Iglesia
de San Francisco, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Saint Pascal Baylon
Un des plus grands
thaumaturges du calendrier. Deux ans après sa mort on ouvrit son procès de
béatification. Fils d'un petit cultivateur, il avait été berger jusqu'à l'âge
de vingt-quatre ans. Il entra alors comme frère lai chez les Franciscains
alcantarins. A part ses miracles et des extases continuelles, sa vie religieuse
s'écoula heureuse et monotone. Il faisait ce qu'on lui disait, il allait où on
l'envoyait. Il habita dans diverses villes d'Espagne. En 1570, son provincial
l'envoya en mission à Paris d'où il revint l'épaule brisée, ayant été lapidé
par des huguenots à Orléans.
Saint Pascal Baylon
Frère mineur en
Espagne (+ 1592)
Pascal est né dans le
pays d'Aragon en Espagne, dans une famille de cultivateurs fort modestes.
Durant son enfance, tout en gardant les moutons, il se plongeait avec délices
dans la prière silencieuse qui lui donnait le désir de se consacrer à
Dieu. Mais n'étant pas accepté dans la vie religieuse à cause de son
manque d'instruction, il se place comme berger près du couvent pour participer
aux offices, au moins de loin, quand sonnait la cloche. Finalement, il put
entrer comme frère convers chez les franciscains et il y remplit la tâche de
portier. Il rayonnait par son amabilité et sa douceur envers tous ceux qui se
présentaient à la porte du couvent. Beaucoup de gens pour cette raison venaient
lui demander conseil, même des prédicateurs qui estimaient que sa théologie
était celle du cœur et non pas celle d'un intellectuel. Maltraité par les
Huguenots au cours d'une mission dans la France déchirée par les guerres de
religion, il leur pardonna en disant que c'est pour servir Dieu qu'ils
l'avaient ainsi traité. Il puisait sa force dans sa ferveur pour l'Eucharistie
et passait de longues heures en adoration silencieuse devant le Saint
Sacrement. Après sa mort, les miracles se multiplièrent sur sa tombe. Le Pape
Léon XIII le nomma patron des Congrès eucharistiques.
- Paroisse
Saint-Pascal-Baylon diocèse d'Ottawa , Canada
- site des Capucins,
Denver, Colorado, en anglais: May
17: St. Paschal Baylon
À Villa Réal, près de
Valence en Espagne, l'an 1592, saint Pascal Baylon, religieux de l'Ordre des
Mineurs, qui se montra toujours empressé et bienveillant envers tous et ne
cessa de vénérer avec un ardent amour le mystère de la Sainte Eucharistie.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1175/Saint-Pascal-Baylon.html
SAINT PASCAL BAYLON
de l'Ordre de
Saint-François
(1540-1592)
Saint Pascal Baylon
naquit en Espagne, le 17 mai 1540, d'humbles cultivateurs, riches des vertus
chrétiennes. Occupé dès l'âge de sept ans, à la garde des troupeaux, il passait
son temps en prières et en lectures; on dit que les Anges eux-mêmes lui
donnèrent des leçons.
Le petit Pascal se
plaisait surtout à réciter le Pater. Quoique pauvre, il trouvait le moyen de
faire l'aumône en donnant une partie de sa nourriture à ceux qui en avaient
besoin. Il était le modèle aimé et respecté de tous les bergers de la contrée.
Dans un âge si tendre, il connaissait l'usage assidu des cilices, des jeûnes,
des disciplines sanglantes; on le voyait marcher pieds nus à travers les ronces
et les épines, en expiation de ses péchés. Le maître chez qui ses parents
l'avaient placé voulait le faire héritier de tous ses biens, mais Pascal ne
convoitait que l'héritage de l'amour de Dieu et la pauvreté religieuse.
A vingt ans, il entra
chez les Franciscains, malgré les sollicitations de ses camarades, auxquels il
prouva la réalité de l'appel divin en frappant trois fois la terre avec sa
houlette et en faisant jaillir trois fontaines dans un lieu sec et aride.
Les vertus de l'enfant,
déjà si extraordinaires, devinrent dans le religieux, des vertus véritablement
merveilleuses. Son obéissance était aussi parfaite que possible. Traité rigoureusement
par son supérieur, il disait à ceux qui le plaignaient: "Taisez-vous: le
Saint-Esprit a parlé par la bouche de notre supérieur." Quand on lui
proposait de faire quelque chose, il disait souvent: "Je ferai comme
l'obéissance dira." Sa mortification était effrayante et ne le cédait en
rien à celle des anciens solitaires. Sa charité pour les pauvres, quand il
était portier, dépassait les limites; du moins ses supérieurs le blâmaient à ce
sujet; mais il leur répondait naïvement: "S'il se présente douze pauvres
et que je donne à dix, il est bien à craindre que l'un de ceux que je renvoie
ne soit précisément Jésus-Christ."
Pascal est célèbre par sa
dévotion à la Sainte Eucharistie; il passait des heures entières, souvent ravi
en Dieu, devant le Tabernacle, et parfois on le voyait suspendu en l'air par
l'effet du divin amour. Quand il ne pouvait être de corps devant le Très
Saint-Sacrement, il y était ordinairement en esprit. Pendant la Messe de ses
funérailles, on vit ses yeux s'ouvrir deux fois, à l'élévation de l'hostie et
du calice. En 1897, Léon XIII l'a déclaré Patron des Oeuvres eucharistiques.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie
des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950.
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_pascal_baylon.html
Saint Pascal Baylon
Saint Pascal Baylon
naquit le jour de Pâques 1540, à Torre-Hermosa, petit bourg du royaume
d'Aragon. Ses parents, Martin Baylon et Isabelle Jubera, étaient d'humbles
ouvriers agricoles, pauvres et vertueux. Dès ses premières années, sa mère qui
le menait fréquemment à l'église, lui apprit à adorer Jésus présent dans
l'Eucharistie. Un jour qu'il était disparu de la maison, ses parents le
retrouvèrent à l'église, le plus proche possible du tabernacle, si absorbé dans
sa prière qu'il ne s'aperçut pas du bruit qui se faisait autour de lui. Cette
ardente dévotion à l'Eucharistie devait constituer le trait distinctif de sa
piété.
Dès qu'il fut en âge de
pouvoir rendre service, son père le plaça comme berger chez un riche
propriétaire, Martinez Garcia, qui fut bon envers lui ; en revanche, Pascal
montra une grande docilité envers son maître. Déjà il manifestait un vif
attrait pour la solitude et la prière. S'étant procuré quelques livres de
piété, il se faisait apprendre à lire par des personnes de rencontre et apportait
une grande application à s'instruire des vérités de la religion.
Il avait aussi une
dévotion particulière envers le Sainte Vierge. Quand il le pouvait, il
conduisait son troupeau auprès du sanctuaire de Notre-Dame de la Sierra. Sur sa
houlette, il avait sculpté l'image de Notre-Dame, surmontée d'une hostie
rayonnante, afin d'avoir toujours sous les yeux le double objet de sa dévotion.
A genoux, au milieu des champs, devant sa houlette, il priait avec autant de
piété que s'il se fût trouvé à l'église. Tout ce qui se présentait à son regard
servait à exciter sa foi. Sans cesse il méditait sur les merveilles de la
création, et s'élevait, vers Dieu qu'il contemplait dans toutes ses œuvres. Il
eut plusieurs fois des ravissements et ne put pas toujours cacher aux yeux des
hommes les faveurs dont il était comblé par Dieu.
Tout pauvre qu'il fût,
Pascal trouvait cependant moyen de faire l'aumône, prenant pour assister les
malheureux sur ce qu’on lui fournissait pour assurer sa subsistance. Plein de
sollicitude pour le troupeau qui lui avait été confié, jamais on ne le vit
maltraiter ses brebis. Il veillait également avec soin à ne causer aucun
dommage dans les pâturages voisins ; si quelque dégât se produisait, il
indemnisait le propriétaire sur son propre salaire. Un jour qu'un propriétaire
lui refusa son argent, il l’aida à couper les blés jusqu'à concurrence du
dommage causé par ses bêtes. Son maître, ravi de cette conduite si sage et si
sainte, lui exprima souvent son contentement au point que n’ayant pas d’enfant,
il voulut adopter Pascal qui refusa de peur que les biens de la terre le
détournassent des biens du ciel.
Vers l'âge de vingt ans,
Pascal se sentait appelé à la vie religieuse, se rendit dans le royaume de
Valence pour rejoindre le couvent des franciscains « Soccolans [1] », construit
dans un lieu désert, près de la ville de Montforte. Son allure un peu gauche et
son accoutrement bizarre, mirent en défiance les supérieurs qui lui refusèrent
l'entrée du couvent. Il reprit alors son métier de berger chez des cultivateurs
du voisinage, sans s'éloigner pour ne pas perdre des vue le petit campanile du
couvent vers lequel se portaient ses aspirations, suivant par la pensée les
offices dont il entendait les sonneries, et s’unissant profondément à la messe.
Un jour que la cloche annonçait l'approche de 1'élévation, et qu’il était à
genoux une hostie lui apparut soutenue par deux anges.
Sa réputation de sainteté
se répandit dans toute la région et, lui ouvrit les portes du couvent. Le 2
février 1564, il reçut l'habit de Saint-François. Ses supérieurs, édifiés de
l'humble soumission avec laquelle il avait supporté ce temps d'épreuve,
voulurent le faire religieux de chœur, mais il refusa pour rester frère
convers, afin de remplir les offices les plus bas et les plus pénibles, et de
se sanctifier davantage dans l’humilité.
Il pratiqua la règle de
saint François dans toute sa rigueur, partageant son temps entre la prière et
le travail. Jamais on ne l'entendit se plaindre ni critiquer personne. Son
amour de la mortification lui faisait ajouter de nouvelles austérités à celles
de la règle. S'il lui arrivait de dépasser les limites de la prudence, cet
excès était compensé par sa pureté d'intention et le peu d'attache qu'il avait
à son propre sentiment ; dès que ses supérieurs le rappelaient à la modération,
il déférait à leur avis avec la plus humble soumission.
Pascal prononça ses vœux
perpétuels le jour de la Purification de la sainte Vierge de l'an 1565, n'ayant
pas encore vingt-cinq ans accomplis. Son père gardien aimait à dire qu'il
n'avait connu personne qui fût à la fois plus dur et plus doux que frère Pascal
: « plus dur à lui-même et plus doux pour les autres. » L'idéal qu'il se
proposait était d'avoir « pour Dieu un cœur de fils, pour le prochain un cœur
de mère, et pour lui-même un cœur de juge. »
Quand il changeait de
couvent [2], conformément à la coutume de son ordre qui veut ainsi prévenir les
attaches secrètes du cœur, on ne l'entendait jamais émettre la moindre plainte.
Il trouvait là une excellente occasion de se regarder comme un étranger sur la
terre. En quelque lieu qu'il allât, il était toujours le même, gai, doux,
affable et très déférent pour tous. Dans les différents couvents où il passait,
Pascal était ordinairement chargé de la porterie et du réfectoire, parce qu'on
le savait affable, discret, vigilant, actif et fidèle. Comme portier, il devait
distribuer aux pauvres les restes de la table des religieux, et pour que cette
aumône fût profitable à leur âme autant qu’à leur corps, il adopta l’usage de
prier avec eux avant et après chaque repas.
A l'ombre du cloître, son
amour pour la sainte Eucharistie grandit encore. Le plus souvent, quand ses
fonctions ne le retenaient pas ailleurs, on le trouvait à 1'église, tout
absorbé en Dieu. Le premier, il était debout au milieu de la nuit pour les
saintes veilles ; le dernier, il regagnait sa pauvre couche pour y prendre un
très court repos.
Pendant quelques temps
aussi, il remplit l'office de quêteur. Sa première visite, en arrivant dans un
village, était pour l'hôte divin du tabernacle. Et quand, le soir, il rentrait
au monastère, épuisé de fatigue, pour se dédommager de n'avoir pu passer auprès
de son bien-aimé tout le temps de ses courses, il consacrait une grande partie
de la nuit à l'adoration du Très Saint-Sacrement.
Le général de son ordre,
Christophe de Cheffontaines [3], étant à Paris, il fut député vers lui pour les
affaires de sa province. Il partit pour la France, sans se laisser effrayer par
les dangers qu'il aurait à affronter de la part des huguenots, maîtres de
presque toutes les villes qu'il lui fallait traverser. Maintes fois il fut
exposé à la fureur des hérétiques qui le poursuivirent à coups de pierres et de
bâton. C’est en une de ces occasions qu’il reçut à l’épaule une blessure dont
il souffrit tout le reste de sa vie. Deux fois il fut arrêté comme espion et
menacé de mort. Mais Dieu le délivra de tout danger.
Étant près d'Orléans, il
se vit environné d'une troupe de gens qui lui demandèrent s'il croyait que le
corps de Jésus-Christ était dans le sacrement de l'Eucharistie. Sur la réponse
qu'il leur fit, ils voulurent entrer en controverse avec lui, pour se donner le
plaisir de l'embarrasser par leurs subtilités. Mais quoiqu'il n'eût de la
science théologique qu'autant qu'il avait plu à Dieu de lui en communiquer par
infusion, et qu'il ne sût point d'autre langue que celle de son pays, il les
confondit de telle sorte, qu'ils ne purent lui répliquer qu'à coups de pierres.
