Friday, August 15
Even More Occulted Saints!
Bl. Isidore Bakanja, Martyr of the Scapular
Since Emily and Dan have done so admirably in digging up the saints occulted by this feast day, I feel obliged to have a bit of hagiographical fun as well, lest my fellow Whappers think I'm losing my touch! Today is also the feast day of St. Napoleon (or Neopolus) of Alexandria, an early martyr about which little is known, though his cult was heavily promoted in France during the years of his namesake's reign (surprise surprise). I've even seen some rather remarkable Bonapartist illustrations of him published after the restoration of Louis XVIII that show him with the facial features of the Corsican upstart. Rather a bit much, since Old Boney was excommunicated for his dealings with the Papal States. As a consequence, he seems to have become an unofficial patron of soldiers. Weird. Vive le vrai Roi tres chretien, à bas l'empereur!
Today, furthermore, recalls Bl. Isidore Bakanja, a Catholic African convert and devotee of the Scapular martyred by the Belgians during the darkest days of the Congo Free State. For attempting to disseminate Christianity among the African serfs (and thus awaken them to the missionaries' fight for justice and native rights), and for refusing to surrender his scapular, agents of the thuggish colonial administration had him beaten mercilessly with a spiked elephant-hide scourge and left him chained from a tree for days. A colonial inspector rescued him and took him home, and heard his tale just before two missionaries could give him the last rites on this day in 1909. Today is also the memorial of Bl. Claudio Grazotto, a Franciscan brother and well-known and talented sculptor of the first half of the twentieth century. Speaking as an artist, that's pretty darn cool.
Bl. Isidore Bakanja, Martyr of the Scapular
Since Emily and Dan have done so admirably in digging up the saints occulted by this feast day, I feel obliged to have a bit of hagiographical fun as well, lest my fellow Whappers think I'm losing my touch! Today is also the feast day of St. Napoleon (or Neopolus) of Alexandria, an early martyr about which little is known, though his cult was heavily promoted in France during the years of his namesake's reign (surprise surprise). I've even seen some rather remarkable Bonapartist illustrations of him published after the restoration of Louis XVIII that show him with the facial features of the Corsican upstart. Rather a bit much, since Old Boney was excommunicated for his dealings with the Papal States. As a consequence, he seems to have become an unofficial patron of soldiers. Weird. Vive le vrai Roi tres chretien, à bas l'empereur!
Today, furthermore, recalls Bl. Isidore Bakanja, a Catholic African convert and devotee of the Scapular martyred by the Belgians during the darkest days of the Congo Free State. For attempting to disseminate Christianity among the African serfs (and thus awaken them to the missionaries' fight for justice and native rights), and for refusing to surrender his scapular, agents of the thuggish colonial administration had him beaten mercilessly with a spiked elephant-hide scourge and left him chained from a tree for days. A colonial inspector rescued him and took him home, and heard his tale just before two missionaries could give him the last rites on this day in 1909. Today is also the memorial of Bl. Claudio Grazotto, a Franciscan brother and well-known and talented sculptor of the first half of the twentieth century. Speaking as an artist, that's pretty darn cool.
![[SMMMHDH]](http://www.mgilleland.com/music/smmmhdh.png){kind=small}
