Saint Ildefonse de Tolède
Évêque de Tolède (✝ 669)
Ildefonse ou Alphonse.
Neveu
de saint Eugène de
Tolède, il étudia à Séville ayant pour maître saint
Isidore. Moine, il devint abbé de Tagli, sur le Tage. Archevêque de
Tolède en 657, il uniformisa les liturgies espagnoles. Pami les nombreux
ouvrages qu'il écrivit, il composa un traité pour défendre la virginité
perpétuelle de la Très sainte Mère de Dieu.
À Tolède en Espagne, vers 607, saint Ildefonse,
évêque. Moine et supérieur de son couvent, il fut élu évêque et écrivit de
nombreux ouvrages dans un style très élégant et honora la bienheureuse Marie
Mère de Dieu et toujours Vierge avec un admirable zèle de dévotion.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/489/Saint-Ildefonse-de-Tolede.html
Imposición de la Casulla a San Ildefonso, unknown artist, 1507 AD -
Museo de San Clemente, Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spain
SAINT ILDEFONSE,
ÉVÊQUE ET CONFESSEUR.
L’Église
Gothique d'Espagne députe aujourd'hui un de ses plus grands Prélats au berceau
du divin Enfant, avec la charge de célébrer sa naissance inénarrable. La
louange que fait entendre Ildefonse semble au premier abord n'avoir pour objet
que l'honneur de Marie; mais peut-on honorer la Mère sans proclamer la gloire
du Fils, à l'enfantement duquel elle doit toutes ses grandeurs?
Au milieu
du chœur de ces grands Pontifes qui ont illustré le brillant épiscopat de
l'Espagne au VII° et au VIII° siècle, entre les Léandre, les Isidore, les
Fulgence, les Braulion, les Eugène, les Julien, les Helladius, paraît au
premier rang Ildefonse, avec la gloire d'avoir été le Docteur de la Virginité
de Marie : comme Athanase est le Docteur de la Divinité du Verbe ; Basile, le
Docteur de la Divinité du Saint-Esprit ; Augustin, le Docteur de la Grâce. Le
saint Evêque de Tolède a exposé son dogme tout entier, avec une profonde
doctrine et une éloquence du cœur : prouvant à la fois contre les Juifs, que
Marie a conçu sans perdre la virginité ; contre les adeptes de Jovinien,
qu'elle est demeurée Vierge dans son enfantement ; contre les sectateurs
d'Helvidius, qu'elle est restée Vierge après avoir mis le Christ au monde.
D'autres
Docteurs, avant lui, avaient traité
séparément ces questions sublimes ; Ildefonse a réuni toutes leurs lumières
comme dans un faisceau, et il a mérité qu'une Vierge Martyre sortît de son
sépulcre pour le féliciter d'avoir protégé l'honneur de la Souveraine des
Cieux. Enfin, Marie elle-même, de ses mains virginales, l'a revêtu de cette
merveilleuse chasuble qui présageait l'éclat du vêtement de lumière sous lequel
Ildefonse brille à jamais, au pied du trône de la Mère de Dieu.
Nous
emprunterons au Bréviaire Monastique les Leçons de l'Office de notre saint
Evêque :
Ildefonse , Espagnol d e nation, né à
Tolède, d'Etienne et Lucie, ses parents très nobles, fut élevé avec grand soin,
et instruit dans les arts libéraux. Il eut pour premier maître Eugène, Evêque
de Tolède, qui, frappé de ses heureuses dispositions, l'envoya à Séville,
auprès de saint Isidore, dont la vaste érudition était alors en honneur. 11
demeura douze ans auprès du saint Prélat, jusqu'à ce que, formé dans les bonnes
mœurs, et rempli de la saine doctrine, il revînt à Tolède, auprès d'Eugène, qui
le fit Archidiacre de cette Eglise, à cause de ses excellentes vertus et de sa
science remarquable. Ildefonse, voulant éviter les pièges du monde, embrassa
l'institut monastique de l'Ordre de saint Benoît, dans le monastère d'Agalie,
malgré l'opposition de ses parents, qui employèrent les prières et les menaces
pour le détourner de son pieux dessein.
Peu de temps après, les moines l'élurent
à la place de leur Abbé qui venait de mourir; car ils admiraient en lui, outre
les autres vertus, son équité, son caractère aimable, sa prudence, et une
admirable sainteté. Un si grand éclat, une si vive lumière de vraie piété, ne
purent longtemps demeurer cachés ; et c'était ce qu'avait craint Ildefonse.
