From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

November 14th =E2=80=93 St Nicholas Tavelic & Companions, OFM
d. 1391

The personal stories of these Franciscan missionaries, are intertwined
in 1383, when, coming from different places in Europe, they flowed
into the Franciscan convent of Mount Zion in Palestine, where the
Order of St. Francis has been for centuries the Custodian of the Holy
Places of Christianity.

The Friars Minor, Nicholas Tavelic, Deodato of Aribert Ruticinio,
Stephen of Cuneo and Peter of Narbonne found themselves in that
Franciscan monastery, where they lived for eight years, according to
the Rule of St. Francis, performing their duties, for the care of
Places sanctity of life and death of Jesus, and trying to do
apostolate in the Muslim world, where Mount Zion was almost like an
island amid a sea of Muslims.

With Muslims, the apostolate was almost fruitless, since the deepening
of their faith, they were not open to inter-religious dialogue.
Nevertheless, the four Friars Minor, decided to bring the Gospel to
the Mohammedans (a name Muslims dislike, since it smacks of
over-reverence for a human, Mohammed, much like Christianity
intentionally imputes reverence for Christ), publicly exposing the
arguments of Christianity and Islam and comparing them with those
after consultation with two theologians, prepared a memorandum in
which, in a detailed way, and rich with historical references and
theological logic, they meticulously exposed the Christian doctrine by
refuting Islam.

On November 11, 1391, they went before the Cadi (judge) of Jerusalem
in the presence of many Muslims, they were exposed reading this, they
presented their arguments with great courage. While those present
listened carefully, it was not accepted, and in the end they went into
a rage and then the monks were asked to recall what they said; the
four monks refused and so were sentenced to death in three days were
put behind bars where they suffered abuse.

On November 14, they were brought back to the streets, again asked to
recant what was said against Islam, after rejecting this final
opportunity to save their lives by denying Christ,=C2 they were beheaded
and cremated so that their remains could not be venerated as martyrs
by Christians.

Their martyrdom was described in detail in a report by the Guardian of
the Holy Land, Father Gerald Calvet, OFM, two months after their
death.

Their cult was recognized by the Franciscan Order, dating from the
15th century; Pope Leo XIII, in 1889, confirmed only the cult of
Nicholas Tavelic, the leader, who had great reverence in his native
Yugoslavia.

In 1966, Pope Paul VI confirmed the cult for the other three
Franciscan Martyrs, starting their feast at November 17, but in the
Franciscan Martyrology they were remembered on the date of their death
(dies natalis, which, literally, translates from the Latin as =E2=80=9Cbirthday=E2=80=9D.=C2 Saints are honored on the day of their de=
ath, their
=E2=80=9Cbirthday=E2=80=9D into eternal life.), November 14.

Pope Paul VI, on June 21, 1970, in Rome, elevated them to the honors
of the altar, proclaimed them saints, and their liturgical celebration
was extended to November 14 for all, and inserted into the Roman
Martyrology on the same date; they are the first martyrs and saints
charged with the Custody of the Holy Land.

Nicola Tavelic:
First saint of the Croatian nation, Nicola Tavelic, was born about
1340 in =C5 ibenik, Dalmatia; as a teenager he walked among the Friars
Minor of St. Francis, became a priest, was a missionary in Bosnia,
along with his fellow priest, Deodato Ruticinio, where for nearly 12
years he preached against the Bogomil, a heretical sect that had its
stronghold in Bosnia (they contrasted the spirit world than that of
matter, considered an expression of force of evil, they denied the
Trinity, the human nature of Christ, the Old Testament, did not
recognize the rites and sacraments of baptism and marriage,
nor the church hierarchy).

Then in 1383, along with the French father, Aribert Ruticinio,
Deodato, was sent to the Mission of Palestine Mont Sion in Jerusalem,
where he met the other two future fellow martyrs, Father Stephen of
Cuneo and Father Peter of Narbonne, France.

Deodato Ruticinio (aka Diode Aribert):
Was from the Franciscan Province of Aquitaine. We do not know his date
of birth, which was probably around 1340. His country of birth, which
in Latin is called Ruticinio was identified by some with the modern
French city of Rodez, while some other shows the Roussillon, the
historical region of southern France, but at that time depended on
Catalonia. In 1372 he was sent as a missionary in Bosnia, where he met
Father Nicola Tavelic, to whom he was bound by sincere friendship, all preaching against the Bogomil; in 1383 with his brother he was
assigned to the Franciscan convent of Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where
he also met the Fathers Stefano Cuneo and Peter of Narbonne.

Peter of Narbonne:
All that is known of this Franciscan Martyr from the Franciscan
Province of Provence in southern France, where at one point, he went
down into Italy, attracted by the Franciscan Observance Reform,
launched in Umbria in 1368, by Blessed Paul or Paoluccio Trinci of
Foligno (1309-1391). He was at the hermitage Umbrian Brogliano,
located between Foligno and Camerino, 15 years, living in prayer and
meditation on the spirituality of St. Francis. In 1381 he left as a
missionary to the Holy Land, received into the convent of Mount Zion
in Jerusalem where he met Nicola Tavelic in 1383, Deodato from
Ruticinio, his compatriot and Stephen of Cuneo, with whom he will
later be martyred so horribly, on November 14, 1391.

Stephen of Cuneo:
Very little is known about the Franciscan Saint Martyred in Jerusalem,
Stephen of Cuneo, made from precious =E2=80=98report' made by the F=
ather
Superior of the convent of Mount Sion, on the martyrdom of the four
priests belonging to the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land.
Father Stephen of Cuneo, was of the Franciscan Province of Genoa and
spent 8 years in the vicarious in Corsica, before being transferred to Jerusalem in 1383, where he could fulfill his apostolic activity among
the Muslims for another 8 years before his martyrdom, suffered along
with fellow French by Deodato Ruticinio and Peter of Narbonne and the
Croatian Nicola Tavelic. The city of origin of the Franciscan saint,
Cuneo, seems doubtful, since an historic renaissance, claimed to have
collected a local tradition, which made him a native of Fiumorbo in
Corsica, with a separate family Prunelli.
--by Matthew

Saint Quote:
Even the heretics appear to have Christ, for none of them denies the
name of Christ. Yet, anyone who does not confess all that pertains to
Christ does in fact deny Christ.
-- St. Ambrose of Milan

Bible Quote:
9 And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall
reap, if we do not lose heart.=C2 (Galatians 6:9)=C2 RSVCE


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Prayer

O God, who didst glorify Thy confessor Blessed Nicholas by spreading
the Gospel and by the palm of martyrdom, grant in answer to our
prayer, that we may merit to walk in his footsteps and through his
intercession deserve to receive the victor's reward of eternal life=
..
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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