February 16
Saints of the Day...and Events

 

St. Onesimus, d.90
The slave converted by St. Paul, pardoned by St. Philemon, who became bishop of Ephesus and suffered a cruel torture in Rome

    Slave of the Colossian Christians Saint Philemon and Saint Apphia. Committed a theft and fled from punishment to Rome where he hid with Saint Paul. Paul converted him, then sent him home carrying the canonical Letter to Philemon. He was freed.
    Later, as Saint Jerome and other Fathers testify, he became an ardent preacher of the Gospel and a bishop. It is he who succeeded Saint Timothy as bishop of Ephesus. He was cruelly tortured in Rome, for eighteen days, by a governor of that city, infuriated by his preaching on the merit of celibacy. His legs and thighs were broken with bludgeons, and he was then stoned to death. His martyrdom occurred under Domitian in the year 90.
Died c.90
Additional Information
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainto01.htm
http://www.magnificat.ca/cal/engl/02-16.htm#britto
http://www.nguoitinhuu.com/saints/allsaints/2-16.html
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Readings
Therefore, although I have the full right in Christ to order you to do what is proper, I rather urge you out of love, being as I am, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus. I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment, who was once useless to you but is now useful to both you and me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I should have liked to retain him for myself so that he might serve me on your behalf in my imprisonment for the gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. Philemon 1:8-14
St. Gilbert of Sempringham (1083-1189)
The rich Englishmen who gave all to the poor and founded the Gilbertines,  the only order founded on a rule designed by an Englishman... their "plate of the Lord Jesus" is a good thing to do
 
    Son of the wealthy Norman knight Jocelin. When Gilbert showed no signs of becoming a soldier, his father exiled him to Paris to study. Gilbert returned as a master of arts, and opened a school for the children of the poor in Sempringham, paying special attention to training in religion.
    His father provided him a living from the rents on part of his lands in Sempringham and Tirington, but Gilbert redistributed most of this to the poor.
    Clerk in the household of bishop Robert Bloet of Lincoln. Ordained at age 40.
   
When his parents died in 1130, Gilbert returned to the manor and began to spend his inheritance by founding Benedictine and Augustinian monasteries, and by providing for the poor.
    He drew up rules for an order of nuns later known as the Gilbertines, the only order founded on a rule designed by an Englishman, and which eventually grew to 26 houses before being suppressed in the persecutions of Henry VIII.  
    Over the years a special custom grew up in the houses of the order called "the plate of the Lord Jesus." The best portions of the dinner were put on a special plate and shared with the poor, reflecting Gilbert's lifelong concern for less fortunate people. Today’s Operation Rice Bowl echoes that habit: eating a simpler meal and letting the difference in the grocery bill help feed the hungry

    Gilbert was the target of slander, once accused of helping the exiled Saint Thomas Becket, which accusation landed him in prison. When he was 90 years old, some of Gilbert's lay brothers revolted against his authority, but Pope Alexander III supported Gilbert. He became blind in his old age, put aside all rule of the lands and the orders, devoted himself to prayer and the communal life, and lived to be over 100 years old.
 
Born 1083 at Sempringham, Lincolnshire, England
Died 1189-1190 at Sempringham, England of natural causes
Canonized 1202
Additional Information
          
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintg30.htm
 http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/SaintOfDay/default.asp?id=1293
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