Saint of the Day: Bl. Christian O’Conarchy

Bishop (d. 1186)

His life

+ Many traditions concerning the life of Blessed Christian have developed over the centuries.

+ Honored as a disciple and archdeacon of the Irish bishop Saint Malachy, he entered the Cistercian Abbey of Clairvaux after a pilgrimage to Rome.

+ Christian received the Cistercian habit from Saint Bernard and was in the novitiate with the man who was to become Blessed Pope Eugene III.

+ Saint Malachy was anxious to introduce Cistercian monasticism in Ireland and, to further this end, ordered the erection of the Abbey of Mellifont. In 1142, Saint Bernard sent Blessed Christian to serve as superior of this new community.

+ Some traditions maintain that Christian became the Bishop of Lismore and papal legate to Ireland. Blessed Christian O’Conarchy died in the year 1186.

For prayer and reflection

“As for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.”—Luke 8:15

Spiritual bonus

On this day we also remember Blessed Roger Wrenno. A layman in Lancashire, England, he ministered to fellow Catholics during the persecution of King James I. He was martyred on March 18, 1616, and was beatified with other martyrs from England, Scotland, and Wales in 1987.

Prayer

O God, who wonderfully numbered among your holy shepherds blessed Christian, a man aflame with divine charity and outstanding for that faith that overcomes the world, grant, we pray, that through his intercession we, too, persevering in faith and charity, may merit to be sharers of his glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal: Common of Pastors—For a Bishop)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.