Il en fut quitte pour quelques blessures dont une à la bouche qui lui donna
l’air d’un éternel sourire. Étant heureusement sorti de leurs mains, il passa
devant la porte d'un château où il demanda par aumône un morceau de pain, comme
il avait coutume de faire lorsqu'il était pressé par la faim. Le maître du lieu
était un gentilhomme huguenot, grand ennemi des catholiques, et il était à
table lorsqu'on lui dit qu'il y avait à la porte une espèce de moine en fort
mauvais équipage qui demandait l'aumône. Il le fit entrer, et après avoir
longtemps considéré son habit déchiré, et son visage basané, il jura que
c'était un espion espagnol, et il l’aurait tué si sa femme, qui en eut
compassion, ne l'eût fait secrètement mettre à la porte, mais sans songer à lui
donner un morceau de pain. Une pauvre femme catholique du village voisin lui
fit cette charité ; lorsqu'après avoir repris ses forces, il se croyait en
quelque sureté, il pensa être sacrifié de nouveau à la fureur de la populace
que son habit avait attirée. Un de la bande le saisit, sans s'expliquer sur ce
qu'il voulait faire, et le jeta dans une étable qu'il ferma à la clef. Pascal
se prépara toute la nuit à mourir le lendemain ; mais au lieu de la mort qu'il
attendait, celui qui l'avait renfermé vint lui apporter l'aumône, et le fit
sortir deux heures après le soleil levé.
Lorsqu'il se fut acquitté
de sa mission auprès de son général, Pascal retourna en Espagne. En chemin, il
vit venir à lui un cavalier qui, sans le saluer, lui mit la pointe de la lance
contre la poitrine, et lui demanda : « Où est Dieu ? » Pascal, sans s'effrayer,
mais aussi sans avoir le temps de réfléchir, lui répondit : « Dans le ciel » le
cavalier retira aussitôt sa lance, et partit sans rien dire de plus. Pascal,
d'abord étonné de cette conduite, la comprit en réfléchissant davantage : le
soldat l'avait épargné, parce qu'il s'était contenté de dire que Dieu est dans
le ciel ; s'il avait ajouté qu'il est aussi dans l’Eucharistie, il l'aurait
percé de sa lance. Pascal crut alors que Dieu l’avait jugé indigne de la
couronne du martyre. On ne l'entendit jamais parler des dangers qu'il avait
courus ; il se contentait de répondre en peu de mots aux questions qu’on lui
posait, en supprimant avec soin tout ce qui aurait pu lui attirer quelques
louanges.
Il passa les dernières
années de sa vie au couvent Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire de Villa-Réal, près de
Valence. Un jour, au cours du saint sacrifice de la messe, Dieu lui révéla sa
mort prochaine dont il conçut une vive joie. Quelques jours après, il tomba
gravement malade. Transporté à l’infirmerie, il y reçut les derniers sacrements
avec une tendre piété, et il s'endormit doucement dans le Seigneur en
prononçant le nom de Jésus. C'était le dimanche de la Pentecôte, l7 mai 1592,
au moment de l'élévation de la sainte hostie dans la chapelle du couvent.
De nombreux miracles,
accomplis à son sépulcre, y attirèrent de grands concours de peuple. Le 29
octobre 1618, le pape Paul V le déclara bienheureux et permit au royaume de
Valence de célébrer son office. En 162l, Grégoire XV accorda cette même faveur
à tous les religieux de l'ordre de Saint-François. Le 16 octobre 1690,
Alexandre VIII l'inscrivit au catalogue des saints. Enfin il fut proclamé
patron des congrès et œuvres eucharistiques, le 28 novembre l897, par Léon
XIII. Le 13 août 1936, sa tombe fut profanée par les communistes espagnols qui
brûlèrent sa dépouille incorrompue. Les ossements calcinés furent recueillis et
déposés dans une nouvelle châsse le 3 juin 1952.
[1] Les Soccolans ou les
Alcantarins, constituaient une réforme particulièrement austère des Franciscains
observants, faite par Pierre Garavito dit Pierre d’Alcantara. Pierre Garavito
né en 1499 à Alcantara (Estramadure) où son père était gouverneur. A quatorze
ans, il perdit son père, sa mère se remaria et il partit étudier les arts
libéraux, la philosophie et le droit canon à Salamanque où il décida d'entrer
chez les Frères Mineurs dont il reçut l'habit, en 1515, au couvent de Los
Majaretes. En 1519 il est choisi comme gardien du couvent de Badajoz ; ordonné
prêtre en 1524, il commença une si brillante carrière de prédicateur qu'on
l'appelât à la cour du Portugal. Élu provincial de son Ordre (province
Saint-Gabriel) en 1538, instaure un régime très austère et, son mandat terminé,
il se retire dans un désert, à l'embouchure du Tage, où il fonde un couvent d'ermites
(1542). Rappelé dans sa province (1544), il y fonde, près de Lisbonne, un
couvent qui sera le germe d'une province nouvelle (1550). Lors d'un voyage à
Rome, il reçoit l'approbation de Jules III pour expérimenter une réforme
radicale, sous la juridiction des mineurs observants dont le commissaire
général le nomme commissaire général des mineurs réformés d'Espagne (1556) ;
Paul IV lui donne tous pouvoirs pour ériger de nouveaux couvents (1559).
[2] Outre Montforte,
Pascal Baylon fut dans les couvents d’Elche, de Jumilla, d’Almanza, de Jativa
et de Valence.
[3] Christophe de
Cheffontaines, né près de Saint-Pol-de-Léon, entra chez les frères mineurs de
l'observance, au couvent de Cuburien prés Morlaix. Ordonné prêtre, il devint
bien vite un prédicateur célèbre qui fut appelé à prêcher à Paris. Pour
combattre les protestants, il ne reculait ni devant les nouveautés et ni devant
les témérités. Après avoir rempli diverses charges dans sa province religieuse
de Bretagne, il fut élu ministre général de son ordre par le chapitre réuni à
Rome en 1571. Il gouverna pendant huit ans, consacrés en grande partie a la
visite des couvents en différents pays. Quand il quitta sa charge, il fut créé
archevêque de Césarée et donné pour auxiliaire au cardinal de Pellevé, archevêque
de Sens. Il écrivit beaucoup mais la nouveauté de ses opinions le fit appeler à
Rome en 1586, pour y demeurer à la disposition du Saint-Office. Trois de ses
livres furent alors absolument condamnés et les autres interdits. C’est de là
sans doute que provient l'obscurité qui entoure ses dernières années.
Christophe de Cheffontaines mourut à Rome, le 26 mai 1595, âgé de 63 ans, au
couvent de Saint-Pierre in Montorio, où aucun monument ne conserve sa mémoire.
Prière
Ce qu’il y eut
d’admirable, Seigneur, en votre serviteur saint Pascal Baylon, c’est qu’il eut
pour votre Corps et votre Sang un respect, un amour, une faim et une soif
incomparables. Puissions-nous, Seigneur, désirer comme lui votre Eucharistie,
et nous en retirer comblés et ivres de joie. Nous vous le demandons par
Jésus-Christ, votre fils unique, notre Seigneur et notre Dieu, qui vit et règne
avec vous, dans l'unité du Saint-Esprit, pour les siècles des siècles.
- Amen.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/05/17.php
Jerónimo Jacinto Espinosa, San Pascual Baylón, XVII e siècle, 206 x 144, Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña
St Pascal Baylon,
confesseur
Déposition à Villa-Real
près de Valence en 1592. Canonisé en 1690. Fête en 1784. Patron de toutes les
œuvres eucharistiques sous Léon XIII
Leçons des Matines avant
1960
Quatrième leçon. Pascal
Baylon, né de parents pauvres et pieux dans le bourg de Torre-Hermosa, au
diocèse de Siguenza en Aragon, donna dès ses plus tendres années de nombreux
indices de sa sainteté future. Son âme était portée au bien et remplie
d’attraits pour les choses célestes ; il passa son enfance et son adolescence à
garder les troupeaux ; il aimait particulièrement ce genre de vie, parce qu’il
le trouvait propre et favorable à la pratique de l’humilité et surtout à la
conservation de l’innocence. Sobre dans sa nourriture, assidu à la prière, il
avait une telle autorité et possédait à un si haut degré la confiance de ses
compagnons, comme de tous ceux qui l’entouraient, qu’il accommodait leurs
différends, corrigeait leurs fautes, éclairait leur ignorance et stimulait leur
indolence, en sorte qu’ils l’honoraient et l’aimaient comme leur père et leur
maître, et que la plupart d’entre eux avaient même déjà coutume de l’appeler le
bienheureux.
Cinquième leçon. Cette
fleur des vallées, qui avait grandi si heureusement dans la terre déserte et
aride du siècle, exhala autour d’elle un admirable parfum de sainteté, dès
qu’elle fut plantée dans la maison du Seigneur. Pascal ayant donc embrassé un genre
de vie plus sévère, et étant entré dans l’Ordre des Frères Mineurs déchaussés
de la stricte observance, s’élança comme un géant pour parcourir sa carrière.
Se livrant tout entier au culte du Seigneur, il songeait jour et nuit aux
moyens de se rendre de plus en plus conforme à son divin Maître. Aussi bientôt
les plus anciens religieux se proposèrent d’imiter Pascal, le considérant comme
un modèle de la perfection séraphique. Mais lui, placé dans l’humble rang des
Frères destinés à servir, s’estimant le rebut de tous, recevait avec la plus
grande joie les tâches les plus pénibles et les plus abjectes de la maison,
comme si elles lui eussent été spécialement dues, et faisait paraître dans leur
accomplissement autant d’humilité que de patience. Il affligea sa chair par une
mortification continuelle, aussi longtemps qu’elle tenta de se révolter contre
l’esprit, et la réduisit ainsi en servitude. Par une incessante abnégation de
lui-même, il augmentait de jour en jour la ferveur de son âme.
Sixième leçon. Pascal
s’était mis, dès son enfance, sous la protection de la Vierge Mère de Dieu ; il
l’honorait comme sa mère par des hommages quotidiens, et l’invoquait avec une
confiance filiale. Il serait difficile de dire quelle était l’ardeur et la
tendresse de sa dévotion envers le très saint Sacrement de l’Eucharistie ; il
sembla même, après sa mort, qu’elle persévérait encore dans son corps privé de
vie : étendu dans son cercueil, il ouvrit et ferma les yeux deux fois au moment
de l’élévation de la sainte Hostie, à la grande admiration de tous ceux qui
étaient présents. Ayant professé publiquement et ouvertement, devant les
hérétiques, la croyance à la présence réelle, il eut à souffrir beaucoup de
mauvais traitements ; on le chercha même à bien des reprises pour le faire
mourir, mais la providence de Dieu l’arracha aux mains des impies. Dans
l’oraison il était souvent privé du sentiment des choses extérieures, et il
languissait dans une extase d’amour. On pense que ce fut en ces moments que cet
homme simple et illettré puisa la science céleste qui le rendit capable de
répondre sur les mystères les plus obscurs de la foi, et d’écrire même quelques
ouvrages. Enfin Pascal, plein de mérites, s’en alla heureusement au Seigneur, à
l’heure même qu’il avait prédite, l’an du salut mil cinq cent quatre-vingt
douze, le seize des calendes de juin, le jour de la Fête de la Pentecôte, jour
auquel il était né : il était âgé de cinquante-deux ans. Célèbre par les vertus
dont nous avons parlé et par d’autres encore, illustre par ses miracles aussi
bien pendant sa vie qu’après sa mort. Pascal fut déclaré Bienheureux par le
Souverain Pontife Paul V, et Alexandre VIII l’a inscrit au catalogue des
Saints. Enfin Léon XIII l’a déclaré et constitué le céleste Patron des Congrès
eucharistiques et de toutes les Associations du Saint Sacrement, instituées
jusqu’ici ou devant l’être à l’avenir.
Dom Guéranger, l’Année
Liturgique
Le séraphin d’Assise ne
pouvait manquer de députer quelques-uns de ses fils au-devant de son Maître
ressuscité. Aujourd’hui c’est un des plus humbles et des plus ignorés du monde
qu’il lui envoie ; dans trois jours un autre s’avancera chargé des palmes
évangéliques, puissant en œuvres et en paroles. Pascal Baylon est l’enfant de
la vie champêtre ; c’est en gardant son troupeau qu’il a trouvé le Seigneur
Jésus. L’attrait de la contemplation s’est déclaré en lui ; les campagnes et
les forêts lui ont révélé leur créateur, et dans son désir de l’approcher de
plus près, il a voulu le suivre jusque dans les hauteurs de la plus sublime
perfection. Il a convoité comme un trésor l’humilité de l’Homme-Dieu, sa vie
pauvre et souffrante ; et c’est vers le cloître franciscain qu’il s’est dirigé.
