On the façade of the Notre Dame Cathedral there is a statue
of a headless bishop. I say “headless”
because he had been decapitated, however, he is holding his head, about chest
high. That bishop, was the first bishop
of Paris, who had been a missionary sent from Italy to spread the faith in the
city of Paris, in the mid 3rd century, before it was even called
Paris, it was called “Lutetia Parisiorum” by Julius Caesar.
Paris, at the time was filled with different pagan
religions, and St. Denis was so successful in the conversion of the Pagan
Parisians, that the Pagan Parisian Priests conspired against Denis. Denis was arrested and sentenced to death by
decapitation.
Even so, St. Denis was not done preaching. According to legend, once decapitated, he
stood up, picked up his severed head from the dirt and walked about 4 miles
north, preaching a sermon the entire way.
Amazingly, he even stopped to rinse the blood and dirt off of his head
along the way. A basilica was built at
the spot where he finally collapsed and died.
Saint Denis is the patron saint of Paris and one of the
patron saints of headaches.
Again, here is a saint about whom almost nothing is known, yet
one whose cult has been a vigorous part of the Church's history for centuries. We
can only conclude that the deep impression the saint made on the people of his
day reflected a life of unusual holiness. In all such cases, there are two
fundamental facts: A great man gave his life for Christ, and the Church has
never forgotten him—a human symbol of God's eternal mindfulness.
I had the occasion of visiting a non-Catholic church in the
area recently, and I was struck by it’s starkness. One cross in the whole place, no statues of
beloved saints, no stained glass windows with Christian symbols from
antiquity. And I thought, “how sad”, it
was like it was decapitated from history.
I also thought, “how thankful I was to be Catholic”, with the examples
of the saints and martyrs, with all the fantastic symbolism to enrich our
life.
John Henry Cardinal Newman once said, "To be deep in
history is to cease to be Protestant."
When we honor a saint, like Denis, from the early centuries of Christian
history, we truly show ourselves to be Catholic—venerating those men and women
who embraced the fullness of Faith, who found holiness in following Christ and
shedding their blood for Him—their witness shows us that the Catholic faith is
timeless and life-giving throughout all the ages.
May our lives continue to be enriched by their example, may
we be assisted by their heavenly intercession, for the glory of God and
salvation of souls.
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