1798, when the French armies under Napoleon invaded northern Italy
and the religious Orders were suppressed throughout the region, the
Church of San Francesco Grande was destroyed. The Martyrs’ relics were fortunately saved and brought to the Basilica of St Ambrose. Since
1960, they have been enclosed within the Sarcophagus below, although
some still reside in the Reliquary above.

It was probably at this point that the Reliquaries containing the
skulls disappeared, most likely stolen by French soldiers. It was not
until 1959 that they were rediscovered, with both the relics and
authentication papers sealed and intact, in an antique shop in Namur,
Belgium. The Bishop of Namur, André Charue, to whom they had been
handed over, then generously returned them to Milan. The Cardinal
Archbishop Giovanni Battista Montini, the future Pope Paul VI, had
them installed in a new Parish built on the outskirts of the City,
where they remain to this day, after solemn expositions at both Milan
and Lodi.

https://anastpaul.com/2022/07/12/


Saint Quote:
What toil we must endure, what fatigue, while we are attempting to
climb hills and the summits of mountains! What, that we may ascend to
heaven! If you consider the promised reward, what you endure is less. Immortality is given to the one who perseveres; everlasting life is
offered; the Lord promises His Kingdom.
--St. Cyprian of Carthage

Bible Quote:
Is Yahweh pleased by burnt offerings and sacrifices or by obedience
to Yahweh's voice? Truly, obedience is better than sacrifice,
submissiveness than the fat of rams. Rebellion is a sin of sorcery, presumption a crime of idolatry!" [1 Samuel 15:22-23]


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Two prayers:

Grant me grace, O merciful God, to desire ardently all
that is pleasing to Thee, to examine it prudently, to
acknowledge it truthfully, and to accomplish it perfectly,
for the praise and glory of Thy Name. Amen.

<><>

O Mary, Mother of mercy and Refuge of sinners, we
beseech thee, be pleased to look with pitiful eyes upon
poor heretics and schismatics. Thou who are the Seat of
Wisdom, enlightened the minds that are miserably
enfolded in the darkness of ignorance and sin, that they
may clearly know that the Holy Catholic Church is the
one true Church of Jesus Christ, outside of which neither
holiness nor salvation can be found. Call them to the
unity of the one fold, granting them the grace to accept
all the truths of our holy Faith, and to submit themselves
to the Supreme Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Jesus Christ
on earth; that so, being united with us in the sweet chains
of divine charity, there may soon be one only fold under
the same one Shepherd; and may we all, O glorious
Virgin, sing forever with exultation: Rejoice, O virgin
Mary, thou only last destroyed all heresies in the whole
world. Amen.

Hail Mary... (thrice)

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