Sur cette terre bénie il a fleuri comme un arbre du ciel, et le monde entier a
entendu parler de l’humble frère lai qu’abrita un obscur couvent espagnol. La
sainte Église nous le montre en ce jour ravi dans la contemplation du triomphe
de son Maître. Avec Jésus il a marché dans la voie de l’humiliation et de la
croix ; n’est-il pas juste qu’il ait part aussi à la victoire de ce divin chef
? N’était-il pas présent à la pensée du Rédempteur lorsqu’il disait : « A vous
qui êtes demeurés avec moi dans mes épreuves, mon Père a préparé un royaume où
vous mangerez et boirez avec moi à ma table, et vous serez assis sur des trônes
pour juger les douze tribus d’Israël ? [1]. » Ainsi la Pâque du temps se
résoudra dans la Pâque éternelle. Priez, ô Pascal, afin qu’à votre exemple nous
tenions ferme ce que nous possédons déjà par la grâce de notre divin Ressuscité.
[1] Luc. XXII, 28-30.] »
Les cieux se sont ouverts
pour vous recevoir, ô Pascal ! Des ici-bas, l’ardeur de votre contemplation
vous fit souvent pressentir les délices de l’éternité ; mais aujourd’hui tous
les voiles sont abaissés, et vous contemplez pour jamais celui que vous avez
tant désiré. Il ne s’agit plus pour vous de s’unir à lui par la souffrance et
les abaissements ; c’est sa propre gloire, sa félicité, sa victoire, qu’il vous
invite à partager. Daignez jeter un regard sur nous qui n’avons pas votre
empressement à suivre les traces du Rédempteur, et qui ne possédons encore que
l’espérance d’être réunis à lui dans son éternité. Soutenez notre faiblesse, et
obtenez-nous cet amour qui fait aller droit à Jésus, qui passe par-dessus les
obstacles de la chair et du sang, et établit l’homme dans une parfaite
conformité avec son modèle divin Faites-nous aspirera la transformation en
Jésus ressuscité, qui ne peut plus mourir. Les arrhes de cette transformation
sont déjà en nous par la communion au mystère pascal ; qu’elles se complètent
par notre fidélité à nous tenir près de notre chef triomphant. S’il nous laisse
encore dans la vallée des larmes, son œil nous suit, son amour aspire à nous
voir fidèles ; encore un peu de temps, et il paraîtra. « Voici que j’arrive
vite, nous dit-il ; tiens ferme ce que tu as reçu ; je suis à la porte, et je
frappe déjà. Celui qui entendra ma voix et m’ouvrira la porte, j’entrerai près
de lui, et je ferai festin avec lui, et lui avec moi [Apoc. III, 11, 20.
Bhx Cardinal
Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
Saint pascal baylon,
Serafico in ardore [2] (+ 1592) continue vraiment la tradition hagiographique
de l’Ordre des Mineurs, et mérite d’être considéré comme l’un des plus
illustres modèles de la dévotion au Saint-Sacrement. On peut lui appliquer ce
verset du Psalmiste : Cor meum et caro mea exultaverunt in Deum vivum ; car,
même après sa mort, son corps tressaillit et ses yeux s’ouvrirent dans un acte
d’adoration, quand, à la messe, le prêtre éleva la sainte Hostie.
Sa fête date du temps de
Pie VI. La messe est du Commun : Os iusti, sauf la première collecte qui est
propre.
A Rome, deux églises
portent le nom de cet humble frère lai, que le Saint-Siège a déclaré céleste
Patron de tous les congrès et assemblées eucharistiques. La première de ces
églises s’élève près du titulus Callisti ; elle avait été primitivement dédiée
aux Quarante Martyrs de Sébaste, mais vers 1735, les Alcantarins espagnols y
unirent, en lui donnant la préséance, le nom de leur célèbre compatriote. La
seconde se trouve près de la basilique de Sainte-Cécile, et une maison
religieuse y est annexée.
Prière. — « O Dieu qui
avez orné votre confesseur Pascal d’un tendre amour envers les saints mystères
de votre Corps et de votre Sang ; accordez-nous de retirer de ce divin banquet
cette même ferveur spirituelle qu’il en rapportait. Par notre Seigneur, etc. »
De même que l’aimant
attire le fer, qu’ainsi Jésus-Eucharistie attire nos âmes. Qu’une force
irrésistible nous pousse sans cesse vers le tabernacle, sans que nous puissions
trouver de repos ailleurs qu’aux pieds du Roi de gloire, caché pour notre amour
sous les voiles de l’Hostie.
[2] Dante, Le
Paradis, XI, 37. Ces mots s’appliquent à saint François d’Assise dans le texte
de la Divine Comédie.
Dom Pius Parsch, le Guide
dans l’année liturgique
Puissions-nous recevoir
dans la sainte communion l’abondance de l’Esprit.
Saint Pascal. — Jour de
mort : 17 mai 1592. Tombeau : dans l’église des Clarisses à Villaréal, près de
Valence. Image : On le représente en franciscain ; devant — lui, apparaît le
calice surmonté de l’hostie. Vie : Pascal Baylon, le simple et le pieux petit
berger qui fut plus tard le séraphique fils de saint François et en qui nous
saluons aujourd’hui le patron du culte eucharistique, compte parmi les saints
du temps de la Réforme. Il est un de ces hommes de Dieu qui, par leur admirable
sainteté, rendirent à l’Église les pierres précieuses que les novateurs
d’Allemagne avaient fait tomber de sa couronne. Il naquit dans la campagne de
Valence et mourut à l’âge de 52 ans. Comme il était déjà mou et couché sur le
brancard mortuaire, il ouvrit et ferma deux fois les yeux à l’Élévation de la
sainte hostie. Léon XIII le proclama patron des congrès eucharistiques et des
confréries du Saint-Sacrement.
Pratique : «
Puissions-nous recevoir dans la sainte communion l’abondance de l’Esprit »,
lisons-nous dans l’oraison du jour. Celui qui veut vivre avec l’Église doit
faire de la sainte Eucharistie le centre de sa vie. Il faut participer de la manière
la plus active possible au sacrifice qu’offre le prêtre et communier en union
avec le prêtre.
La messe (Os justi) est
du commun des confesseurs.
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/17-05-St-Pascal-Baylon-confesseur
Saint Pascal Baylon (1540
– 1592)
LEÇON DU BRÉVIAIRE ROMAIN
Pascal Baylon, né de
parents pauvres et pieux, dans le bourg de Torre-Hermosa, en Aragon, passa son
enfance et son adolescence à garder les troupeaux. Ayant ensuite embrassé une
règle de vie sévère, en entrant dans l'ordre des Frères Mineurs, il songeait
nuit et jour aux moyens de se rendre de plus en plus conforme au Christ
crucifié. Il s'était mis, dès son enfance, sous la protection de la Vierge,
Mère de Dieu. Il lui rendait chaque jour, comme à une mère, un culte filial.
Envers l'Eucharistie, il brûlait d'un sentiment d'amour, tendre et continuel,
qu'il sembla garder après sa mort. Étendu dans son cercueil, il ouvrit et ferma
deux fois les yeux pour l'élévation de la sainte Hostie, à la grande admiration
de tous les assistants. Plein de mérites il s'en fut au Seigneur, l'an quinze
cent quatre-vingt-douze. Léon XIII l'a déclaré et constitué Patron céleste tout
spécial des Congrès eucharistiques et de toutes les associations du
Saint-Sacrement.
SOURCE : http://www.icrsp.org/Calendriers/Le%20Saint%20du%20Jour/pascal_baylon.htm
Panel
cerámico devocional de San Pascual y Nuestra Señora del Lledó ubicado en la
calle Amadeo I esquina San Vicente de Castellón de la Plana (Comunidad
Valenciana, España).
Devotional
ceramic panel of Saint Paschal and Our Lady of Lledó located on Amadeo I street
corner San Vicente in Castellón de la Plana (Valencian Community, Spain).
Panel
ceràmic devocional de Sant Pasqual i la Mare de Déu del Lledó ubicat al carrer
del Amadeu I cantonada amb Sant Vicent de Castelló de la Plana (Comunitat
Valenciana, Espanya).
Saint Pascal Baylon
Pascal est né dans
le pays d'Aragon en Espagne, dans une famille de cultivateurs fort modestes.
Durant son enfance, tout en gardant les moutons, il se plongeait avec délices
dans la prière silencieuse qui lui donnait le désir de se consacrer à Dieu.
Mais n'étant pas accepté dans la vie religieuse à cause de son manque
d'instruction, il se place comme berger près du couvent pour participer aux
offices, au moins de loin, quand sonnait la cloche. Finalement, il put entrer
comme frère convers chez les franciscains et il y remplit la tâche de portier.
Il rayonnait par son amabilité et sa douceur envers tous ceux qui se
présentaient à la porte du couvent. Beaucoup de gens pour cette raison venaient
lui demander conseil, même des prédicateurs qui estimaient que sa théologie
était celle du coeur et non pas celle d'un intellectuel. Maltraité par les
Huguenots au cours d'une mission dans la France déchirée par les guerres de
religion, il leur pardonna en disant que c'est pour servir Dieu qu'ils
l'avaient ainsi traité. Il puisait sa force dans sa ferveur pour l'Eucharistie
et passait de longues heures en adoration silencieuse devant le Saint
Sacrement. Après sa mort, les miracles se multiplièrent sur sa tombe.
SOURCE : http://www.peintre-icones.fr/PAGES/CALENDRIER/Mai/17.html
Also
known as
Paschal
Profile
Son of the pious peasants Martin
Baylon and Elizabeth Jubera. From youth he displayed great devotion to
the Eucharist.
Worked as a shepherd from
ages 7 to 24, and was a good influence on his shepherd friends,
an often rowdy group. Franciscan lay
brother with friars of the Alcantarine Reform, often serving
as cook or doorkeeper.
His charity to
the poor and afflicted,
his unfailing courtesy and humility were remarkable even by Franciscan standards.
While travelling in France,
he defended the Real Presence against the blasphemies of a Calvinist preacher,
and narrowly escaped death at
the hands of a Huguenot mob.
Poorly educated,
he was still a counselor sought by rich and poor alike.
His cultus is
especially strong in Spain and
southern Italy,
in Central and South
America.
Born
24
May 1540 (feast of Pentecost)
at Torre Hermosa, Aragon,
(modern Spain)
15
May 1592 (feast of Pentecost)
at Villa Reale, Spain of
natural causes
29
October 1618 by Pope Paul
V
16
October 1690 by Pope Alexander
VIII
Eucharistic
congresses and organizations (proclaimed by Pope Leo
XIII on 28
November 1897)
–
Obado,
Bulacan, Philippines
Segorbe-Castellón
de la Plana, Spain, diocese of
man in adoration before a
vision of the Host
Storefront
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Ramsgate
Catholic
Encyclopedia, by Oswald Staniforth
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saint
Paschal Baylon, Man of the Eucharist, by Father Elgar
Mindorff
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
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Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
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Patron Saints and Their Feast Days, Australian Catholic Truth Society
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MLA
Citation
“Saint Pascal
Baylon“. CatholicSaints.Info. 17 May 2021. Web. 17 May 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-pascal-baylon/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-pascal-baylon/
_-_San_Pasquale_Bajlon_-_Marchi%C3%B2_Molziner.jpg)
St. Pascal Baylon
Born at Torre-Hermosa, in
the Kingdom
of Aragon, 24 May, 1540, on the Feast of Pentecost, called
in Spain "the Pasch of
the Holy Ghost", whence the name Pascal; died at Villa Reale, 15 May,
1592, on Whitsunday.
His parents, Martin Baylon
and Elizabeth Jubera, were virtuous peasants. The child
began very early to display signs of that surpassing devotion towards
the Holy
Eucharist, which forms the salient feature of his character. From his
seventh to his twenty-fourth year, he led the life of a shepherd, and during
the whole of that period exercised a salutary influence upon his
companions. He was then received as a lay
brother amongst the Franciscan friars of
the Alcantarine Reform. In the cloister,
Paschal's life of contemplation and self-sacrifice fulfilled the
promise of his early years. His charity to the poor and
afflicted, and his unfailing courtesy were remarkable. On one occasion, in the
course of a journey through France,
he triumphantly defended the dogma of
the Real
Presence against the blasphemies of
a Calvinist preacher,
and in consequence, narrowly escaped death at the hands of a Huguenot mob.
Although poorly educated,
his counsel was sought for by people of every station in life, and he was on
terms of closest friendship with personages of eminent sanctity.
Pascal was beatified in
1618, and canonized in
1690. His cultus has flourished particularly in his native land and in
Southern Italy,
and it was widely diffused in Southern and Central America, through
the Spanish Conquests. In
his Apostolic letter, Providentissimus Deus, Leo
XIII declared St. Pascal the
especial heavenly protector of all Eucharistic
Congresses and Associations. His feast is
kept on 17 May. The saint is usually depicted in
adoration before a vision of the Host.
Staniforth,
Oswald. "St. Pascal Baylon." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1911.16 May
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11512a.htm>.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1911. Remy
Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop
of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11512a.htm
St. Paschal Baylon
From his childhood Saint Paschal seems to have been marked out for the service
of God. Amid his daily labors as a shepherd, he found time to instruct and
evangelize the rude herdsmen who kept their flocks on the hills of Aragon. At
the age of twenty-four he entered the reformed Franciscan Order near the town
of Monfort, Spain, where he remained, out of humility, a simple lay brother,
occupying himself by preference with the roughest and most servile tasks.