Car, Eugène étant mort, il fut élu Archevêque de Tolède, par le consentement du
clergé, des grands et de tout le peuple. Il serait impossible d'expliquer en
peu de mots combien, dans cette dignité, il fut utile par ses paroles et ses
exemples au peuple confié à ses soins, quels miracles il fit, à combien de titres
il mérita de la Vierge-Mère. Il bâtit un monastère de Vierges, dans le lieu
appelé Deilfa, et l'enrichit de revenus abondants. Il réfuta savamment et
chassa d'Espagne certains hérétiques, qui répandaient dans ce pays l'hérésie
d'Helvidius, qui niait la perpétuelle virginité de Marie, Mère de Dieu. La
discussion sur ce sujet est contenue dans le livre qu'il a écrit de la
Virginité de là bienheureuse Marie. Cette puissante Reine récompensa par un
miracle le zèle de son serviteur. Ildefonse étant descendu de nuit pour
l'Office des Matines de l'Expectation de la sainte Vierge, ceux qui
l'accompagnaient, étant arrivés au seuil de l'Eglise, aperçurent tout à coup
dans l'intérieur une splendeur qui les effraya, et les fit revenir sur leurs
pas. Le saint avança intrépidement jusqu'à l'autel; il vit la sainte Vierge
elle-même , il la vénéra , et reçut d'elle un vêtement pour l'usage du
Sacrifice.
Une autre fois, on célébrait la Fête de
sainte Léocadie; le Clergé et un peuple nombreux étaient rassemblés dans
l'Eglise ; Ildefonse, s'étant approché du tombeau de cette Vierge, priait à
genoux, lorsque tout à coup la très sainte Léocadie sort de son sépulcre qui
s'entr'ouvre, et, en présence de tous les assistants, elle célèbre les mérites
d'Ildefonse envers la Vierge Marie, par ces paroles : « O Ildefonse ! par toi
triomphe ma souveraine Maîtresse, qui habite les hauteurs du ciel. » Au moment
où elle disparaissait , Ildefonse, saisissant l'épée de Recesvinthe, qui était
présent à cette apparition, coupa une partie du voile dont la tête de Léocadie
était couverte, et la renferma, avec une grande pompe, ainsi que l'épée du Roi,
dans le trésor de l'Eglise, où on la garde encore aujourd'hui.
Il écrivit beaucoup de livres d'un style
rempli de clarté ; mais il en a laissé quelques-uns imparfaits, à cause de ses
grandes occupations. Enfin, il termina sa vie par une heureuse mort, ayant
siégé, comme Evêque, neuf ans et deux mois. Il fut enseveli dans la Basilique
de Sainte-Léocadie, vers l'an du Seigneur six cent soixante-sept, Recesvinthe
régnant en Espagne. Durant l'occupation générale de ce pays par les Sarrasins,
son corps fut transféré dans la ville de Zamora. Il y repose avec honneur, dans
l'Eglise de Saint-Pierre, entouré des marques de la vénération du peuple.
Honneur à
vous, saint Pontife, qui vous élevez, avec tant de gloire, de cette terre
d'Espagne si féconde en vaillants chevaliers de Marie ! Allez prendre place
auprès du berceau ou cette Mère incomparable veille avec amour sur l'Enfant,
qui, étant à la fois son Dieu et son fils, a consacré sa virginité, loin de
l'altérer. Recommandez-nous à sa tendresse ; rappelez-lui qu'elle est aussi
notre Mère. Priez-la d'entendre les hymnes que nous chantons à sa gloire, et de
faire agréer à son Emmanuel l'hommage de nos cœurs. Pour être accueillis par
cette auguste Souveraine, nous oserons, ô Docteur de la Virginité de Marie,
emprunter votre organe, et lui dire avec vous :
« Je viens
à vous maintenant, ô vous, seule Vierge Mère de Dieu; je me prosterne à vos
pieds, seule coopératrice de l'incarnation de mon Dieu ; je m'humilie devant
vous, seule Mère de mon Seigneur. Je vous supplie, unique servante de votre
Fils, d'obtenir que mon péché soit effacé, d'ordonner que je sois purifié de
l'iniquité de mes œuvres. Faites-moi aimer la gloire de votre virginité ;
révélez-moi la douceur de votre Fils ; donnez-moi de parler, selon la
sincérité, de la foi de votre Fils, et de la défendre. Accordez-moi de
m'attacher à Dieu et à vous, de servir votre Fils et vous : lui, comme mon Créateur
; vous, comme la Mère de mon Créateur; lui, comme le Seigneur des armées; vous,
comme la servante du Maître de toutes choses ; lui, comme un Dieu; vous, comme
la Mère d'un Dieu ; lui, comme mon Rédempteur ; vous, comme l'instrument de ma
rédemption.
« S'il a
été le prix de mon rachat, sa chair a été formée de votre chair; c'est de votre
substance mortelle qu'il a pris le corps mortel par lequel il a effacé mes
péchés ; ma nature qu'il a emportée, au-dessus des Anges, jusque dans la gloire
du trône de son Père, il a daigné l'emprunter à votre substance.
« Donc, je
suis votre esclave, car votre Fils est mon Seigneur. Vous êtes ma Dame, car
vous êtes la servante de mon Seigneur. Je suis l'esclave de la servante de mon
Seigneur, car vous, qui êtes ma Dame, vous êtes la Mère de mon Seigneur.
