From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

August 17th - Saint Hyacinth, Missionary and Thaumaturge
(d. 1257)

Saint Hyacinth, named the glorious Apostle of the North, was born of
noble parents in Poland, about the year 1185. In 1218, as a Canon of
Cracow he accompanied the bishop of that region to Rome. There he met
Saint Dominic and soon afterward was one of the first to receive the
habit of the Friar Preachers, in a group clothed by the patriarch
himself. He became a living copy of his dear master. The church was
his only chamber, and the ground his only bed. So wonderful was his
progress in virtue that within a year Dominic sent him with a small
group to preach and plant the Order in Poland, where he founded two
houses.

His apostolic journeys extended over numerous and vast regions.
Austria, Bohemia, Livonia, the shores of the Black Sea, Tartary,
Northern China in the east, Sweden, Norway and Denmark to the west,
were evangelized by him, and he is said to have visited Scotland.
Everywhere he traveled unarmed, without a horse, with no money, no interpreters, no furs in the severe winters, and often without a
guide, abandoning to Divine Providence his mission in its entirety.
Everywhere multitudes were converted, churches and convents were
built; one hundred and twenty thousand pagans and infidels were
baptized by his hands. He worked many miracles; at Cracow he raised a
dead youth to life. He had inherited from Saint Dominic a perfect
filial confidence in the Mother of God; to Her he ascribed his
success, and to Her aid he looked for his own salvation. It was at the
request of this indefatigable missionary that Saint Thomas Aquinas
wrote his famous philosophical =E2=80=9CSumma contra Gentiles=E2=80=9D, pro= ving the
reasonableness of the Faith on behalf of those unfamiliar with
doctrine.

While Saint Hyacinth was at Kiev the Tartars sacked the town, but it
was only as he finished Mass that the Saint heard of the danger.
Without waiting to unvest, he took the ciborium in his hands, and was
leaving the church. Then occurred the most famous of his countless
prodigies. As he passed by a statue of Mary a voice said: =E2=80=9CHyacinth=
,
My son, why do you leave Me behind? Take Me with you...=E2=80=9D The statue
was of heavy alabaster, but when Hyacinth took it in his arms it was
light as a reed. With the Blessed Sacrament and the statue he walked
to the Dnieper River, and crossed dry-shod over the surface of the
waters to the far bank.

On the eve of the Assumption, 1257, he was advised of his coming
death. In spite of an unrelenting fever, he celebrated Mass on the
feast day and communicated as a dying man. He was anointed at the foot
of altar, and died on the great Feast of Our Lady.

Reflection: Saint Hyacinth teaches us to spare no effort in the
service of God, but to rely for success not on our industry but on the assistance and prayer of His Immaculate Mother.

Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints


Saint Quote:
"The Catholic Church, having received the apostolic teaching and
faith, though spread over the whole world, guards it sedulously, as
though dwelling in one house; and these truths she uniformly teaches,
as having but one soul and one heart; these truths she proclaims,
teaches, and hands down as though she had but one mouth."
--St. Irenaeus in the second century

Bible Quote:
"Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, Than great treasure
with trouble." Proverbs 15:16


He did all things well. [Mark 7:37 ]

1. All our good and all our evil certainly lies in the character of
our actions. As they are, so are we; for we are the tree, and they the
fruit, and, therefore, they prove what each one is.
--St. Augustine

A servant of God, at the point of death, once spoke thus: "Now I know
that totum opus nostrum in operatione consistit--our actions are our
sole concern."

St. Aloysius Gonzaga set down in writing a resolution that he would do
all in his power that everyone of his actions might be good, and bring
him nearer to God.

St. Bonaventure used to excite himself and others to constant
occupation in good works by often repeating this beautiful sentiment:
Every hour that we waste in sloth, we lose a glory equal to the good
works we might have performed in it.

("A Year with the Saints". August: Diligence)

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