He was distinguished by his ardent devotion and love for the Blessed Sacrament.
He would spend hours on his knees before the tabernacle, often being raised
from the ground in the fervor of his prayer. And there, from the authentic and
eternal Truth, he drew such stores of wisdom that, unlettered as he was, he was
considered by all a master in theology and spiritual science.
Shortly after his profession he was sent to Paris on business connected with
his Order. The journey was full of perils, owing to the hostility of the
Huguenots, who were numerous at the time in the south of France; and on four
separate occasions Paschal was in imminent danger of death at their hands.
Twice he was taken for a spy; but it was not God’s will that His servant should
obtain the crown of martyrdom which he so earnestly desired, though he regarded
himself as unworthy of it. He returned in safety to his convent, where he would
later die in the odor of sanctity in 1592.
Multitudes witnessed the miracles which took place during the three days his
body was exposed for veneration. He was canonized in 1690, and in 1897 declared
patron of all Eucharistic congresses and confraternities.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/saint-paschal-baylon/
St. Paschal Baylon {1540
- 1592}
Paschal was born in the
little village of Torre Hermosa, Spain. He was given the name of Paschal
because he was born on Whit-Sunday, which in Spain is called the “Pasch of the
Holy Ghost.” He came into the world during the time of the Protestant
Reformation, when many Catholics lost their Faith, revolted against the
Catholic Church, and left the Catholic Church.
The boy’s parents were
poor peasants, but they were rich in the Catholic Faith. Even though they did
not have much in worldly goods, they were full of Charity and gave much to the
poor. His father, Martin, and his mother, Elizabeth, had a great love for Jesus
in the Blessed Sacrament.
With such good parents,
Pascal grew in holiness and love of God. The first words that he pronounced
with his baby lips were the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. The first time his
mother carried him to Holy Mass, the little fellow kept looking at the Sacred
Host. At the elevation of the Host, Paschal’s body shook and from then on, he
had a great love for the Church and the Altar.
One day little Paschal
was lost, and his parents feared that he had been stolen by the gypsies.
Elizabethran through the streets looking for her baby. She decided to look in
the Church and there she saw Paschal climbing up the Altar steps on his knees!
He had crawled to the Church, for he could not walk, and was looking at the
Tabernacle. The little boy truly loved God.
When Paschal was seven
years old, he became a shepherd and looked after his father’s sheep. His
parents had two older children as well, but they needed all the help they could
get. The young boy loved this work. It gave him a chance to be alone with God.
He had no schooling and could not read or write. One time he got hold of a book
of the “Little Office of the Blessed Virgin,” and begged all those who passed
by to give him a little lesson in reading. He learned to write in the same way,
by asking people to help him.
St. Paschal loved to pray
at a shrine of Our Lady, which was near the place he pastured his sheep. When
he went to other areas, he carried his staff, which had an image of Our Lady
and three crosses on top of it. Then when he wanted to pray, he would use his
staff as a shrine and stick it in the ground.
Some of Paschal’s fellow
shepherds were not very pious. They often spoke bad language. But when they
were in Paschal’s presence, they learned to hold their tongue. They respected
his holiness, his purity, and his other virtues.
The shepherd life was
helping the boy to become a saint but it was not an easy life. He was out in
the heat or cold, day and night. He fasted often, slept on the hard ground and
went barefoot over thorns and stones! He lived on the poorest food and always
shared that food with the most needy. Paschal also made rosaries with knotted
rope and gave them to his fellow shepherds.
In time, God provided
Paschal with a very dear friend named John Apparicio, who was also a shepherd.
They would meet each morning, and while tending their flocks, they would talk
to each other about the things of God, the sorrows of this world, and the
happiness of Heaven. Paschal would often play on a small type of guitar and
sing hymns to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
One evening Paschal told
John that he longed to quite this job and become a religious. “An excellent
idea,” John said, “Why not go to the Cistercian Monastery, nearby? You would be
in your own part of the country, and could work out your salvation quietly and
easily there.”
“No, no,” Paschal cried,
“I want to go far away, where nobody will know me. I am looking for some place
where I can live in poverty and complete abandonment into the hands of God!”
John quickly understood.
A short time later,
Paschal told his friend that while he was praying a Franciscan Friar and a
Sister appeared to him and invited him to enter religion. Many writers believe
that it was St. Francis and St. Clare.
Not long afterwards,
Paschal worked a miracle. It was very hot and John and his friend were not able
to find any good water. Suddenly, St. Paschal got an inspiration! He took his
staff and struck the ground with it. Suddenly a fountain of water gushed out.
Paschal told his friend, “In future when you want a drink, you need only strike
the ground with your staff like I did and water will come.” They drank and
washed, and ate their meal in silence.
Shortly afterwards,
Paschal showed up in a different outfit. Under his shepherd’s cloak he wore a
light grey tunic with a cord around his waist. Around his neck, he wore a large
Rosary and a sombrero. St. Paschal read John’s thoughts, “Our Lord has again
sent a Friar from Heaven to urge me to quit the world and enter religion. As
you may see it, is high time to answer this call and to promise myself to the
Divine Master! Good-bye my friend.” They shook hands, embraced, and the holy
youth was on his way.
Paschal, now eighteen
went to Valencia and applied at the Monastery of the Franciscan Friars of
Reform. The Monks refused him because he was so young and because they did not
think that he would make a very good monk.
The saint did not worry.
For the present, he decided to become a shepherd again. A man called Martin
Garcia hired him. He continued his prayers out in the fields, as he had done
before. His greatest joy was to assist at Mass at the Monastery, where he
prayed more like an Angel than a human. When it was impossible for him to go to
Mass on a weekday, he would follow the Holy Sacrifice by the sound of the
bells, while he watched his sheep.
One day a great miracle
happened. St. Paschal was out in the fields with his sheep and unable to go to
Mass at the Monastery. While he was waiting for the sound of the Consecration
Bell, in his longing to be present at the Holy sacrifice of the Mass, he cried
out, “My Master, My adorable Master, Oh that I might see Thee!” Suddenly he saw
the Angels bowed down before a Chalice, with the Blessed Sacrament floating
above it. In the Divine Presence of Our Lord, Paschal fell flat on his face and
adored God. Then taking courage he gazed upon the beautiful vision.
Wanting to share his
vision with the other shepherds he ran to them crying, “Kneel Down! Kneel Down!
Do you not see on high the golden Chalice and the bright rays darting from the
Host?” and he pointed towards the vision. “It is the Blessed Sacrament of the
Altar. The Angels are adoring It. Come let us join our adoration to theirs!”
The shepherds fell pun their knees in adoration. But even though they could not
see what St. Paschal saw they knew that he was telling the truth. This vision
happened many times as the days passed by, and Paschal was able to enjoy its
beauty.
Martin Garcia and his
wife greatly admired Paschal, for they knew that he was good and virtuous. One
day Martin spoke to the holy youth, “My wife and I are getting old and we have
no children. We would like to adopt you as our son. You could forget about
being a shepherd and come and live with us in town. Then when we die, you shall
obtain all that is ours.”
Paschal replied, “I am
very grateful for your kindness, but I wish to become a monk and I want to live
far away from all worldly things.” Martin understood. He now had an even
greater respect for the youth. From then on, Paschal was treated in the house,
like one of the family.
In time, the Franciscans
allowed Paschal to join them. He was humble, obedient, and fervent in all his
duties. Paschal’s motto was, “Whoever wants to save his soul, must have three
hearts in one: He must have the heart of a Son towards God, he must have the
heart of a mother towards his neighbour, and he must have the heart of a judge
towards himself.”
St. Paschal would not
take much sleep and would spend the time before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
He loved Jesus with all his heart. He would kneel without moving and remain
with his eyes looking at the tabernacle. One Holy Thursday, he was
concentrating so much on his meditation of the Blessed Sacrament, that he
remained kneeling in the same position for five hours!
Paschal loved all the
monks in the monastery. He also had a very great love for the poor. The saint
was given the job of being Porter (door keeper) for the monastery. The crowds
of poor grew in number, when they saw that Brother Paschal was their true
friend, and that who loved to help them.
The Brother Gardener
often scolded St. Paschal for taking the vegetables from the monastery garden,
and giving them to the poor. On one occasion Paschal said, “Calm yourself
brother! Our Lord will provide for us and the vegetables will grow up again!”
That night a miracle took place. The vegetables that had been pulled up in the
evening, sprung up again during the night. In the morning, the garden looked as
if it had never been touched!
The next morning the
Brother Gardener saw the garden, and asked St. Paschal for an explanation. “Let
us praise God’s goodness,” said Paschal. “God wanted to console the poor sick
people so He caused the vegetables to spring up during the night! God can
create anything in an instant!” The Brother Gardener was not fooled. He
believed that Paschal had prayed and done penance, so that God would perform
the miracle in the garden.
St. Paschal loved the
sick. When he saw how they suffered, he would cry with them and console them.
Br. Paschal would often go out begging for food. When people would see him,
they would often show him a house where a sick person was lying and waiting for
him. Upon entering the sickroom, the holy Brother would humbly pray, “May
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Joachim, Anne and Catherine cure you of every ill and
deliver you from all pain.”
Paschal went to a house
one day, begging for food. When he entered, he noticed that a little girl had
sores all around her neck. He passed his hand lightly over the child’s neck,
and three days later the girl was completely cured.
Another time a woman had
an infection in her jaw. When she saw St. Paschal, she begged him for a
miracle. The holy brother said that he was a poor sinner and not worthy to cure
her. The woman did not give up. She grabbed Paschal’s hand and held it to her
jaw. She was instantly cured!
St. Paschal was also an
Angel of Peace. He was able to destroy hatred and get the worst enemies to
forgive and forget. In one case, the father of a family was murdered. His
youngest son Martin hated the men who killed his father and told others that he
would kill them when he was older.
One Good Friday morning,
a priest was carrying a crucifix and leading the people in procession, through
the streets. The priest tried to convert Martin but he refused to listen.
Suddenly St. Paschal stepped forward. “My son,” he said in a sorrowful tone,
“You have just seen the Crucifix. For the love of Jesus Crucified, my son,
forgive the ones who killed your father.” The young man was converted on the
spot. Ashamed and weeping, he said, “Yes, Father, I will do so. I forgive them
with all my heart for the love of God.
Paschal was very strict
with himself. Here are some ideas of his rules :
1. I should think of
myself as a rotting, smelling, dead person.
2. If anyone hurts me, I
deserve it, because I am a sinner. They can tear out my eyes, cut off my ears
and tongue, and injure my whole body.
3. I should not be angry
if others think the same, about these two points. I should think it a favour,
if I am told to do penance and make sacrifices.
4. If I get discouraged
when doing penance or making sacrifices, I should think of Jesus who was innocent
and suffered because He loved me.
St. Paschal did much
penance. He slept in the cold and would not give himself much rest. He wore a
habit that was patched all over. And under his habit he wore an outfit of steel
and iron, something like a knight would wear in battle. Sometimes he wore a
tunic lined with rough pig hair, and at other times he wore a coat with steel
spikes! On great feast days, he covered his body with chains, collars and other
rough things, so that he could suffer for God.
The holy monk lived
mostly on bread and water for almost ten years. On Sundays he would eat a few
boiled vegetables, which had been soaked in water with a terrible smelling
weed, called wormwood. Sometimes he ate scraps from the kitchen, or some soup
that was, from the day before.
St. Paschal also did some
traveling to some far away places. Fr. Christopher, the Superior-General of the
Franciscans, was living in Paris, France. The Superiorof the Franciscans in
Spain wanted to send some very important news to Fr. Christopher.
The Superior called
Paschal and asked him if he would agree to go to Paris. But it was dangerous
for a religious to travel in this land because the country of France was being
persecuted by the Protestant Calvinists (Huguenots). The Calvinists hated all
Catholics! They had already burned a great many Convents and Monasteries to the
ground! And worse, they had also killed many Priests, Monks and Nuns.
Paschal agreed to go,
even though his life was in danger. He was not afraid and wanted to set out at
once. Nor did he worry about food, shelter, and other things that were
necessary for his journey. God would provide!
It was a long distance to
Parisand he had to walk. As long as in was in Spain, the people showed Paschal
kindness and gave him food. But when he entered France it was a different
story. The people came running out of their houses saying to each other,
“Quick! Quick! Come and look at a sort of man you have never seen before.” And
they would stare at the saintly monk, walking along, in his patched habit.
Everyday the same type of thing happened.
But soon things got worse
as he passed through the little French towns and villages. At first the people
were shocked. Then they would threaten the saint, “Down with the Papist! Death
to the idol worshiper!” They would throw dirt at St. Paschal and in one village
the people threw stones at him.
Another group fell upon
him and gave him a terrible beating. They hated the Blessed Sacrament and had
robbed tabernacles and thrown the Hosts to the pigs! How wicked they were. They
fired a bunch of questions at Paschal, hoping to get him confused. But the Holy
Ghost was with St. Paschal, helping him to give the perfect answer to their
stupid questions. In the end they threw stones at the saint bruising his body
and breaking his shoulder.