Faites, je vous en supplie, Vierge sainte, que je possède Jésus, par ce même
Esprit dont la vertu vous a fait enfanter Jésus ; que je connaisse Jésus, par
le même Esprit qui vous a fait connaître et concevoir Jésus ; que je parle de
Jésus, par le même Esprit dans lequel vous vous êtes dite la servante du
Seigneur ; que j'aime Jésus, par le même Esprit dans lequel vous l'adorez,
comme votre Seigneur, et le considérez amoureusement comme votre Fils; que
j'obéisse enfin à Jésus, aussi sincèrement que lui-même, étant Dieu, vous était
soumis et à Joseph. »
Dom
Guéranger. L'ANNÉE LITURGIQUE.
Saint Ildefonse ou en espagnol Ildefonso ou Alonzo ou Alfonso, né vers 606, a été
archevêque de Tolède en Espagne depuis 657 jusqu'à sa mort, le 23 janvier 667.
Neveu de saint Eugène de Tolède, il a étudié
avec saint Isidore de Séville. Il a d'abord été moine de l'abbaye Saint-Cosme-et-Saint-Damien
d'Agali à Tolède avant d'en devenir abbé. Il a, à ce titre, participé aux VIIIe
et IXe conciles de Tolède en 653 et 655.
Ildefonse fait partie, comme saint Isidore ou
Braulio, de ces abbés-évêques encore très attachés au savoir classique, dont il
disait qu'il était « un don commun, non privé ». Son ouvrage le plus
célèbre est le De Viris illustribus (Les Vies illustres),
inspiré des œuvres homonymes de saint Jérôme et de saint Isidore, dont saint
Julien, qui lui succéda à l'évêché de Tolède, dit le plus grand bien dans
son Elogium, qui est la première source d'informations sur la vie
d'Ildefonse.
Parmi ses œuvres on peut aussi citer : De
cognitione baptismi (La connaissance du baptême), le Libellum
de Virginitate Sanctae Mariae contra tres infideles (Livre sur la
virginité de sainte Marie contre trois incroyants), un traité en deux livres
: Annotationes de cognitione baptismi (Notes sur la
connaissance du baptême) et Liber de itineris desertis, quo itur post
baptismum (Livre des chemins du dessert par où l’on avance après le
baptême). Le De Virginitate a été copié à la demande de
l'évêque du Puy Godescalc en 950/951 au cours de son pèlerinage à Saint-Jacques
de Compostelle.
Il a aussi écrit des œuvres qui ont permis de forger
la liturgie tolédane : des messes, des hymnes, des sermons, des
antiphonaires, des répons, etc..
Par ailleurs, Ildefonse, en ce temps de
paganisme et d'hérésies, insistait beaucoup sur la formation catéchétique de
ses pasteurs, moines ou non.
Les apparitions de la vierge Marie à saint
Ildefonse ont inspiré la majeure partie de son iconographie : ainsi
« L'imposition de la chasuble à Saint Ildefonse » a été représentée
par de nombreux peintres, Vélasquez, Murillo, Rubens...
Lectures :
Colossiens 1, 12-18
Luc 21, 9-19
Prière de saint
Ildefonse :
« Je viens à toi maintenant, ô
toi, seule Vierge Mère de Dieu ; je me prosterne à tes pieds, seule
coopératrice de l'incarnation de mon Dieu ; je m'humilie devant toi, seule Mère
de mon Seigneur. Je te supplie, unique servante de ton Fils, d'obtenir que mon
péché soit effacé, d'ordonner que je sois purifié de l'iniquité de mes œuvres.
Fais-moi aimer la gloire de ta virginité ; révèle-moi la douceur de ton Fils ;
donne-moi de parler, selon la sincérité, de la foi de ton Fils, et de la
défendre. Accorde-moi de m'attacher à Dieu et à toi, de servir ton Fils et toi
: Lui, comme mon Créateur ; toi, comme la Mère de mon Créateur ; Lui, comme le
Seigneur des armées ; toi, comme la servante du Maître de toutes choses ;
Lui, comme un Dieu ; toi, comme la Mère d'un Dieu ; Lui, comme mon Rédempteur ;
toi, comme l'instrument de ma rédemption.
S'il a été le prix de
mon rachat, sa chair a été formée de ta chair; c'est de ta substance mortelle
qu'il a pris le corps mortel par lequel il a effacé mes péchés ; ma nature
qu'il a emportée au-dessus des anges jusque dans la gloire du trône de son Père,
il a daigné l'emprunter à ta substance.
Donc, je suis ton esclave, car ton Fils est mon Seigneur. Tu es ma
Dame, car tu es la servante de mon Seigneur. Je suis l'esclave de la servante
de mon Seigneur, car toi, qui es ma Dame, tu es la Mère de mon Seigneur. Fais,
je t en supplie, Vierge sainte, que je possède Jésus, par ce même Esprit dont
la vertu t’ a fait enfanter Jésus ; que je connaisse Jésus, par le même Esprit
qui t’ a fait connaître et concevoir Jésus ; que je parle de Jésus, par le même
Esprit dans lequel tu t’es dite la servante du Seigneur ; que j'aime Jésus, par
le même Esprit dans lequel tu l'adore comme ton Seigneur, et le considère
amoureusement comme ton Fils ; que j'obéisse enfin à Jésus aussi sincèrement
que lui-même, étant Dieu, était soumis et à Joseph.
