September 29th - Sts. Rhipsime, Gaiana, & companions
Ss. Rhipsime, Gaiana and their companions paid the ultimate price: their
lives. This group of women was martyred in Armenia by King Tiridates in
about 312. They have long been on the church's official list of saints and
devotion to them is long-standing in Armenia. Those are about the only
facts
we have about them.
But that doesn't mean that we don't have some splendid legends about Ss.
Rhipsime and Gaiana.
Legend says Rhipsime was a noble maiden who joined Gaiana's community of
consecrated virgins. All was going well for them until the Emperor
Diocletian decided to marry. He commissioned a painter to go around Rome
painting ****traits of suitable young women. Somehow, this painter
convinced
Gaiana to allow him into her house, where he made ****traits of some
residents.
When Diocletian examined the painter's work, he set his heart on on
Rhipsime. When she was told the emperor's wish, she objected. Fearing the
consequences, Gaiana gathered her community and sailed for Alexandria.
They went from there to the Holy Land and on to Armenia, settling at the
capital city, Varlarshapat. Initially, all went well and the community
earned a living by weaving.
But, eventually, word of Rhipsime's beauty spread back to Rome. Somehow,
the
news bypassed King Tiridates, who didn't know Rhipsime was in his city
until
Diocletian asked him to kill Gaiana and to send Rhipsime back to him in
Rome-unless Tiridates wanted her for himself.
The king sent his associates to Gaiana's convent to woo Rhipsime and
accompany them back to the palace. Instead, she prayed for divine
intervention. Immediately, a fierce thunderstorm erupted and the group had
to flee. That angered Tiridates, who ordered that she be brought to him by
force. When he at last saw her, the king was so overcome by her beauty
that
he tried to hug her. She fought back and threw him to the floor. With
that,
the enraged king had her thrown into prison.
That night, she escaped and returned to the convent. The next morning,
Tiridates sent his soldiers to the convent with orders that she and the
other women in it were to die.
Rhipsime was roasted alive and dismembered. St. Gaiana and 35 other women
in
the convent also were brutally killed. Only St. Nino escaped to become the
apostle of Georgia in the Caucasus. While the story is mainly legend, it
does ask us to consider what we do when our principles are challenged
(Sources: Butler's Lives of the Saints and Dictionary of Saints.)
Quote:
The Church must steadily and firmly heed that although the language of the
people may change, the language of liturgy should not be altered. Thus,
the
Mass must be said in the language in which it was said from the beginning,
even if such a language be already, antiquated and strange to the people,
for it is wholly enough, if the learned men understand it.
-Pope Benedict XIV
Bible Quote
41 The men of Ninive shall rise in judgment with this generation, and
shall
condemn it: because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas. And behold
a
greater than Jonas here. (Matthew 12:41)
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A prayer in examination of conscience:
Oh My God, I cry to Thee with the prodigal son: "Father, I
have sinned against heaven and before Thee; I am no longer
worthy to be called Thy son." Thou whose property is always
to have mercy and to spare the penitent, meet me in pity,
embrace me in love, and forgiveth all my sins. I confess my
sins unto Thee, O Christ, Healer of our souls, Lord of Life.
Heal me of my spiritual sickness, Thou Who art long-
suffering and of tender mercy; heal me, O Lord Christ. Thou,
O God, seest me in all the foulness of my sins! Blessed
Jesus, speak for me, plead for me, come between my soul and
my offended God, that I perish not. Maketh the multitude of
my sins manifest to me, so that I may make a worthy and
complete Confession of them, thus by Thy mercy allowing
me to regain a state of grace and with that Thy most precious
blessing. Father, Son and Holy Ghost! have mercy on me, a
sinner. Amen.
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