Again and again, he was
put in prison, and often he came very close to death. But though he suffered
much, God guided him and he delivered the message to Fr. Christopher. After
visiting some holy shrines in Paris, and taking a few days rest, he set out for
his monastery in Spain. His hair was black when he left Spain, but when he
returned, it was all white; because of all that he had suffered. His only
disappointment was that he had not become a martyr.
After that whenever an
important message had to be delivered, St. Paschal was always given the job.
When he went begging for alms in distant places, even though he was tired he
would spend the whole night adoring the Blessed Sacrament. Whenever he arrived
at a new town, he would always make a stop at the church to visit the Blessed
Sacrament.
It was Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament, that gave St. Paschal great wisdom. He was hardly able to
read and write but he was able to hold intelligent conversations with learned
doctors in theology. Some of the theologians felt that Paschal was inspired by
God. The priests of the monastery used to ask his advice about preaching. When
the saint spoke about the Birth of Jesus and the Last Supper, it was as though
he had been present at these events.
With all the penance and
sacrifices that St. Paschal did, it is a wonder that the holy monk lived as
long as he did. One day he was too sick to get up and unlock the Chapel door.
The doctor was called and he told the holy monk, "This is your last
illness, good Brother; how does it seem to yourself?"
"I think so
too," he said calmly. "You could not give me more welcome news. For
many years I have longed for this day and have often begged Our Lord to take me
from this world. Believe me this is my sincere desire. Which day will it be
Doctor?"
"I do not think you
get through Friday!" the Doctor replied.
Paschal looked at the
Doctor, "You are mistaken there Doctor. I have asked Our Lord to permit me
to live until Saturday at least."
Most likely, Paschal
wanted to live a while longer, so that he could honour Our Lady on one more
Saturday, before he died. He then counted on his fingers and said, "It
will be useless to watch by me before the seventh day. Spare the Brothers, as
this would cause them to become very tired."
His suffering became
worse and he had a burning fever. Friends and benefactors hearing that Paschal
would soon die hurried to the monastery to see the holy Brother for the last
time. He spoke to his visitors kindly, giving each one a bit of good advice. He
also encouraged them to persevere in prayer, to generously practice virtue, and
to love the poor of Jesus Christ. Then the monks came to visit their holy
Brother and also received advice from him.
On Whit-Sunday, in 1592,
St. Paschal turned fifty-two years old. He knew that death was near and tried
to put his habit on, but being very weak he fell to the floor. Just then, a
Brother entered. He placed the habit on Paschal, and put him in bed. When the
devil tempted Paschal to sin, the saint asked for Holy Water and cried out,
"Jesus! Jesus!" and the devil disappeared!
During this time the
monks told Paschal that Mass had started and his heart was filled with joy. As
the monastery bell was ringing for the Elevation of the Host, the dying saint
said, "Jesus, Jesus," and then breathed his last. The news of his
death spread like fire over the whole country.
On the day of St.
Paschal's funeral Mass, a wonderful miracle took place. Paschal opened his
eyes, and looked at the Host and the Chalice during the elevation of the Mass
He adored God publicly, even though he was dead.
Perhaps the most amazing
thing about St. Paschal, are the strange happenings known as the "Knocks
of St. Paschal." At first, the knocks came from Paschal's tomb. Later they
came from relics and pictures of the saint. Sometimes the knocks have come as a
kind of warning, to let people know that a terrible event was about to take
place. It is also said that in Spain and Italy, those who are devoted to St. Paschal,
are warned about their death, days before, so that they may have a chance to
receive the Last Sacraments.
St. Paschal Baylon, Pray
for Us !
SOURCE : http://www.sspx.ca/EucharisticCrusade/2002_June/Saint_Paschal_Baylon.htm
.jpg)
Pedro Atanasio Bocanegra (1638–1688). San Pascual Bailón (1540-1592), 1683, 202 x 152, Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes, Granada
May 17
St. Paschal Baylon,
Confessor
From his two lives, one
written by John Ximenes, his companion; the other, in order to his
canonization. See other monuments in Papebroke, t. 4, Maij, pp. 48, 132.
A.D. 1592.
THE STATE of poverty was
honoured by the choice of our blessed Redeemer, and hath been favoured with his
special blessing. It removes men from many dangers and temptations, and
furnishes them with perpetual occasions for the exercise of self-denial, patience,
penance, resignation to the divine will, and every other heroic Christian
virtue: yet these great means of salvation are by many, through ignorance,
impatience, and inordinate desires, often perverted into occasions of their
temporal and eternal misery. Happy are they who by making a right use of the
spiritual advantages which this state, so dear to our divine Redeemer, offers
them, procure to themselves present peace, joy, and every solid good; and make
every circumstance of that condition in which providence hath placed them a
step to perfect virtue and to everlasting happiness. This in an eminent degree
was the privilege of St. Paschal Baylon. He was born in 1540, at Torre-Hermosa,
a small country town in the kingdom of Arragon. His parents were day-labourers,
and very virtuous; and to their example our saint was greatly indebted for the
spirit of piety and devotion, which he seemed to have sucked in with his
mother’s milk. Their circumstances were too narrow to afford his being sent to
school; but the pious child, out of an earnest desire of attaining to so great
a means of instruction, carried a book with him into the fields where he
watched the sheep, and desired those whom he met to teach him the letters; and
thus in a short time, being yet very young, he learned to read. This advantage
he made use of only to improve his soul in devotion and piety: books of
amusement he never would look into; but the lives of the saints, and above all,
meditations on the life of Christ, were his chiefest delight. He loved nothing
but what was serious and of solid advantage, at a time of life in which many
seem scarcely susceptible of such impressions. When he was of a proper age, he
engaged with a master to keep his flocks as under shepherd: he was delighted
with the innocent and quiet life his state permitted him to lead. That solitary
life had charms for him. Whatever he saw was to him an object of faith and
devotion. He read continually in the great book of nature; and from every
object raised his soul to God, whom he contemplated and praised in all his
works. Besides external objects, he had almost continually a spiritual book in
his hands, which served to instruct and to inflame his soul in the love and
practice of virtue. His master, who was a person of singular piety, was charmed
with his edifying conduct, and made him an offer to adopt him for his son, and
to make him his heir. But Paschal, who desired only the goods of another life,
was afraid that those of this world would prove to him an incumbrance; he therefore
modestly declined the favour, desiring always to remain in his humble state, as
being more conformable to that which Christ chose for himself on earth, who
came not into the world to be served, but to serve. He was often discovered
praying on his knees under some tree, whilst his flocks were browsing on the
hills. It was by this secret entertainment of his soul with God, in the most
profound humility, and perfect purity of his affections, that he acquired a
most sublime science and experience in spiritual things, at which those who
were the most advanced were struck with admiration. He could truly say with
David: “Blessed is he whom thou thyself shalt instruct, O Lord.” 1 He
spoke of God and of virtue with an inimitable unction and experimental light,
and with sentiments which the Holy Ghost alone forms in souls which are
perfectly disengaged from earthly things, and replenished with his heavenly
fire. Often was he seen ravished in holy prayer; and frequently was not able to
conceal from the eyes of men the vehement ardour of the divine love, with which
his soul melted in an excess of heavenly sweetness. He felt in himself what
many servants of God assure us of, that, “the consolation which the Holy Ghost
frequently infuses into pious souls, is greater than all the pleasures of the
world together, could they be enjoyed by one man. It makes the heart to
dissolve and melt through excess of joy, under which it is unable to contain
itself.” 2 In
these sentiments did this servant of God sing with David: “My soul shall
rejoice in the Lord, and shall be delighted in his salvation. All my bones
shall say, O Lord, who is like to thee!” 3 The
reward of virtue is reserved for heaven; but some comforts are not denied
during the present time of trial. Even in this vale of tears, “God will make
its desert as a place of pleasure; and its wilderness as the garden of the
Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of
praise.” Isai. li. 3. It is sufficiently understood that the saint did not
receive these heavenly comforts without severe interior trials, and a constant
practice of self denial, by which his heart was crucified to the world. The dew
of extraordinary spiritual comforts never falls on unmortified souls, which
seek the delights of this world. St. Paschal in his poverty joined alms with
his continual prayer; and not having any other means to relieve the poor,
always gave them a good part of his own dinner which was sent him into the
fields.
How great soever his love
was for his profession, he found however several difficulties in it which made
him think of leaving it. He was not able, notwithstanding all the care he could
take, to hinder a flock of goats he had in charge from sometimes trespassing on
another’s ground. This occasioned his giving over the inspection of that flock.
But he found other troubles in taking care of other cattle. Some of his
companions, not having the same piety with himself, were but too much addicted
to cursing, quarrelling, and fighting; nor were they to be reclaimed by his
gentle rebukes on these accounts. He was therefore determined to leave them,
not to participate in their crimes. And to learn the will of God in this
important choice of a state of life in which he might most faithfully serve
him, he redoubled his prayers, fasts, and other austerities. After some time
spent in this manner, he determined to become a religious man. Those to whom he
first disclosed his inclination to a religious state, pointed out to him
several convents richly endowed. But that circumstance alone was enough to
disgust him; and his answer was: “I was born poor, and I am resolved to live
and die in poverty and penance.” Being at that time twenty years of age he left
his master, his friends, and his country, and went into the kingdom of
Valentia, where was an austere convent of barefoot reformed Franciscans, called
Soccolans, which stood in a desert solitude, but at no great distance from the
town of Montfort. He addressed himself to the fathers of this house for
spiritual advice; and, in the mean time, he entered into the service of certain
farmers in the neighbourhood to keep their sheep. He continued here his
penitential and retired life in assiduous prayer, and was known in the whole
country by the name of the Holy Shepherd. To sequester himself from the world,
he made the more haste to petition for the habit of a lay-brother in the house
above-mentioned; and was admitted in 1564. The fathers desired to persuade him to
enter himself among the clerks, or those who aspired to holy orders, and sing
the divine office in the choir; but they were obliged to yield to his humility,
and admit him among the lay-brothers of the community. He was not only a
fervent novice, which we often see, but also a most fervent religious man,
always advancing, and never losing ground. Though his rule was most austere, he
added continually to its severity, but always with simplicity of heart, without
the least attachment to his own will; and whenever he was admonished of any
excess in his practices of mortification, he most readily confined himself to
the letter of his rule. The meanest employments always gave him the highest
satisfaction. Whenever he changed convents, according to the custom of his
order the better to prevent any secret attachments of the heart, he never
complained of anything, nor so much as said that he found anything in one house
more agreeable than in another; because, being entirely dead to himself, he
everywhere sought only God. He never allowed himself a moment of repose between
the church and cloister duties, and his work; nor did his labour interrupt his
prayer. He had never more than one habit, and that always threadbare. He walked
without sandals in the snows, and in the roughest roads. He accommodated
himself to all places and seasons, and was always content, cheerful, mild,
affable, and full of respect for all. He thought himself honoured if employed
in any painful and low office to serve any one.
The general of the Order
happening to be at Paris, Paschal was sent thither to him about some necessary
business of his province. Many of the cities through which he was to pass in
France, were in the hands of the Huguenots, who were then in arms. Yet he
offered himself to a martyrdom of obedience, travelled in his habit, and
without so much as sandals on his feet, was often pursued by the Huguenots with
sticks and stones, and received a wound on one shoulder of which he remained
lame as long as he lived. He was twice taken for a spy; but God delivered him
out of all dangers. On the very day on which he arrived at his convent from
this tedious journey, he went out to his work and other duties as usual. He
never spoke of anything that had happened to him in his journey unless asked;
and then was careful to suppress whatever might reflect on him the least honour
or praise. He had a singular devotion to the mother of God, whose intercession
he never ceased to implore that he might be preserved from sin. The holy
sacrament of the altar was the object of his most tender devotion; also the
passion of our divine Redeemer. He spent, especially towards the end of his
life, a considerable part of the night at the foot of the altar on his knees,
or prostrate on the ground. In prayer he was often favoured with ecstasies and
raptures. He died at Villa Reale, near Valentia, on the 17th of May, in 1592,
being fifty-two years old. His corpse was exposed three days, during which time
the great multitudes which from all parts visited the church, were witnesses to
many miracles by which God attested the sanctity of his servant. St. Paschal
was beatified by Pope Paul V. in 1618, and canonized by Alexander VIII. in
1690.
If Christians in every
station endeavoured with their whole strength continually to advance in virtue,
the church would be filled with saints. But alas! though it be an undoubted
maxim, that not to go on in a spiritual life is to fall back, “Nothing is more
rare,” says St. Bernard, “than to find persons who always press forward. We see
more converted from vice to virtue, than increase their fervour in virtue.”
This is something dreadful. The same father assigns two principal reasons.