SOURCE : http://www.religion-orthodoxe.eu/article-saint-ildefonse-alphonse-de-tolede-65566238.html
Saint Ildephonsus of
Toledo
Also
known as
Idelfonso
Ildefonso
Ildefonsus
Memorial
23 January
Profile
Born to the Spanish nobility.
Nephew of Saint Eugene
of Toledo. Studied at Seville, Spain under Saint Isidore
of Seville. Monk at
Agli (Agalia) on the River Tagus near Toledo, Spain while
still a young
man. Abbot at
Agli. Attended the Council of Toledo in 653 and 655. Archbishop of Toledo in 657.
Responsible for the unification of the Spanish liturgy.
Noted writer,
especially on Our
Lady; only four of his works have survived. Reported to have received an
apparition of the Virgin Mary during
which she presented him with a chalice.
Born
607 at Toledo, Spain
Died
667 of
natural causes
Canonized
Pre-Congregation
Patronage
San
Ildefonso Indian Pueblo
Toledo, Spain
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MLA
Citation
“Saint Ildephonsus of
Toledo“. CatholicSaints.Info. 28 September 2021. Web. 23 January 2022.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ildephonsus/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ildephonsus/
Santo
Ildefonso. Realizado por Manuel Francisco Álvarez de la Peña
Archbishop of Toledo; died 23 January, 667. He was born
of a distinguished family and was a nephew of St. Eugenius, his
predecessor in the See of Toledo. At an early age, despite the determined
opposition of his father, he embraced the monastic life in the monastery of Agli, near Toledo. While he was still a
simple monk, he founded and endowed a monastery of nuns in Deibiensi
villula. We learn
from his writings that he was ordained a deacon (about 630) by Helladius, who had been his abbot and was afterwards elected Archbishop of Toledo. Ildephonsus himself became Abbot of Agli, and in this capacity was one of the
signatories, in 653 and 655, at the Eighth and Ninth Councils of Toledo. Called
by King Reccesvinth, towards the end of 657, to fill the archiepiscopal throne, he governed the Church of Toledo for a little more than nine years
and was buried in the Basilica of Saint Leocadia. To these scanty but authentic details of his
life (they are attested by Ildephonsus himself, or by his immediate successor,
Archbishop Julianus, in a short biographical notice which he added to the
"De viris illustribus" of Ildephonsus) some doubtful or even legendary anecdotes were added later.
At the end of the eighth century Cixila, Archbishop of Toledo, embellished the biography of his
predecessor. He relates that Ildephonsus was the disciple of Isidore of Seville, and recalls in particular two marvellous
stories, of which the second, a favourite theme of hagiographers, poets, and
artists, has been for ages entwined with the memory of the saint. Ildephonsus, it is said, was one day praying before the relics of Saint Leocadia, when the martyr arose from her tomb and thanked the saint for the devotion he showed towards the Mother of God. It was related, further, that on another
occasion the Blessed Virgin appeared to him in person and presented him with a priestly vestment, to reward him for his zeal in honouring her.
The literary work of
Ildephonsus is better known than the details of his life, and merits for him a
distinguished place in the roll of Spanish writers. His successor, Julianus of
Toledo, in the notice already referred to, informs us that the saint himself divided his works into four parts. The
first and principal division contained six treatises, of which two only have
been preserved: "De virginitate perpetuâ sanctae Mariae adversus tres
infideles" (these three unbelievers are Jovinianus, Helvidius, and "a
Jew"), a bombastic work which displays however
a spirit of ardent piety, and assures Ildephonsus a place of honour among the devoted servants of the Blessed
Virgin; also a treatise in two books: (1) "Annotationes de cognitione
baptismi", and (2) "Liber de itinere deserti, quo itur post
baptismum". Recent researches have proved that the first book is only a new edition of a
very important treatise compiled, at the latest, in the sixth century,
Ildephonsus having contributed to it only a few additions (Helfferich,
"Der westgothische Arianismus", 1860, 41-49). The second part of his
works contained the saint's correspondence; of this portion, there are
still preserved two letters of Quiricus, Bishop of Barcelona, with the replies of Ildephonsus. The third
part comprised masses, hymns, and sermons; and the fourth, opuscula in prose and verse, especially epitaphs. The
editions of the complete works of Ildephonsus contain a certain number of
writings, several of which may be placed in either of the last two divisions;
but some of them are of doubtful authenticity, while the remainder are certainly
the work of another author. Moreover, Julianus states that Ildephonsus began a
good number of other works, but his many cares would not permit of his
finishing them. On the other hand, he makes no mention of a little work which
is certainly authentic, the "De viris illustribus". It may be
considered as a supplement to the "De viris illustribus" of Isidore of Seville, and is not so much a literary historical work
as a writing intended to glorify the Church of Toledo and defend the rights of the metropolitan see.
Sources
ANTONIUS, Bibliotheca Hispana
vetus, I (1696), 286-302; FLOREZ, Espana
sagrada, V (1750), 275-91; 470-525; cf. XXIX (1775), 439-43; GAMS, Kirchengeschichte Spaniens, II (1874),
i, 135-38; VON DZIALOWSKI, Isidor und
Ildefons als Litterarhistoriker (Munster, 1898), 125-60; — for ancient
biographies, see Bibl. Hagiogr. Lat., nos.
