Walking with the Saints Podcast | Feast of St. Deogratias, To protect the persecuted Christians and Church leaders l March 22

Walking with the Saints Podcast | Feast of St. Deogratias, To protect the persecuted Christians and Church leaders l March 22 Our saint for today is from the ancient Carthage, Africa, Deo gratias which means “Thanks be to God” is the name of this north-African priest chosen to be the bishop of Carthage at the time of the Vandal invasion. The Vandals were Arian heretics who did not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ. In the 5thcentury, Slavic and Germanic tribes who had embraced the Arian heresy, had overran the Roman Empire. Earlier, they passed through northern Italy, France and after conquering Spain, crossed into North Africa and in 439 captured the city of Carthage. They arrested the Catholic bishop, Quodvultdeus, and most of his clergy, and put them aboard a leaking boat which they expected to sink somewhere in the sea, but somehow was able to reach Naples. Carthage was left without a Catholic bishop for fourteen years. In 454, the Roman Catholic Church, through the request of Emperor Valentinian III to Genseric, the king of the Vandals, was able to assign a bishop who took the name Deogratias. A little later, the Vandals with Genseric attacked and sacked Italy from North Africa. Genseric returned to Carthage with many captives from Rome, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, whom he distributed as slaves among the Vandals and the Moors. Immediately after he landed, while still on the seashore, he tried to disband the families he had captured, separated husbands from wives, children from parents, amid cries and loud protestations. All citizens were afraid of the Vandals and they could do very little to help the captives, but Bishop Deogratias did much to ransom and care for the slaves brought to Carthage. His example and teachings strengthened the faith of the people and he was respected not only by Catholics, but even by some Arian heretics and pagans. He ransomed many of these captives by selling gold and silver church vessels, works of art, vestments and ornaments which belonged to his diocese. He even filled two of the largest churches in the city, the Basilica Fausti and the Basilica Novarum, with beddings to provide accommodation and shelter for the refugees. He also organized a daily distribution of food. The Arians resented the charity being done by the Bishop. They tried to stop whatever work he was doing to relieve and console the slaves. There were two assassination attempts against him, but he fortunately survived, the Bishop tried to visit every day those who were sick. If he was busy with other charitable works, he tried to do the visitation during the night. However, his efforts have worn him out and he died of exhaustion after being a Bishop for only three years. The prisoners, the sick and the slaves deeply mourned his passing away. So many people gathered for his wake and wanted to get relics of him that he had to be buried secretly while the public prayers were being chanted at his funeral. The people he helped would never forget him. The Vandals continued to persecute the Catholics. After the death of Bishop Deogratias,  in 457, they did not allow another Bishop to take his place, so Carthage had no Bishop for another 23 years. The feast of Bishop Deogratias is celebrated on March 22. Virtues are  piety, humility, obedience, commitment, charity, fortitude, generosity, tact and patience Lord, we pray You, through the intercession of St. Deogratias, Bishop of Carthage, to protect the persecuted Christians and Church leaders in many parts of the world.”