First, many who begin well, after some time grow again remiss in the exercises
of mortification and prayer, and return to the amusements, pleasures, and
vanities of a worldly life. Secondly, others who are regular and constant in
exterior duties, neglect to watch over and cultivate their interior; so that
some interior spiritual vice insinuates itself into their affections, and
renders them an abomination in the eyes of God. “A man,” says St. Bernard, 4 “who
gives himself up entirely to exterior exercises without looking seriously into
his own heart to see what passes there, imposes upon himself, imagining that he
is something whilst he is nothing. His eyes being always fixed on his exterior
actions, he flatters himself that he goes on well, and neither sees nor feels
the secret worm which gnaws and consumes his heart. He keeps all fasts, assists
at all parts of the divine office, and fails in no exercise of piety or penance;
yet God declares, ‘His heart is far from me.’ He only employs his
hands in fulfilling the precepts, and his heart is hard and dry. His duties are
complied with by habit and a certain rotation: he omits not a single iota of
all his exterior employments; but whilst he strains at a gnat, he swallows a
camel. In his heart he is a slave to self-will, and is a prey to avarice,
vain-glory, and ambition: one or other or all these vices together reign in his
soul.”
Note 1. Psalm xciii.
12. [back]
Note 2. Ruisbroch.
Spir. Nupt. l. 2, c. 19. [back]
Note 4. St. Bern.
Serm. 2, in Cap. Jejunij. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume V: May. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/171.html
Sépulture de Pascal Baylon à Villareal. Santuario de San Pascual Baylón, Villarreal
Paschal Baylon, OFM (RM)
Born in Torre Hermosa, Aragon, Spain, in 1540; died Villareal, Spain, 1592;
beatified in 1618; canonized in 1690; declared patron of all Eucharistic
congresses and confraternities in 1897.
Saint Paschal Baylon, son of the peasants Martin Baylon and Elizabeth Jubera,
received his name from the day on which he was born: Whitsunday. He worked as a
shepherd for his father and others until the age of 24. At 18, after a vision,
he had applied to join the Franciscans at Loreto, 200 miles away, but the monks
turned him down, knowing nothing of him personally. He applied again, a few
years later (1564), and was accepted, and he lived a strict life according to
the recently initiated reforms of Saint Peter of Alcantara.
He served primarily as a doorkeeper at various friaries in Spain. His intense
devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is obvious from the long hours he spent
kneeling before the tabernacle, with his clasped hands outstretched.
He was sent to France with a message to Father Christopher de Cheffontaines,
the minister general of the Observants, and travelled wearing his habit during
a dangerous time of religious wars. He was accosted several times and once
narrowly escaped with his life, after he defended the doctrine of the Real
Presence of the Holy Eucharist to a Calvinist preacher and a crowd. He was
stoned by a party of Hugenots and suffered from the injury for the rest of his
life.
This miracle worker died on a Whitsunday, just as the bell was tolling to
announce the consecration at the high Mass.
Saint Paschal Baylon is the patron of shepherds, the Eucharist and Eucharistic
guilds, societies and congresses, and of Italian women (there seems no obvious
explanation of this except that his name-- "Baylonna," in
Italian--rhymes with "donna"). He is portrayed in art in the act of
adoration before the Host; or watching sheep (Attwater2, Benedictines, White).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0517.shtml
Giuseppe
Romei, San Pasquale Baylon adora il Corpo Eucaristico, circa 1770, Cenacolo di
Ognissanti Museum
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Paschal Baylon
Article
From a child Paschal
seems to have been marked out for the service of God; and amidst his daily
labors he found time to instruct and evangelize the rude herdsmen who kept
their flocks on the hills of Aragon. At the age of twenty-four he entered the
Franciscan Order, in which, however, he remained, from humility, a simple
lay-brother, and occupied himself, by preference, with the roughest and most
servile tasks. He was distinguished by an ardent love and devotion to the Blessed
Sacrament. He would spend hours on his knees before the tabernacle — often he
was raised from the ground in the fervor of his prayer—and there, from the very
and eternal Truth, he drew such stores of wisdom that, unlettered as he was, he
was counted by all a master in theology and spiritual science. Shortly after
his profession, he was called to Paris on business connected with his Order.
The journey was full of peril, owing to the hostility of the Huguenots, who
were numerous at the time in the south of France; and on four separate
occasions Paschal was in imminent danger of death at the hands of the heretics.
But it was not God’s will that His servant should obtain the crown of martyrdom
which, though judging himself all unworthy of it, he so earnestly desired, and
he returned in safety to his convent, where he died in the odor of sanctity,
May 15th, 1592. As Paschal was watching his sheep on the mountain-side, he
heard the consecration bell ring out from a church in the valley below, where
the villagers were assembled for Mass. The Saint fell on his knees, when
suddenly there stood before him an angel of God, bearing in his hands the
Sacred Host, and offering it for his adoration. Learn from this how pleasing to
Jesus Christ are those who honor Him in this great mystery of His love; and how
to them especially this promise is fulfilled: “I will not leave you orphans; I
will come unto you.” John 14:18.
Reflection – Saint
Paschal teaches us, never to suffer a day to pass without visiting Jesus in the
narrow chamber where He, whom the heaven itself cannot contain, abides day and
night for our sake.
MLA
Citation
John Dawson Gilmary Shea.
“Saint Paschal Baylon”. Pictorial Lives of the
Saints, 1889. CatholicSaints.Info.
29 March 2014. Web. 17 May 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-paschal-baylon/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-paschal-baylon/
Pier Dandini, San Pasquale Baylon in adorazione dell'Eucaristia, circa 1691, Ognissanti, Florence
San Pasquale Baylon Religioso
francescano
Torre Hermosa, Spagna, 16
maggio 1540 – Villarreal, Spagna, 17 maggio 1592
Nacque il 16 maggio 1540,
nel giorno di Pentecoste, a Torre Hermosa, in Aragona. Di umili origini, sin da
piccolo venne avviato al pascolo delle greggi. Durante il lavoro si isolava
spesso per pregare. A 18 anni chiese di essere ammesso nel convento dei
francescani Alcantarini di Santa Maria di Loreto, da cui venne respinto, forse
per la giovane età. Tuttavia non si perse d'animo, venendo ammesso al noviziato
il 2 febbraio 1564. L'anno successivo, emise la solenne professione come
«fratello laico» non sentendosi degno del sacerdozio. Nel 1576 il ministro
provinciale gli affidò il compito, estremamente pericoloso, di portare
documenti importanti a Parigi, rischiando di essere ucciso dai calvinisti.
L'impegno venne comunque assolto in modo proficuo. Tutta la sua vita fu
caratterizzata da un profondo amore per l'Eucaristia che gli valse il titolo di
«teologo dell'Eucaristia». Fu anche autore di un libro sulla reale presenza di
Cristo nel pane e nel vino. Morì nel convento di Villa Real, presso Valencia il
17 maggio 1592, domenica di Pentecoste. Fu canonizzato da Alessandro VIII nel
1690. Nel 1897 Leone XIII lo proclamò patrono dei Congressi eucaristici. (Avvenire)
Patronato: Patrono dei
Congressi Eucaristici (Leone XIII)
Etimologia: Pasquale = in
onore della festa cristiana
Emblema: Ostensorio
Martirologio Romano: A
Villa Real presso Valencia in Spagna, san Pasquale Baylon, religioso
dell’Ordine dei Frati Minori, che, mostrandosi sempre premuroso e benevolo
verso tutti, venerò costantemente con fervido amore il mistero della Santissima
Eucaristia.
Infanzia e primi anni
Cominciamo col dire che il nome Pasquale è di origine cristiana ed è molto usato anche nel femminile Pasqualina. Veniva dato ai bambini nati il giorno di Pasqua, ma le sue lontane origini sono ebraiche (Pesah = passaggio) volendo indicare il passaggio del popolo ebraico del Mar Rosso e il passaggio dell’angelo del Signore che salvò, segnandone le case con il sangue dell’agnello, i primogeniti ebrei per distinguerli da quelli egiziani destinati alla morte nell’ultima piaga d’Egitto.
Non è tuttavia il caso di Pasquale Baylón, che nacque il 16 maggio 1540, giorno di Pentecoste (che è detta anche “Pasqua rosata” o, in spagnolo, “Pascua de Pentecostés”), a Torre Hermosa in Aragona, Spagna, da Martín Baylón e da Isabel Jubera. Fin da bambino dimostrò una spiccata devozione verso l’Eucaristia, che sarà poi la caratteristica di tutta la sua vita religiosa.
Fu pastore prima del gregge della famiglia, poi a servizio di altri padroni. La
solitudine dei campi favorì la meditazione, il suo desiderio di spiritualità,
la continua preghiera; prese anche a mortificare il suo giovane corpo con
lunghi digiuni e flagellazioni dolorose.
Vocazione francescana
A 18 anni chiese di essere accolto nel convento di Santa Maria di Loreto, dei Francescani Riformati detti Alcantarini da san Pietro d’Alcantara, riformatore dell’Ordine; non fu accettato, forse per la giovane età.
Pur di rimanere nei dintorni del convento, entrò al servizio, sempre come pastore, del ricchissimo possidente Martín García. Ammirato da questo suo giovane dipendente, gli propose di adottarlo così da poter diventare suo erede universale, ma lui oppose un deciso rifiuto, perché più che mai era deciso ad entrare tra i frati di san Francesco.
Dopo due anni, nel 1560, venne ammesso nel convento di S. Maria di Loreto, dove
fece la sua professione religiosa il 2 febbraio 1564. Non volle mai ascendere
al sacerdozio, nonostante il parere favorevole dei superiori, perché non si
sentiva degno: si accontentò di rimanere un semplice fratello laico.
Frate portinaio dotato di scienza infusa
Fu per anni addetto ai vari servizi del convento, specialmente come portinaio, compito che espletò sempre con grande bontà, anche nei conventi di Jatíva e Valencia. Sebbene così giovane, si acquistò una certa fama di santità per le virtù cristiane e morali, ma anche per fatti prodigiosi che gli vennero attribuiti.
Fu davvero “pentecostale”, cioè favorito dagli straordinari doni dello Spirito
Santo, tra cui quello della sapienza infusa: sapeva leggere e scrivere, ma non
era molto colto. Eppure, era costantemente richiesto per consiglio da tanti
illustri personaggi.
In missione tra i calvinisti
Anche il Padre Provinciale degli Alcantarini di Spagna, nel 1576, dovendo comunicare con urgenza col Padre Generale risiedente a Parigi, pensò di mandare fra Pasquale con la missiva, ben sapendo le gravi difficoltà del viaggio per l’attraversamento di alcune province francesi, che in quell’epoca erano dominate dai calvinisti.
Infatti il frate fu fatto oggetto di continue derisioni, insulti, percosse. A
Orléans fu anche in pericolo di morte per lapidazione: aveva tenuto una serrata
disputa sull’Eucaristia, tenendo testa agli oppositori e rintuzzando le loro
false argomentazioni.
Serafino dell’Eucaristia
Al ritorno della sua delicata e pericolosa missione, fra Pasquale compose un
piccolo libro di definizioni e sentenze sulla reale presenza di Gesù nell’Eucaristia
e sul potere divino trasmesso al pontefice romano. A testimonianza di questa
grande devozione, per cui venne soprannominato “Serafino dell’Eucaristia”, ci
sono pervenuti i suoi pensieri personali e preghiere, che aggiungeva alle
raccolte di scritti su temi eucaristici che trascriveva in un suo scartafaccio.
La morte
Per il suo desiderio di maggior perfezione, si sottoponeva a continue e pesanti mortificazioni e a penitenze sempre più numerose, al punto che la sua salute era ormai compromessa.Fu sorpreso dalla morte il 17 maggio 1592, il giorno dopo il suo cinquantaduesimo compleanno, presso il convento del Rosario a Villarreal, vicino Valencia. Come era accaduto il giorno della sua nascita, anche allora era Pentecoste.
I funerali videro la partecipazione di una folla di fedeli, che volle fare
omaggio di una sentita venerazione alla salma dell’umile fratello laico
francescano, la cui santità, per i miracoli che avvennero, fu conosciuta in
tutto il mondo cattolico.
Culto e iconografia
Fu particolarmente venerato a Napoli, soggetta alla dominazione spagnola. Il culto si concentrò in due grandi e celebri conventi francescani,un tempo degli Alcantarini, ma ancora esistenti: San Pasquale a Chiaia e San Pasquale al Granatello, quest’ultimo nella città di Portici. Il suo nome fu dato a generazioni di bambini, come del resto in tutto il Sud Italia.
Fu beatificato 26 anni dopo la morte, il 29 ottobre 1618, da papa Paolo V e proclamato santo il 16 ottobre 1690 da papa Alessandro VIII. I suoi resti, che si veneravano con grande devozione a Villarreal, furono profanati e dispersi durante la guerra civile spagnola; in parte furono successivamente recuperati e restituiti alla città nel 1952.
La sua appassionata devozione per l’Eucaristia ha ispirato nei secoli i tanti
artisti che l’hanno raffigurato: nelle opere d’arte, come nelle immaginette
devozionali, compare sempre nell’atto di adorare il Santissimo Sacramento
nell’ostensorio.