3917-26; — for modern works, see CHEVALIER, Répertoire
des sources historiques du moyen age: Bio-Bibl. (Paris,
1905), s.v. Ildephonse. The principal edition of the saint's works is that of
LORENZANA, SS. PP. Toletanorum opera,
I (1782), 94-451, reprinted in P.L.,
XCVI, 1-330.
Poncelet, Albert. "St. Ildephonsus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 23 Jan. 2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07649b.htm>.
Transcription. This article
was transcribed for New Advent by Herman F. Holbrook. Sancte
Ildephonse, ora Dei Genitricem pro nobis.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1910. 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.
Ildephonsus of Toledo B
(RM)
(also known as Alphonso, Ildefonsus, Ildephonse)
Born in Toledo, Spain, in 607; died there on January 23, 667; Doctor of the
Church.
"Virgin Mother of God:
may I bind myself to God and to you, serve your own Lord and serve you too,
obey your own Son and so obey you. May I worship Him as my Maker and you as the
mother of my Maker. May I venerate Him as the Lord of Hosts and you as the
handmaid of the Lord. May I adore Him as my God and you as the mother of my
God." --Saint Ildefonsus.
Ildefonsus, born of a noble
Spanish family, was the nephew of Saint Eugene of Toledo and may have studied
under Saint Isidore of Seville. He longed to become a monk. His family opposed
his wishes. Nevertheless, the saint professed himself in his youth as a member
of the monastery at Agli (Agalia) near his hometown of Toledo and was ordained
about 637. The other monks recognized his deep spirituality and wisdom by
making him their abbot about 650. Ildephonsus attended the council of Toledo in
653 and 655. About 657, he was consecrated archbishop of Toledo to succeed his
uncle Eugenius.
Saint Ildefonsus was
sitting on the bishop's throne in his cathedral when he was granted a vision in
which the Blessed Virgin presented him with a chasuble of heavenly tissue. The
gift was a fitting one, for Ildefonsus adored the Virgin and wrote a defense of
her perpetual virginity. He saw worship of Jesus as the supreme duty of a
Christian; and he believed that one could do so by meditating on Jesus through
the eyes of His virgin mother. He also had a special devotion to Saint
Leocadia, patroness of Toledo.
For nine years he governed
the church wisely, until his peaceable death. His successor to the see of
Toledo gave high praise to Ildefonsus's virtues and abilities. The Ramsgate
Benedictines say that he was responsible for the unification of the Spanish
liturgy. He was also a musician. The grateful Spaniards dubbed him a Doctor of
the Church and his memory is still revered.
Ildephonsus was an
outstanding writer as well as a devoted pastor. His treatise on Baptism was
followed by one of the spiritual journey of the soul after receiving the
Sacrament. In De viris illustribus he compiled short biographies of notables in
the 7th-century Church in Spain. He devotion to Mary led him to write several
theological treatises, including De virginitate perpetua sactae Mariae, a work
of exuberant enthusiasm, rather than of sober thought. This work was written as
a defense of the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Mother against the heresy of
Helvidius, Jovinian, and a Jew. His fervor had a marked effect on Spanish
piety.
A short vita of Saint
Ildephonsus was written by his successor, Bishop Saint Julian, 23 years after
his death (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley, Braegelmann, Coulson,
Delaney, Farmer, Husenbeth, Tabor).
The investiture of Saint
Ildephonsus is a favorite subject of Spanish artists, who depict him as a
cardinal archbishop receiving a chasuble from the Blessed Virgin. His hat is
near him. He may also be shown mitred with his abbot's crozier, chasuble,
pallium, book, and cardinal's hat, or writing before an image of the Blessed
Virgin (Roeder, Tabor). He is venerated throughout Spain but especially in
Toledo and Seville (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0123.shtml
St. Ildefonsus, Archbishop
HE was a learned Benedictin abbot of
a monastery called Agaliense, in a suburb of Toledo, promoted to the
archbishopric of that city after the death of Eugenius, in December, 657,
according to F. Flores; sat nine years and two months, and died on the 23rd of
January, 667, according to the same learned author, in the eighteenth year of
king Rescisvintho. His most celebrated work is a book on the Spotless Virginity
of the Virgin Mary, against Helvidius, Jovinian, and a certain Jew: he breathes
in it the most tender devotion to her, and confidence in her intercession with
her Son. He had a singular devotion to St. Leocadia, patroness of Toledo.
Certain sermons of St. Ildefonsus on the B. Virgin Mary, and some letters, are
published by F. Flores. 1 Some of his letters, which were
first given us by D’Achery, were reprinted by cardinal D’Aguirre. 2 In Spanish this saint is called
Ildefonso, and by the common people Alanso, for Alphonsus, which is an
abbreviation of Ildefonsus. See his short life by St. Julian, bishop of Toledo,
twenty-three years after his death. In Mabillon, sæc. 2. Fleury, b. 39. n. 40.
