Janeir-5-acem Sogglem Santam

Menology Entry for January 5:

(El Greco, The Adoration of the Most Holy Name Of Jesus)

Feast of the Most Holy Name Of Jesus: Our Lord God Jesus Christ, in His Humanity, was circumcised, & named, on the same day, along with the ritual Mosaic Covenant purification of His Mother, as part of a customary joint ceremony, commemorated on January 1, however, His Unstainable Bride, the One Holy Catholic & Apostolic Roman Church, fittingly celebrates each of these sacred events separately, with the feast of His Holy Name being a movable feast; "Et postquam consummati sunt dies octo, ut circumcideretur puer, vocatum est nomen ejus Jesus, quod vocatum est ab angelo priusquam in utero conciperetur" (Lk. ii, 21); in the reform of the General Calendar of the Roman Rite, instituted by Pope St. Pius X, vide his motu proprio Abhinc duos annos of October 23, 1913 A.D., it was set for the Sunday between January 2 & 5, inclusive, and in years when no such Sunday exists, the celebration is observed on January 2; in 2025, the Feast of the Holy Name is set for January 5; 

Vigil of the Epiphany of our Lord (RM); 

Feast of Our Lady of Abundance of Cursi ("Madonna della Abbondanza") at Cursi, or Curze, in the  Salentinian dialect, in the Salento peninsula, in the province of Lecce, in the Diocese of Otranto, in Puglia, Italy: In the whole territory of Cursi it had not rained for nine months. Winter had passed and spring seemed never to come, the countryside was squalid, the animals were burned and starving; the hearts of the Cursiati were sad at the prospect of a summer without a harvest. One morning in April 1640, a cowherd Biagio Orlando Natali had the unpleasant surprise of no longer finding his heifers, driven mad by the heat and hunger. He begins a frantic search, but no matter how much he walks, there is no trace. He returns home soaked with tiredness & sweat. He has desperation & blasphemy in his heart & on his lips, but he does not give up. After a short rest, he resumes his journey & his search, while an inner impulse pushes him to head towards Muro Leccese, soon reaching near a chapel of Our Lady of Melito. Next to the chapel, near the edge of the road, was a barn. Inside the barn, on one of the walls, was a fresco that an unknown artist had painted of the Madonna and Child. As Biagio passed by the barn, he noticed a strange light coming from inside. He stopped & looked, & the light seemed to get brighter & brighter. Suddenly, the Blessed Virgin Mary emerged from inside the light, bearing the Child Jesus. Biagio fell to his knees, & a beautiful voice said, "Don't be afraid! I am the Queen of Heaven. I will take Cursi under my protection & I will give you a sign of it right away. Return to your village & placate your neighbors for I have heard their prayers. Assure them that as of this day, their suffering has come to an end. As a sign of my protection, you will have an abundant harvest. Tell the Parish Priest to come here in procession with the people. In this place you will build me a Temple and I will place my dwelling there, I will always remain with you." Biagio gets up, he feels renewed in body & soul, & runs to announce to everyone the message he received. The Parish Priest Fr. John Dominic Coccioli (Don Giovanni Domenico Coccioli) welcomes him & when he hears his message, says, "Oh, the beautiful Lady came to me too, in a dream, & told me the same things!" The bells ring in celebration & everyone rushes with curiosity & anxiety to know what happened & when they know of the extraordinary event, they set off praying towards the place of the apparition. It is the first & most devout pilgrimage in the history of Cursi. Once they reach the place, "Here," says Biagio, "here I saw it. I was going desperately, looking for my heifers when a light came towards me...." Everyone looks at the indicated point, as if to see them too. The sun is high & the sky is an immense blue. Oh, if that light would appear again, if everyone could see it...! And instead... a very small cloud breaks the harmony of that immense blue, grows large, advances, spreads more & more, covers the sky, obscures the sun... and the water falls. How much rain! For three continuous days! It is the promise kept! It is the fresh water of the miracle! The fruit season will arrive & 1640-41 will remain in the history of Cursi & the neighboring countries as the year of the great harvest, the year of abundance. What title will be given to the shining Lady who appeared to Biagio Orlando Natali? We will call her the "Madonna dell'Abbondanza," all the people acclaim, for she is our Patron, our Protector. Soon the news of the Apparition spread to the surrounding villages & pilgrims flocked from all over the Salento Peninsula to ask for graces from Our Lady of Cursi. With the offerings of the devotees, a small sanctuary was built enclosing the barn with the fresco, completed in 1650 A.D. This little shrine  was later almost completely destroyed, and in a still prodigious way. In 1708 A.D., Angelo Macchia, a young man from Cursi, returning from his farm "Plenzano" was caught in a furious storm & found refuge in the shrine. But the hurricane raged right there & it seemed that it wanted to overwhelm everything. Angelo, on his knees, prayed with all his soul & behold, a beautiful Lady, the same as had appeared to Biagio, took him by the hand, led him toward the door, encouraged him with a smile & ordered him to move away from the shrine. The trembling young man ventured out on the old road amidst the rain, wind & thunder. He advanced a little, then the storm, stronger than him, knocked him to the ground but he was safe. Turning back as if to implore the Madonna, he saw the little shrine in flames. The Cursians built a larger, stronger shrine, the present sanctuary, in replacement; 

