BL. NIELS STEENSEN, BISHOP - 5 DECEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN DECEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 5th of December 

WELCOME!

BLESSED NIELS STEENSEN, BISHOP

Blessed Niels Steensen (Nicolaus Stenonius, Nicolaus Steno) was born in Copenhagen on New Year's Day 1638 (Julian calendar), the son of a Lutheran goldsmith who worked regularly for King Christian IV of Denmark. He became ill at age three, suffering from an unknown disease, and grew up in isolation during his childhood. In 1654-1655, 240 pupils of his school died due to the plague. Steno entered the University of Copenhagen to pursue medical studies. After completing his university education, he set out to travel through Europe. In the Netherlands, France, Italy and Germany he came into contact with prominent physicians and scientists. These influences led him to use his own powers of observation to make important scientific discoveries.

At the time Descartes was publishing on the working of the brain, Steno doubted Descartes's explanation of the origin of tears as produced by the brain. In 1665 Steno travelled to Saumur, Bordeaux and Montpellier, where he met Martin Lister and William Croone, who introduced Steno's work to the Royal Society.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

After travelling through France, he settled in Italy in 1666 - at first as professor of anatomy at the University of Padua and then in Florence as in-house physician of Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando II de Medici, who supported arts and science and whom Steno had met in Pisa. In Florence Steno focused on the muscular system and the nature of muscle contraction. He went to Rome and met Pope Alexander VII. On his way back he watched a Corpus Christi procession in Livorno and wondered if he had the right belief. 

HE RESEARCHED EVERYTHING TO FIND THE TRUTH AND ARRIVED AT BECOMING A CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN

Steno's questioning mind also influenced his religious views. Having been brought up in the Lutheran faith, he nevertheless questioned its teachings, something which became a burning issue when confronted with Roman Catholicism while studying in Florence. After making comparative theological studies, including reading the Church Fathers and by using his natural observational skills, he converted to Catholic Christianity on All Souls' Day 1667.

HE WAS ORDAINED PRIEST

Steno decided to continue his theological studies, which he had begun even before his conversion, toward his ordination to the priesthood. He was ordained priest and celebrated his first Mass on April 13, 1675 in the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata in Florence at the age of 37. 

ONE OF THE LEADING FIGURES IN THE COUNTER-REFORMATION

Steno became one of the leading figures in the Counter-Reformation. Upon request of Duke Johann Friedrich of Hanover, Pope Innocent XI made him Vicar Apostolic for the Nordic Missions on August 21, 1677. He was consecrated titular bishop of Titiopolis on September 19 by Cardinal Barbarigo and moved to the Lutheran North.

HE WAS VENERATED AS A SAINT IN HILDESHEIM

After his death in 1686, Steno was venerated as a saint in the diocese of Hildesheim. Steno's piety and virtue have been evaluated with a view to an eventual canonisation. His canonisation process was begun in Osnabrück in 1938. In 1953 his grave in the crypt of the church of San Lorenzo was opened as part of the beatification process. His remains were placed in a lateral chapel of the church that received the name of "Capella Stenoniana". He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988. His feast day is December 5.

Information from Wikipedia -https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Steno

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Blessed Niels may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.