Good deeds, mortal sacrifices and even inexplicable events arising from an apparent divinity, are the reasons why different individuals were beatified and canonized by the Vatican to carry with him the name of saint.
Every daymarked on the calendar, commemorates the life and death of these beings, men and women, who dedicated their existence to the same Catholic Church that earned them the appointment.
This is the saint’s day Sunday April 9.
On the hill that dominates the valley, in the current sanctuary, the relics of Santa Casilda have rested since 1750, -“the Moorish virgin who came from Toledo”, highly venerated in Burgos-, in the urn, the work of Diego de Siloé, topped by his own recumbent image. The place has been a center of pilgrimage for centuries and the piety of our contemporaries does not stop frequenting it.
Around Santa Casilda everything we find is uncertain, confusing and contradictory. But her figure has the charm of simplicity and the flavor of the heroic in love. She captivated the medieval Christian people and encouraged them to be faithful. Her name itself -casida in Arabic means to sing- is like a verse with wings of song.
Not even the exact name of his father, the Moorish king of Toledo, is known as Almacrin or Almamún. Regarding his condition, some describe him as a bloodthirsty persecutor of Christians, while others present him as gentle and kind.
The little Moorish princess has a natural abundant in clemency and tenderness. Surrounded by all kinds of comforts and attentions in the lavishness of the court, she cannot bear the affliction of the unfortunate who are in the dungeons. She feels special pity for the poor captives and tries to comfort them by bringing them food in the slit of her skirt. One day, when she was carrying out this merciful work, she was surprised by her father who asked her what she was carrying, she answered that “roses” and roses appeared when she spread her skirt!
Perhaps it was the same Christian captives who, seeing the rightness of his conduct, spoke to him about Christ; possibly they reciprocated her multiple delicacies and gifts to the best of their ability, instructing her in the Christian faith.
But even though in her heart she was already Christ’s, how could she receive Baptism with such strong ties of Islam surrounding her?
A serious ailment begins. The blood flow increases and the palace medical science is unable to cure her. Heaven reveals to her that she will find a remedy in the miraculous waters of San Vicente, back in Christian Castile. Almamún prepares the trip for her daughter with a royal retinue. In Burgos she received Casilda the Baptism and then went to the lakes of San Vicente, next to Buezo, near Briviesca. Her health restored, as she was told, she decides to consecrate to Christ the virginity of her body miraculously cured of her and resolves to spend the rest of her days in solitude, dedicated to prayer and penance.
She died at a very advanced age, being buried in the same hermitage that she had built. It soon became a place of pilgrimage. They say that the walkers have felt her special protection since then and the women invoke her against the flow of blood and they even say that it is enough for a woman to test the waters and throw a stone into the lake to ensure her offspring.
History, the imagination of the simple people and the mist of mystery around the saint come together. It remains to learn the lesson of the example. Love for Christ makes it possible to exchange the gift typical of the Moorish court for the harshness of an austere and penitent life.
Along with this character is other saints and martyrs which are also celebrated this Sunday April 9 as the following:
Saint Acacius of Mesopotamia
Saint Aldegundis
Saint Demetrius of Thessalonica
Saint Eupsychius
Saint Gaucherius
Saint Hugo
Saint Liborius
Saint Maximus of Alexandria
Santa Valdetrudis
Blessed Antonio Pavoni
Blessed Celestina Faron
Blessed Thomas of Tolentino
Blessed Ubaldo Adimari
The saints is the group of people (women and men) who they are venerated by the Church when they are proclaimed as saints or blessed on a certain date on the calendar.
On the path to canonization there are four steps: the first is to be appointed as a servant of God, the second is to be venerable; the third step is to be blessed and, finally, the fourth step is to be a saint.
The beatification It can only be achieved by the faithful who have died with a reputation for being saints in various places and this process can be carried out in two ways: through a cause of heroic virtues and the second is martyrdom, that is, if the person He died for his faith.
On the other hand, the process to become a saint It implies adding the name of the person sanctified in the canon (list of recognized saints) and with this the believing community is allowed to pay him public and universal worship, while a liturgical feast is assigned to him, altars, chapels and his power to intercede with God is recognized.
Although the Church has not given an exact figure, it is believed that there would currently be up to nine thousand recognized saints. According to roman martyrologyupdated in 2005, the Catholic Church has at least seven thousand saintsalthough the martyrs are not counted, so many think that the figure could even reach 20 thousand people.
In recent history, Pope John Paul II managed to canonize 388 saints, while Pope Francis has broken all records after that to this day he has canonized 898 saints, 800 of them at the same time.