Patronati ufficiali e tradizionali
Papa Leone XIII, il 28 novembre 1897, lo proclamò patrono delle opere eucaristiche e dei congressi eucaristici. Popolarmente è considerato patrono anche dei cuochi e dei pasticcieri, in base ai suoi umili servizi svolti nel convento; secondo una tradizione, sarebbe l’inventore dello zabaione, il cui nome deriva evidentemente dal suo. Probabilmente per un’assonanza con il suo cognome (“San Pasquale Baylonne, protettore delle donne”), viene infine invocato dalle nubili in cerca di marito e dalle donne in generale.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli
Giuseppe Chiari, SS. Pietro d'Alacantara e Pasquale Baylon, Chiesa San Francesco a Ripa, Rome
Pasquale Baylon nasce a
Torrehermosa (Spagna), nel 1540. Non va a scuola perché deve aiutare i suoi
genitori, poveri pastori contadini. Al pascolo è sempre solo. Il silenzio è
interrotto soltanto dai rumori della natura: il soffio del vento, il cinguettio
degli uccelli, il fruscio degli alberi, lo scroscio di un ruscello. Pasquale
cresce intelligente e possiede la sapienza come un dono ricevuto da Dio. Così
impara a leggere utilizzando un libretto di preghiere. Un giorno, sua madre lo
cerca per ore e, alla fine, disperata, lo ritrova in chiesa, in ginocchio,
mentre prega Gesù. Il bambino è buono: ai compagni suggerisce di non peccare e
ai più poveri regala metà del suo misero pasto. Pasquale tratta con
sollecitudine le pecore e, di fronte ai danni arrecati da queste ai terreni,
non esita a ripagare di tasca propria i danneggiati oppure miete per costoro il
grano. Il padrone per cui lavora lo ammira per la sua onestà e gli propone di
adottarlo e di lasciargli l’eredità. Il pastorello non accetta per diventare
frate.
Chiede di essere ammesso, senza successo, nel Convento francescano alcantarino
di Santa Maria di Loreto. Pasquale, allora, pascola le pecore accanto al
convento, partecipa alla Messa a distanza e Dio lo ripaga facendogli apparire
due angeli con una grande ostia in mano. Tutti parlano della santità di
Pasquale che, finalmente, viene accolto dai frati. Per la sua fede nell’ostia
consacrata, Pasquale viene consultato da grandi uomini di Chiesa e gli viene
offerto il sacerdozio che, però, lui rifiuta non ritenendosi degno. Preferisce
rimanere frate laico e svolgere i lavori più umili, come zappare l’orto sotto
il sole cocente o chiedere l’elemosina. Si priva di una parte del suo cibo
(pane e legumi) e la regala a un misero vecchietto, risparmia le gocce d’olio
per i bisognosi, cammina scalzo e dorme solo tre ore per notte per dedicarsi
alla preghiera. L’umiltà del semi analfabeta viene ricompensata con il dono di
poter compiere guarigioni miracolose.
Sempre allegro con tutti, alle giovani che cercano marito suggerisce una sua ricetta: lo “zabaione” (dal dialetto del suo nome “San Baiun”), una crema a base di uova, zucchero e marsala. È protettore di lavoratori precari, cuochi, pasticcieri e dietologi. Protegge pure le donne (da cui deriva la filastrocca: «San Pasquale Baylonne, protettore delle donne»). Muore nel 1592 a Vila-real (Spagna). Ogni 17 maggio, a Nocera Superiore (Salerno), in suo onore, artisti di strada di tutto il mondo partecipano al Festival Internazionale dei Madonnari.
Autore: Mariella Lentini
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/Detailed/53550.html
Apparizione dell'Ostensorio a San Pasquale Baylon, museo diocesano /Diocesan Museum of Naples
Pasquale Baylón
(1540-1592)
Beatificazione:
- 29 ottobre 1618
- Papa Paolo V
Canonizzazione:
- 16 ottobre 1690
- Papa Alessandro
VIII
- Basilica Vaticana
Ricorrenza:
- 17 maggio
Religioso dell’Ordine dei
Frati Minori, che a Villa Real presso Valencia in Spagna, mostrandosi sempre
premuroso e benevolo verso tutti, venerò costantemente con fervido amore il
mistero della Santissima Eucaristia
“Bisogna avere per Dio un
cuore di figlio; per il prossimo un cuore di madre; per se stesso un cuore di
giudice”.
Pasquale (Pascual) Baylón
Yubero nasce in una famiglia povera in Aragona, Spagna, il 16 maggio 1540
e fin dalla più tenera età viene avviato al pascolo delle greggi.
Per lui, che ama tanto
Gesù, è la condizione ideale: può isolarsi spesso, meditare e pregare. Impara
anche a leggere, da autodidatta, esercitandosi sui libri delle preghiere. A 18
anni prova a entrare nel convento francescano di Santa Maria di Loreto dei Francescani
Riformati – detti Alcantarini per l’opera di San Pietro d’Alcantara, ma viene
respinto forse per la sua giovane età. Un ricco signore per cui lavora gli
offre anche di adottarlo e farlo suo erede, ma lui rifiuta: sarà francescano,
ne è convinto. E infatti ci riprova nel 1564 e diventa novizio.
Pasquale si fa subito
notare in convento: ha un’intelligenza brillante, una fede incrollabile e una
dedizione incredibile alla preghiera e all’adorazione del Santissimo
Sacramento. Resterà, però, per tutta la vita un fratello laico, contro il
parere dei suoi superiori, perché si sente indegno del ministero del
sacerdozio, di toccare con le proprie mani Gesù Eucaristia.
Rifiuta anche qualunque
incarico importante, portando avanti i compiti più umili, specie quello del
portinaio, sia nel convento di Jatíva che in quello di Valencia. Ma c’è un
incarico che non può rifiutare, quello che nel 1576 gli affida il ministro
provinciale: portare documenti importanti al padre generale che risiede a
Parigi.
Il viaggio verso Parigi è
lungo e pericoloso: Pasquale rischia di essere ucciso dai calvinisti. Spesso
viene picchiato, deriso, insultato. A Orléans quasi lo lapidano per aver
intessuto un’accesa disputa sull’Eucaristia con i suoi oppositori. Ancora
l’Eucaristia. Ormai è al centro della vita e della spiritualità di Pasquale,
che quando torna da Parigi scrive una raccolta di sentenze per comprovare la
reale presenza di Gesù nel Pane e nel Vino e sul potere divino trasmesso al
Papa.
Questo libello giunge a
Roma nelle mani del Pontefice e gli vale il soprannome di “Serafino
dell’Eucaristia”. In effetti la sua presenza nel mondo è angelica: spesso i
confratelli lo trovano in estasi o addirittura lo vedono elevarsi durante le
ore di adorazione a Gesù Eucaristia, di cui parla anche continuamente ai
fedeli, agli altri frati, a tutti, in ogni momento e in ogni luogo.
C’è una coincidenza
curiosa nella vita di Pasquale: nasce il 16 maggio 1540, nel giorno di
Pentecoste, e morirà, stanco e provato dai continui digiuni e dalle privazioni
corporali, il 17 maggio 1592, ancora Pentecoste. Tra l’altro, il suo nome,
Pasquale, lo deve proprio a quello: la solennità di Pentecoste, infatti, in
spagnolo è detta anche “Pasqua rosata” o “Pasqua di Pentecoste”.
Nella povertà materiale
da lui cercata e che lo accompagnerà tutta la vita, sarà però ricco proprio dei
doni dello Spirito Santo, specie quello della sapienza. Nonostante infatti
sappia a malapena leggere e scrivere, molte personalità vanno da lui a chiedere
consiglio e tra i francescani è comunque considerato un teologo, oltre che un
punto di riferimento per i fedeli. Eppure, come detto, non sarà mai sacerdote e
mai potrà godere della gioia di dare Gesù Eucaristia ai fedeli. Una delle tante
privazioni che decide di infliggersi perché non si considera abbastanza degno.
Provato dalle
mortificazioni del corpo, Pasquale muore nel 1592, dopo essersi comunicato, nel
convento di Villa Real. Durante il suo funerale si racconta che al momento
dell’elevazione apre gli occhi per adorare ancora una volta Gesù.
Viene canonizzato da
Alessandro VIII quasi un secolo dopo, mentre nel 1897 Leone XIII lo proclama
patrono delle Opere e dei Congressi eucaristici.
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/pasquale-baylon.html
San Pasquale Baylón
17 maggio. “Anzi questo
chiedi sommamente: che Dio sia cercato sopra ogni altra cosa”
17 Maggio 2024
Pasquale nacque a
Torre Hermosa, nel regno di Aragona in Spagna, da Martino Baylón e Isabel
Jubera il 16 maggio 1540, festa di Pentecoste, chiamata “Pascua rosada”, da cui
il suo nome. La sua era una famiglia numerosa, povera e umile, nella quale però
regnava un profondo spirito di pietà, dovuto soprattutto alla madre,
devotissima dell’Eucaristia. Fin da piccolo, il padre gli affidò il pascolo
delle greggi, servizio che svolse con grande amore, trascorrendo intere ore a
pregare, meditare, lodare e cantare al Signore e alla Vergine Maria.
Quando, ormai
diciottenne, a Monforte del Cid venne a conoscere i Francescani del convento di
Santa Maria di Loreto dei Francescani Riformati (detti Alcantarini per
l’opera di San Pietro d’Alcantara), Pasquale sperò di realizzare il suo
sogno di farsi religioso, ma venne respinto forse per la sua giovane età.
Accettò allora di lavorare come pastore presso il ricco proprietario di greggi
Martino Garcia, che gli consentiva di rimanere presso il convento francescano e
frequentarne il santuario mariano. Finalmente, il 2 febbraio 1564, poté
indossare il saio francescano e l’anno seguente emettere la professione
religiosa nel convento dei Frati Minori Alcantarini di Orito, dove rimase fino
al 1573 dedicandosi alle mansioni più umili, in particolare a quella di
portinaio. Stimato per la vita di austerità che conduceva e favorito dagli
straordinari doni dello Spirito Santo, tra cui il dono della sapienza infusa,
l’illetterato frate Pasquale, che aveva imparato a leggere mentre pascolava il
gregge e poi anche un po’ a scrivere, era spesso richiesto e cercato per
consigli anche da parte di personalità illustri ed erudite. Dal 1573 al 1589
trascorse la sua vita tra i vari conventi della provincia di Alicante, per
passare poi a quella di Castellon nel convento di Villa Real.
L’obbedienza lo impegnò
anche in un pericoloso viaggio a Parigi, quando a lui ricorse il Ministro
provinciale di Spagna che nel 1576 si trovò nella necessità di dover comunicare
urgentemente con il Ministro generale dell’Ordine: un’impresa molto difficile,
in quanto la Francia dell’epoca era dominata dai calvinisti. Infatti, Pasquale
subì derisioni, insulti e percosse, correndo a Orleans il pericolo di morire
lapidato dopo una serrata disputa sull’Eucaristia in cui aveva ben saputo tener
testa agli oppositori confutando i loro sofismi. Tornando da questa delicata e
pericolosa missione, Pasquale compose un piccolo libro di sentenze, una sorta
di prezioso compendio dei maggiori trattati sul tema eucaristico, comprovanti
la presenza reale di Gesù nell’Eucaristia e il potere divino trasmesso al
Romano Pontefice.
Meritò il soprannome di “teologo
dell’Eucaristia” non solo per aver sciolto tutte le questioni degli avversari
in Francia, ma anche per la raccolta di scritti che egli lasciò sul Sacramento
eucaristico che fu sempre al centro della sua intensa vita spirituale e il
contrassegno più evidente della sua vita. Sempre servizievole con i confratelli
e con quanti bussavano alla porta, inflisse mortificazioni al suo corpo,
debilitandolo fino al limite delle capacità di resistenza.
Trascorse gli ultimi 3
anni di vita nel convento di Villa Real, presso Valencia, esercitando sempre
l’ufficio di portinaio e di questuante, finché un giorno, mentre si trovava
alla questua nella cittadina, si accasciò senza potersi più riprendere:
comprese subito che la morte era prossima e le andò incontro con tutto lo
slancio del cuore. Sorella morte lo raggiunse nel convento del Rosario all’età
di 53 anni, il 17 maggio 1592, nella solennità di Pentecoste – esattamente come
avvenne alla nascita.
Il 29 ottobre 1618 veniva
proclamato Beato da Paolo V e il 16 ottobre 1690 canonizzato da Alessandro
VIII. Papa Leone XIII il 26 novembre 1897 lo proclamò Patrono delle opere
eucaristiche e poco dopo Patrono dei congressi eucaristici internazionali.
I resti mortali di San
Pasquale Baylón venerati a Villa Real furono profananti e dispersi durante la
guerra civile spagnola (1936-39); tuttavia, parzialmente in seguito recuperati,
furono restituiti a quella città nel 1952.
Nell’iconografia,
l’ostensorio è il suo attributo principale.
“Esercita quindi la tua
anima in continue ed intense azioni, desiderando quello che Dio desidera,
rimuovendo dalla tua volontà tutto ciò che di bene o guadagno potrebbe a te
venire da quella richiesta. Anzi questo chiedi sommamente: che Dio sia cercato
sopra ogni altra cosa. È infatti cosa degna che prima e soprattutto si cerchi
Dio, anche perché la divina Volontà vuole che riceviamo ciò che chiediamo per
diventare più idonei a servirlo ad amarlo più perfettamente” (Dagli scritti di
San Pasquale Baylon).
Cfr. Frati Minori Santi e
Beati, a cura di Fr. Silvano Bracci, OFM e Sr. Antonietta Pozzebon, FMSC.
Editrice Velar, 2009, pp. 253-255.
