ST JESSE, SHEPHERD - 29 DECEMBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN DECEMBER

Saints celebrated on the 29th of December

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SAINT JESSE, SHEPHERD 

Saint Jesse, Hebrew Ishai, is listed in the Elenchus* on December 29, probably for the reason that his famous son David's feast is celebrated on that day. 

According to the book of Ruth in the Bible (4:21, 22), Jesse was a son of Obed and grandson of the rich Boaz (Booz), who descended from Phares, whom Judas had fathered with Tamar. Boaz was related to Elimelech, who, at a time of famine, had emigrated to the Moabite area with his wife Naomi (Noomi) and his two sons Mahalon and Chelion (Ruth 1:1 ff.). There the sons took the Moabites Orpha and Ruth as wives, but died childless, whereupon Naomi returned to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law Ruth. She caused her cousin Boaz to enter into the leviathan marriage with Ruth, from which Obed, the father of Jesse and Grandfather of David, sprung. The name Jesse can also be found in the genealogy of the Lord (Matthew 1:5), as Isaiah had already prophesied about the wonderful "shoot of the root of Jesse" (Is. 11: 1-10). 

Jesse himself was a wealthy shepherd in Bethlehem and had eight sons, the youngest of whom was David, whom God chose to be the second king of His chosen people and the earthly progenitor of His only begotten Son.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 3, Augsburg, 1869, p. 154)

*A hagiography source used by the authors

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Jesse 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.

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org