ANOTHER ACCOUNT: The Puglia region of Italy was suffering from a severe drought for almost three years. By the spring of 1641, things were indeed desperate. With unbearable heat in April, the people prayed fervently to the Blessed Virgin begging her to save them from impending famine. In April 1641 A.D., the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to an irreligious shepherd named Biagio Orlando Natali who was so frightened, that he started to run away. But she called him back, reassuring him that she was the Queen of Heaven and that she felt sorrow over the misfortune

which had fallen on him & his fellow citizens. She told Biagio to go to the pastor of the parish and to tell him in her name to assemble all the people of Cursi here on this spot where she wished a temple to be erected. When the temple would be completed, she promised that very year there would be a harvest of such abundance as none had ever seen before. Finally she told Biagio that he was to change his way of life, for she had selected him to be her true follower, and that he was to serve in the new temple when it had been

completed. After she said these words, she vanished as suddenly as she had appeared. Biagio quickly went to tell the pastor of this miraculous event. The good priest gathered the people together & led by Biagio they processed to the spot where the Virgin had appeared. There they fell to their knees & prayed to the Most Holy Virgin. After some time they reassembled & started the return procession to town. They had gone only a little way when a rain cloud appeared overhead, soon joined by others until the entire sky was dark. Rain fell and a downpour drenched the whole crowd which celebrated in the downpour which lasted for three days. The news of the miraculous rainfall spread rapidly and great crowds hurried to that place of the apparition to offer their thanks to the Madonna. And when the time of harvest arrived, the crops in the whole area were so abundant that every barn was filled to overflowing. Soon thereafter the grateful people erected a church at the site of the Apparition. Biagio left his worldly life behind him and became a devoted servant of Our Lady, donning the garb of a hermit, vowing to spend the rest of his life in prayer & looking after the new shrine. Some years later the church was destroyed by fire caused by lightning. The people, recalling the goodness of the Virgin, immediately set to work to build the present beautiful sanctuary. On the high altar of the sanctuary there is a Greco- Byzantine fresco of Our Lady of Abundance, carrying the Divine Infant. In their hands both hold sprigs of olives and ears of corn. This Madonna is famous also for an abundance of another kind. It is said that mothers who lack milk to nurse their babies have it in copious supply after visiting the sanctuary and praying to Our Lady. 

Pope St. Telesphorus, Martyr, at Rome, who, after many sufferings for the confession of Christ, in the  persecution of Antoninus Pius, underwent a glorious martyrdom (RM); he was Pope from 126 A.D., to 137 A.D.,

The Holy Martyrs of Thebais in Egypt, who, during the persecution of Diocletianus, were put to death by various kinds of torments (RM); 

St. Apollinaris, virgin (RM); 

King St. Edward the Confessor, King of England, illustrious by the virtue of chastity & the gift of miracles; his liturgical feast, by order of Pope Innocent XI, is celebrated October 13, when his relics were translated (RM); though he was forced to  marry, he first obtained from his bride, her consent to the "Brother-Sister Vow," by which they vowed to live as virgins, chaste, vowing their virginities to our Lord God Jesus Christ (link1 & link2); 

St. Emiliana, Virgin, aunt of Pope St. Gregory, who, being called to God by her sister St. Tharsilla, who had preceded her, she departed for Heaven on this day, at Rome (RM); 

St. John Nepomucene Neuman, Redemptorist, Bishop of Philadelphia, died Jan. 5, 1860 A.D., declared venerable by Pope Benedict XV De. 11, 1921 A.D., not yet canonized by a Catholic Pope (link); 

St. Simon the Stylite, hermit, near Antioch, wonderworker or thaumaturge, he lived many years, with the most rigorous asceticism, standing on a pillar, & was, for that reason, called the Stylite (RM); 

St. Syncletica, at Alexandria in Egypt, her noble deeds have been recorded by St. Athanasius (RM);