That by Cixila is not authentic. See especially the remarks of the learned F.
Flores on these two lives, &c. in his Spana
Sagrada, t. 5. tr. 5. c. 3. n. 31. p. 275. & app. 9. ib. p. 522. F.
Flores reckons St. Ildefonsus the thirty-first bishop of Toledo, from St.
Eugenius, the disciple of St. Dionysius of Paris, whom, with the writers of his
country, he counts the first in the year 112.
Note 1. F.
Flores.
Spana Sagrada, T.
5. append. 7. p. 490.
Note 2. Card. D’Aguirre, Conc. Hispan. T. 2. p. 534.
Rev.
Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume I: January. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
Puente
de Alcántara (Toledo)
Los
Reyes Católicos, que celebraron Cortes en Toledo (1480), reedificaron el
torreón del puente, próximo a la ciudad, siendo corregidor y alcalde don Gómez
Manrique (1484). Bóveda del torreón que da entrada a la ciudad.
Saints
of the Order of Saint Benedict – Saint Ildephonsus, Archbishop
This Saint was born in Spain, of an illustrious race. From
his childhood he led so pure and humble a life, that it showed his fitness for
the monastic state. His mother who, before his birth, had been warned of the
future greatness of her offspring, encouraged his religious fervour, and when
he was old enough, she placed him under the care of Saint Isidore, and he
afterwards entered the Monastery of Agalia. Here Ildephonsus made so great
progress in virtue that when the Archiepiscopal See of Toledo became vacant, he
was promoted to it. At this time a fearful heresy was beginning to creep in,
which assailed the virginity of the Blessed Mother of God; Ildephonsus, because
of the devotion to the Virgin of Virgins, which filled his breast, wrote a book
in which he emphatically denounced this error; and he was rewarded by a vision
of the Virgin Mother, who took in her hand the work in which he had defended
her virginity against Helvidius, and deigned to commend it. In this work the
Saint speaks of the Blessed Virgin with the most tender devotion. Ildephonsus
was praying one day at the tomb of Saint Leocadia, the King and a great crowd
of people being present at the time, when the holy Martyr appeared to him, and
said these words: “Through thee, O Ildephonsus, doth our Lady reign, who is
enthroned in the highest heavens.”
The Feast of the
Assumption of our Lady was one especially dear to the Saint, and when it
occurred he always took special pains to promote the honour that is due to the
Mother of God. He arranged for the performance, with due solemnity, of the
office which had lately been ordered for the celebration of the festival, he
caused hymns to be sung, and he exhorted the people to pay as much honour as
they could to the Holy Virgin. On one of the feast days of the Blessed Virgin,
the Saint rose early, as usual, for the office of Matins, and hastened to the
Church; but at the threshold his attendants were so struck with terror at a
glorious light which filled the Basilica, that they drew back, and Ildephonsus entered
alone. When he approached the altar he was favoured by a vision of the Mother
of God, surrounded by a resplendent band of Saints and Virgins, and our Lady
addressed to him the following words:
“O most beloved Servant
of God! receive the gift which I bestow upon thee from the treasures of my
Son.” When she had so spoken, she placed a vestment on his shoulders and
disappeared. Soon after this memorable vision, Saint Ildephonsus – having
presided over the Church at Toledo for nine years – died on January 23rd, 667.
– text and illustration
taken from Saints
of the Order of Saint Benedict by Father Aegedius
Ranbeck, O.S.B.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-order-of-saint-benedict-saint-ildephonsus-archbishop/
Mother
Inviolate – Gift of Fear in Mary
“If I have found favor in thy sight, O king, and if it
please thee, give me my life for which I ask, and my people, for which I
request.” – Esther 7:3
The Holy Ghost teaches us
that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This fear is not that
servile movement which has for its object the chastisement due to sin; it is a
sentiment of filial piety, grounded on the one hand on the greatness and majesty
of God, and on the other on the deformity of sin.
Servile fear may be found
even among those who do not love God, whom the dread of punishment alone keeps
back from offending their Lord and Master. Speaking of this fear Saint John
says that perfect charity casts it out.
On the other hand, filial
fear belongs to God’s children. These recognize the Most High for their
Sovereign Lord, and love Him as their tender Father; hence they have for Him a
profound esteem and veneration. Knowing that they are exposed in this life to a
thousand occasions of offending Him, by reason of the temptations they must
undergo through the frailty of the flesh, the malice of the demon, and the
allurements of the world, they fear sin above every other evil.
Lord, give me, I beseech
Thee, an ample share of this salutary fear, according as Thou hast said: “I
will give my fear in their heart.”
* * *
Mary, at the moment of
her Immaculate Conception, received, together with the other gifts of the Holy
Spirit, that of the fear of God. This fear in her was in no sort servile.
Pilled as she was with divine grace, altogether pure and holy, what
chastisement could she apprehend?
Neither was there in
Mary, properly speaking, that fear which theologians call “chaste fear,” which
has for its object the possible danger of falling away from God by sin; for she
well knew that by an especial assistance of the Holy Ghost, she would never
lose divine grace.