SOURCE : https://ofm.org/san-pasquale-baylon.html
.jpg)
Attributed to Andrés de la Calleja (1705–1785), San Pascual Bailón, circa 1755, 58,5 x 41,5, Museum Cerralbo, Madrid
San Pascual Bailón
Pascual Bailón,
San. Torrehermosa (Zaragoza), 16.V.1540 – Villarreal (Castellón),
17.V.1592. Franciscano (OFM) lego y santo.
Franciscano, na (Orden de
Hermanos Menores, OFM)Religioso, saSanto, ta
Biografía
Nació en Torrehermosa el
día de Pentecostés del año 1540, hijo de unos humildes labradores, Pascual
Bailón e Isabel Juvera, lo que determinó su dedicación al pastoreo durante
bastantes años, en los que acrecentó su piedad y aprendió a leer y escribir. A
los dieciocho años, el deseo de servir a Dios le empujó hacia el Convento
franciscano de Santa María de Loreto de Albatesa, en el Reino de Valencia,
recientemente fundado por los reformadores de san Pedro de Alcántara; esperó un
tiempo en las cercanías del Monasterio, trabajando como pastor al servicio de Martín
García, quien deseaba adoptarle como hijo y legarle su gran hacienda, pero
Pascual renunció a todo ello para profesar en el convento antes citado, el 2 de
febrero de 1564. Pasó por diversas casas y, aunque sus superiores deseaban que
accediera al sacerdocio, prefirió permanecer como hermano lego y desempeñar
humildes oficios de jardinero o portero.
En 1576, el padre
provincial necesitó enviar ciertos comunicados al general de la Orden,
Cristóbal de Cheffontaines, que se encontraba en París, y encargó de la misión
a fray Pascual, que atravesó toda la Francia calvinista empresa que le llevó al
borde de la lapidación en Orleans. Pese a todas las calamidades, cumplió
satisfactoriamente su misión, aunque regresó con numerosas cicatrices y dolores
que le acompañaron siempre.
Entre 1589 y 1592 vivió
en el convento de Villarreal, y murió un día de Pentecostés, el 17 de mayo de
1592. Su fama de santidad, que ya había tenido en vida, atrajo a numerosos
fieles y entre los prodigios que se le atribuyeron hay uno en su propio
funeral, pues en la misa se le vio abrir los ojos en el momento de la elevación
de la hostia. Sus restos se conservaron en el convento hasta el año 1936 en que
desaparecieron; actualmente se levanta un templo votivo eucarístico de fama
mundial. El convento franciscano de Aranjuez también está bajo su advocación.
Muy pronto comenzaron los escritos sobre su vida, encabezados por
la Chrónica del beato Pascual Baylón, escrita en 1598 por su superior
y primer biógrafo, el padre Juan Jiménez.
Pablo V beatificó a
Pascual Bailón en 1618 y Alejandro VIII lo canonizó el 16 de octubre de 1690.
León XIII, en su
breve Provivindentissimus, de 28 de noviembre de 1897 lo declaró
patrono de las Asociaciones y Congregaciones Eucarísticas, no sólo de las que
ya existían, sino también de las que se crearan en el futuro. Su fiesta se
celebra el 17 de mayo, y es conocido como el Serafín de la Eucaristía.
Iconográficamente, san
Pascual Bailón se representa vestido de franciscano y sus principales atributos
hacen referencia a su vocación eucarística: un ostentorio o un cáliz; en menos
ocasiones se acompaña de elementos de penitencia y meditación como las
disciplinas o el libro o de objetos que aluden a su humilde vida como pastor y
jardinero, el cayado y la paleta o azada; a veces, como referencia a la pureza
que le acompañó toda la vida, aparece con una azucena. Sus representaciones más
frecuentes lo muestran de rodillas, en éxtasis ante el Santísimo, y acompañado
de ángeles. Giambattista Tiépolo lo pintó, hacia 1769, para el convento de
Aranjuez y la obra es muy conocida a partir del grabado que de ella hizo el
hijo del pintor. Son muy numerosas las estampas populares y se difundieron,
sobre todo en Italia, donde se le considera “varón protector de las mujeres”.
San Pascual Bailón es patrón de los pastores, los cocineros y de todas las
asociaciones y hermandades eucarísticas desde 1897.
Cartapacio era el
nombre que el propio santo otorgó a sus escritos para fomentar la piedad;
fueron publicados en Toledo, con el título de Opúsculos de S. Pascual
Bailón.
SOURCE : https://historia-hispanica.rah.es/biografias/34347-san-pascual-bailon
Bernardo López Piquer (1801–1874). Aparició de l'Eucaristia a Sant Pasqual Bailon, circa 1811, 104 x 81, Museu de Belles Arts de València
Den hellige Paschalis
Baylón (1540-1592)
Minnedag: 17.
mai
Den hellige Paschalis
Baylón (Pascal) ble født den 16. mai 1540 i Torre Hermosa i Aragón på grensen
til Castilla i Spania. Han var sønn av den beskjedne bonden Martin Baylón og
hans hustru Elisabeth Jubera. Han ble født på pinsedag og skulle dø på
pinsedag, og navnet hadde han også fra denne festens navn: «Pascua de Pentecosta».
På italiensk og spansk gis navnet Pascua også til andre store fester
i årets løp enn påsken.
Foreldrene var fattige,
og unge Paschalis måtte som syvåring ut og tjene som gjeter, først hos faren og
deretter hos en rik godseier, og noen skolegang kom ikke på tale. Han lærte seg
imidlertid å lese og skrive på egen hånd etter den eneste boken han hadde, en
bønnebok med Mariaofficiet. Han var en påpasselig gjeter, men noen ganger
skadet sauene vingårder i nærheten, kanskje mens hyrden knelte i bønn, og da
insisterte han å betale for skadene av sin egen beskjedne lønn.
Som 17-åring fikk
Paschalis høre om fransiskanerordenen, og han ønsket å leve som dem. Han skal
angivelig ha hatt visjoner av de hellige Frans og Klara
av Assisi, som ba ham om å bli fransiskaner. Han gikk til godseieren han
tjente hos og sa opp jobben, og han avslo sin herres tilbud om å bli adoptert
og innsatt som arving. Deretter dro han til nærmeste fransiskanerkloster,
Monteforte eller Loreto ved Alicante på Spanias østkyst, 30 mil unna. Men her
sa guardianen (superioren) at han måtte gjennom en lang prøvetid for å finne ut
om kallet til å leve som munk virkelig kom fra hjertet. Men Paschalis ventet
tålmodig, og i syv år bodde han nær klosteret og livnærte seg ved å gjete
sauer. For øvrig fulgte han fransiskanernes livsrytme, og hver gang han hørte klosterklokken,
gjorde han for seg selv det brødrene hadde på sin dagsorden.
I 1564 ble han endelig
som 24-åring tatt opp hos fransiskanerne i Monteforte. De tilhørte den grenen
av ordenen som var reformert av den hellige Peter
av Alcántara (1499-1562). Den kalles også alcantarinerne (Ordo
Fratrum Minorum Discalceatorum [Excalceatorum, Alcantarinorum] – OFMAlc)
eller (OFM Strictoris [Strictissimae] Observantiae Discalceatorum –
OFMDisc). I klosteret ville hans overordnede gi ham muligheten til å studere og
bli prest, men han holdt seg selv for uverdig og fortsatte å være legbror hele
livet. Han levde et liv i bønn og arbeid uten de store ytre begivenheter. Han fulgte
ordenens regel strengt, dyrket fattigdommen og adlød sine overordnede i stort
og smått. Han bodde i flere klostre, for det meste arbeidet han som portner. Om
livet bar han som botsverktøy en tung jernlenke, den sov han også med.
Paschalis viet seg til
nestekjærlig arbeid, og med konstant godt humør tok han seg av de syke og de
fattige. En dag han stengte seg inne i refektoriet, ble han observert av en
medbror mens han utførte en kunstferdig dans foran statuen av Jomfru Maria som
en moderne Jongleur de Notre Dame. Men fremfor alt øvde alterets sakrament
en uimotståelig tiltrekningskraft på ham. For det meste sov han bare tre timer,
resten av natten og ellers når pliktene tillot det, tilbrakte han i dyp andakt
foran tabernaklet. Deretter tjente han ved den ene messen etter den andre
tidlig på morgenen.
I 1570 sendte hans
overordnede ham til Frankrike med en viktig beskjed til den svært lærde p.
Christophe de Cheffontaines i Bretagne, som da var ordensgeneral for
fransiskanerordenens observantgren. På veien dit måtte han gjennom
Sør-Frankrike, hvor det på den tiden var voldsomme sammenstøt mellom
katolikkene og kalvinistene. Selv om prester og ordensfolk var svært utsatte,
falt det ikke Paschalis inn å ta av den brune kutten for å beskytte seg. Han
ble angrepet flere ganger, og en gang ble han steinet slik at han for resten av
livet ble lam i en arm, og det var et under at han kom fra det med livet.
Hans siste sykdom var
kort og heftig, og pinsedag den 17. mai 1592 sovnet han inn, 52 år gammel i
Villarreal (Castellón de la Plana) ved Valencia. På grunn av den store
tilstrømningen av mennesker som ønsket å se den avdøde, ble hans legeme båret
fra den beskjedne cellen hvor han hadde dødd til et av kapellene i kirken Vår
Frue av Rosenkransen. De sørgende som defilerte forbi legemet var forbløffet
over å se den himmelske utstrålingen og den parfymerte væsken som hadde samlet
seg på hans panne etter hans død. I de tre dagene legemet var utstilt strømmet
det store mengder «hellig svette» fra Paschalis' legeme. Bevæpnede vakter skal
ha vært nødvendig for å kontrollere folkemengden. Mange klarte å samle opp noe
av væsken på små tøystykker, og de skal senere ha helbredet mange uhelbredlig
syke. Flere underlige ting hendte mens legemet var utstilt, blant annet skal
den døde ha åpnet øynene flere ganger.
Etter tre dager ble
Paschalis' legeme ikledd en ny drakt, for den gamle var revet i stykker av
relikviesamlere. Før begravelsen dekket husets guardian legemet med et tykt lag
kalk så kjøttet raskt skulle forsvinne fra knoklene, som ville bli fine og
hvite og egne seg for utstilling. Legemet lå slik i åtte måneder inntil
ordenens provinsial, p. Johannes Ximenes, som hadde vært syk og derfor ikke i
stand til å delta i begravelsen, besøkte Paschalis' grav med det formål å åpne
graven i hemmelighet. Da det ble gjort, fant de at legemet på mirakuløst vis
var like friskt.
Den andre åpningen av
graven skjedde den 22. juli 1594. Legemet var fortsatt like friskt, bortsett
fra neseborene og deler av huden. Det ble også funnet at deler av et øre og en
finger tidligere var tatt som relikvier. Datoen for den tredje private åpningen
av graven er ukjent, men en av munkene foretok da uten autorisasjon en
amputasjon av begge føttene og fjernet dem. Da denne helligbrøden ble oppdaget,
forlangte de overordnede at føttene straks ble returnert, under trussel om
ekskommunikasjon, og i løpet av få timer var føttene igjen på plass i kisten.
Fra disse amputerte føttene ble det senere tatt utallige relikvier.
Nitten år etter
Paschalis' død ble det foretatt en offisiell åpning av graven i anledning
saligkåringsprosessen. I nærvær av biskopen av Segorbe, provinsialen, sakens
postulator, visse fremstående dignitærer, leger og en notar, ble de tre låsene
på kisten åpnet, og legemet ble igjen funnet helt uråtnet.
Det ble meldt om tallrike
undere ved hans grav, der hørte man også gjentatte mystiske
bankelyder (golpes), noe som skjedde med jevne mellomrom i 200 år.
Han ble saligkåret den
29. oktober 1618 av pave Paul V (1605-21) og helligkåret den 16. oktober 1690
av pave Alexander VIII (1689-91). Helligkåringsbullen var datert 15. juli 1691.
På grunn av sin hengivenhet til alterets sakrament og sitt forsvar av den sanne
lære om nattverden overfor en kalvinistisk mobb, ble han i 1897 utropt til
vernehelgen for eukaristiske kongresser og sakramentsbrorskap av pave Leo XIII
(1878-1903) i hans apostoliske brev Providentissimus Deus.
Hans minnedag er
dødsdagen 17. mai. Ved kalenderreformen i 1969 ble hans minnedag fjernet fra
den universelle kalenderen og henvist til lokale og spesielle kalendere. Hans
navn står i Martyrologium Romanum. Hans relikvier ble vanhelliget og brent i
1936 under den spanske borgerkrigen. Han blir fremstilt som fransiskaner med en
lenke om livet, ofte med en monstrans. Hans biografi ble skrevet av hans
medbror og superior, p. Ximenes.
Kilder:
Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Bentley, Butler, Butler (V),
Benedictines, Delaney, Bunson, Cruz (1), Engelhart, Schauber/Schindler,
Melchers, Dammer/Adam, Index99, KIR, CE, CSO, Patron Saints SQPN, Infocatho,
Bautz, Heiligenlexikon - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per
Einar Odden - Opprettet: 2000-05-11 23:40 - -
Sist oppdatert: 2005-12-26 16:26