The fear of God was,
therefore, in Mary a reverential fear, caused by a keen and lively sense of the
awful majesty of the Most High and His limitless power. It was this very
sentiment which impelled this glorious Virgin to believe with all her heart the
truths revealed by God: to consecrate to the Lord all the affections of her
soul: to shelter herself and rest, like a white dove, under the fatherly wings
of Divine Providence: “I sat down under His shadow, whom I desired.”
* * *
The chief effect of the
gift of fear in Mary was to inspire her, in her adorations and supplications,
with so great a sense of respect and veneration for the Divine Majesty, that
all her petitions merited to be heard: even as we read of Jesus, that He “was
heard for His reverence.” a Mary might, therefore, like another Esther, present
herself without fear before the throne of the King of kings, and lay her
request at His feet, with a certain confidence of being fully heard, whatever
the object of her petition might be.
Oh, that we would imitate
Mary in the acquisition and exercise of this precious gift of the fear of God!
That our prayers might be animated with this reverential and wholesome fear,
which is the pledge of divine favors, for it is written that God “will do the
will of them that fear Him: and He will hear their prayer.” Would that we
dreaded above all things to commit sin, the greatest of evils, and that we
might courageously shun all the occasions of offending our Heavenly Father and
losing His grace!
Happy the soul that
possesses this salutary fear, the beneficial effect of which is felt especially
at the moment of death. For such a soul does not dread the passage from life to
eternity: on the contrary, it looks upon that moment as the beginning of all
real blessings. “With him that feareth the Lord, it shall go well in the latter
end, and in the day of his death he shall be blessed.”
Example
– Saint Ildephonsus
One of the most strenuous champions of the perpetual
virginity of the most holy Mother of God was Saint Ildephonsus, Archbishop of
Toledo, in Spain. His birth, which took place in the year
606, was the effect of a special grace of Mary. He came to this world on the
eighth of December, which is the day that was afterward consecrated to the
Immaculate Conception of our blessed Lady. When but ten years old, he was
placed under the direction of Saint Isidore of Seville, that he might learn,
besides human science, the virtues necessary in a minister of the Lord.
After ten years he returned
to his country, where, following the impulse of the Holy Spirit,
notwithstanding the opposition of his parents, he withdrew into solitude,
entering the monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian. A short time after, the
splendor of his religious virtues moved his brethren to elect him Superior.
Later, he was raised to the dignity of Archbishop, succeeding Eugenius in the
See of Toledo.
Spain at that time was
infested by a crowd of Arian heretics, who taught that Jesus Christ was not
equal to His Father but only an adopted Son, and that therefore Mary was not
the Mother of God but an ordinary woman. These men, following the false
teaching of Elvidius, strove to deprive the Queen of Heaven of the halo of
perpetual virginity. Ildephonsus directed all his pastoral care against this
nefarious doctrine, and proved both by writing and preaching that Jesus Christ
is truly God, equal to the Father, and that Mary is the most holy Mother of
God, and yet always a Virgin.
Such zeal, if it excited
the wrath of Ildephonsus’ enemies, was however not unrewarded by God. One day
as Ildephonsus was praying at the tomb of Saint Leocadia in the presence of a
large multitude of the faithful, among whom was the King Recesvintus, the stone
which covered the sacred remains of this virgin, was suddenly lifted and the
Saint coming forth from the tomb addressed the holy Bishop, exclaiming: “O
Ildephonsus, through thee is my Mistress living.” By that, Saint Leocadia
wished to show how efficacious was the preaching of Ildephonsus for preserving
faith and devotion to Mary in the hearts of the people, despite the calumny of
the heretics. As witness of this wonderful apparition and to confirm the truth
which Ildephonsus had defended, Saint Leocadia invited him to detach a small
piece of the white veil which covered her head, and this is preserved to the
present day as a precious relic in the cathedral of Toledo. Saint Ildephonsus
died on the twenty-third of January, 667.
Prayer
O Mary, it was by a
special grace of the Holy Ghost that thou wast made sinless during thy mortal
life, and that thou wert animated with such a veneration for the Divine
Majesty, that thou didst merit to be heard in all thy prayers. Present, I
beseech thee, special petitions to the Most High, that I may ever keep alive in
me this gift of salutary fear, in order that I may avoid sin, and come to
eternal blessedness. Amen.
– text taken from
the book The Fairest Flower of Paradise: Considerations on the Litany
of the Blessed Virgin, Enriched with Examples Drawn from the Lives of
the Saints,
by Cardinal Alexis-Henri-Marie
Lépicier, O.S.M., 1922;
it has the Imprimatur of Cardinal Patrick
Joseph Hayes, Archdiocese of New
York, New
York, 30
June 1922
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/mother-inviolate-gift-of-fear-in-mary/
San
Ildefonso Parish Church (Pio del Pilar, Arnaiz Avenue, Makati City) M. Reyes
Street corner Aranaiz Avenue and P. Binay Street, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of
Manila Vicariate of Saint Joseph the Worker (Makati City) Vicar Forane
Rev. Msgr. Roberto A. Espenilla, PC Founded 1761, built in 1870 and Renovated
Decreed as Parish Church in 1951 and 50th Anniversary Marker in August 11,
2001, in Legislative districts of Makati,
Barangay Pio del Pilar, Makati City along Arnaiz
Avenue.
Sant' Ildefonso (Idelfonso) da Toledo Vescovo
Toledo (Spagna), 607 - Toledo, 23 gennaio 667
Molto
devoto a Maria, su cui scrisse un celebre trattato, e significativo esponente
della Spagna del suo tempo, Ildefonso era discendente di una potente famiglia
romana. Anche sotto i Visigoti avrebbe potuto far carriera, ma si fece monaco e
divenne diacono. Fu eletto abate del monastero dei Santi Cosma e Damiano, nei
pressi di Toledo. Quando il vescovo morì, nel 657, l'uomo di lettere e
preghiera, cinquantenne, divenne anche uomo di governo ecclesiale nella diocesi
della capitale del regno visigoto. Si districò tra difficili questioni interne
e tenne testa alle pretese del re Recesvinto, che si era mosso personalmente
per convincerlo a lasciare il cenobio e accettare l'elezione. Ha lasciato libri
di liturgia e l'opera «De viris illustribus», una sorta di continuazione
dell'enciclopedia di sant'Isidoro di Siviglia (di cui secondo la tradizione
sarebbe stato allievo). Il 15 agosto del 660 la vergine gli apparve nel
presbiterio della cattedrale, lodandolo e consegnandogli una preziosa veste. Morì a Toledo, di cui è patrono, nel
667.(Avvenire)
Etimologia: Ildefonso = pronto alla battaglia, dal
tedesco
Emblema: Bastone pastorale
Martirologio
Romano: A Toledo in Spagna,
sant’Ildefonso, vescovo, che, monaco e priore di un cenobio, fu eletto
all’episcopato, scrisse numerosi libri con stile assai raffinato, compose
celebri preghiere liturgiche e venerò con mirabile zelo e devozione la beata e
sempre Vergine Maria Madre di Dio.
La sua famiglia, già
potente sotto i Romani, lo rimane anche sotto i Visigoti, e gli prepara una
carriera adeguata. Ma Ildefonso scappa di casa, rifugiandosi nel monastero dei
santi Cosma e Damiano, vicino a Toledo. Non ha in mente la carriera. Si fa monaco,
arriva al diaconato e qui si ferma. Gli va bene così. Ma i confratelli lo
eleggono ugualmente abate nella loro comunità, perché ha tutto: pietà, cultura,
energia, un parlare attraente. Ed è anche uno scrittore di grande efficacia.
Ma sui cinquant’anni deve lasciare il monastero: è morto Eugenio II, il vescovo
di Toledo, e al suo posto si vuole lui, Ildefonso. Per convincerlo si muove il
re visigoto in persona, Recesvinto. Così, nel 657, eccolo vescovo di quella che
al tempo è la capitale del regno. Ora non ha più molto tempo da dedicare ai
libri, impegnato com’è a scrivere tante lettere, e non proprio allegre. Abbiamo
di lui pagine angosciate sugli scandali ad opera di certi cristiani influenti e
falsi, sui conflitti duri con il re, che pure lo stima; e su tanti
ecclesiastici che troppo s’immischiano negli affari di Stato.
Era davvero meglio il monastero: pregare con gli altri, studiare, scrivere...
Ildefonso ci ha lasciato opere di dottrina e di morale, trattati sulla Madre di
Gesù, inni liturgici. E anche l’opera divulgativa De viris illustribus (“Degli
uomini illustri”) che è una continuazione dell'opera omonima di Isidoro di
Siviglia (ca. 570-636). Ildefonso non può vivere senza insegnare, convinto
anche lui (come san Braulio, vescovo di Saragozza) che il sapere "è un
dono comune, non privato", e che perciò deve essere distribuito a tutti.
Colpisce i fedeli la sua devozione mariana, suscitando anche racconti di fatti
prodigiosi. Come quando, al momento di una celebrazione solenne, apparve in
chiesa la Madonna, porgendo a Ildefonso l’abito liturgico (la pianeta) per il
rito.
Dopo la morte, il suo corpo fu sepolto a Toledo; poi, con l’invasione araba,
venne trasferito a Zamora, in Castiglia. I fedeli lo hanno “gridato santo”
da subito, collegando sempre il suo nome a quello della Beata Vergine Maria. E
dieci secoli dopo la sua morte sarà ancora così, nei dipinti dei maestri del
siglo de oro (il “secolo d’oro” dell’arte spagnola): El Greco, Velázquez,
Murillo, Zurbarán (suo il particolare del dipinto riprodotto qui accanto), con
molti altri in tutta Europa, continueranno a raffigurare il vescovo di Toledo
accanto alla Madre di Gesù. Come anche Guido Reni nello stesso periodo, con
l’affresco conservato nella basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Roma. La grande
arte rifletteva così gli stati d’animo popolari, espressi nel culto
spontaneamente tributato a Ildefonso, dai fedeli e dal suo successore Giuliano,
che ne scrisse la vita.
Autore: Domenico Agasso
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