For this week, I will list down Saints who miraculously escaped their imprisonments.  Their escape may not be as cinematic as The Exodus, but they are not in any way less than miraculous. The images in this post are obviously not mine . I linked the pages of my source in the pictures, where I can.  Otherwise, I just listed down the places where I got them.  I do not know how to do the close caption thing yet - so listing my source at the bottom of each topic was the best I could do. 

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St. Paul 

After his conversion, St. Paul, then still known as Saul, preached about the Lord Jesus Christ.  He confounded the Jews living in Damascus when he proved that Jesus was the Messiah.  The Jews conspired together to kill him.  They guarded the city gates day and night in order to kill him.  St.Paul/Saul became aware of the plot and his disciples took him one night and let him down from the top of the wall, lowering him in a basket. He joined the disciples in Jerusalem who were quite reluctant to accept him because of his past record of persecuting the Christians.  Barnabas stood for him and thereafter, moved and preached freely with the disciples.  The Hellenists wanted to kill him.  The believers learned of the plot and they took St. Paul down to Ceasaria  and sent him to Tarsus.  (Acts 9:23-30; 2 Cor. 11:32-33) 

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St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas, a son of a nobleman, wanted to join the Dominican Preachers.  This scandalized his noble mother, Lady Theodora.   The sight of his son in Dominican 'rags' was just so unacceptable.  She wanted him to become the Abbot of a prestigious monastery and to wear fancy robes as such.  So, she ordered her sons to kidnap St. Thomas while on his way to Cologne and to bring him back to their castle.  She tried to dissuade St. Thomas from joining the Dominicans, and when he did not relent, she ordered St. Thomas to be locked up in the castle's donjon tower.  She even made a vow not to lay her eyes on him until he changed his mind.  For about two years, St. Thomas languished in the tower until one day, one of his sisters told him that the Holy Father himself declared that the Aquino family would be excommunicated if the family did not release St. Thomas.  Lady Theodora  did not declare a release but hinted that if St. Thomas would find a way to escape, she would not hinder him.  So St. Thomas'  sisters, St. Thomas' varlet and his brothers, and some other persons, hatched a plan for his escape.  One night, the varlet went to the tower carrying a big basket.  St. Thomas went in and was lowered from his tower window to freedom.  Under the tower waited two brother Dominicans and as soon as St. Thomas joined them, they went posthaste to Rome and had St. Thomas ordained as a Dominican.

(Source SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS and the Preaching Beggars by Brendan Larnen, O.P. and Milton Lomask @ 1957 by Vision Books)

The picture is from The Young People's Book of SAINTS by Hugh Ross Williamson, Sheila Connelly, ill., Sophia Institute Press.  Orig. Publication - 1960). 

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St. Peter

"And when he had apprehended him, he cast him into prison, delivering him to four files of soldiers, to be kept, intending, after the pasach, to bring him forth to the people.  Peter therefore was kept in prison. But prayer was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him.  And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.  And behold an angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shined in the room. And he, striking Peter on the side, raised him up, saying: Arise quickly. And the chains fell off from his hands.  And the angel said to him: Gird thyself and put on thy sandals. And he did so. And he said to him: Cast thy garment about thee and follow me,  And going out, he followed him. And he knew not that it was true which was done by the angel: but thought he saw a vision. And passing through the first and the second ward, they came to the iron gate that leadeth to the city which of itself opened to them. And going out, they passed on through one street. And immediately the angel departed from him.  And Peter coming to himself, said: Now I know in very deed that the Lord hath sent his angel and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews." (Acts 12: 4-11)

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St. Jerome Emiliani

St. Jerome Emiliani was a soldier.  He was commissioned to lead a group of men to defend the fortress Castelnuovo (of the Republic of Venice) against the invading Germans.  They were defeated and he and his companions were imprisoned.  He was placed in a deep dungeon with fetters on his arms and a ball of chain on his legs.  During imprisonment, he realized the wicked life that he had led thus far and promised to go on a pilgrimage to a nearby shrine of the Blessed Mother once he got free.  Not too long after that, he noticed a key nearby.  It opened his fetters.  Now, there was still one problem - the chain on his legs.  Then he noticed somebody being there freeing him and leading him out of the prison door.  This miracle was attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Mother. The Young People's Book of SAINTS by Hugh Ross Williamson, Sheila Connelly, ill., Sophia Institute Press.  Orig. Publication - 1960)

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St. Patrick

When he was 16 years old, Irish raiders captured St. Patrick and  sold him into slavery in Ireland. He was put to work watching sheep and was forced to live outdoors. During this time, he was converted  and started to have his deep prayerful conversations with God.  It seemed that St. Patrick was an unbelieving, quasi-pagan before this time.  After six years in slavery, he heard a voice say "See, your ship is ready." So, St. Patrick left his post and headed for the coast.  There, he found a ship that was about to leave but the captain did not want him on board.  St. Patrick prayed as he walked away.  Before he even finished his prayer, a crew called him back and told him that he could join them in the voyage. (Source - SAINTS BEHAVING BADLY, @2006 Thomas J. Craughwell, Doubleday Publishing)

"In his Confessio, St. Patrick wrote, After three days we made land, and then for twenty-eight days traveled through a desert. They had no food, and were sorely pressed with hunger. Then one day the captain said to me ‘Well, now, Christian, you say your God is great and omnipotent. Why can you not then pray for us, for we are in danger of perishing from hunger, and we can hardly see anywhere a single human being’. Thereupon I plainly said to them, ‘Be ye truly converted to the Lord my God, to whom nothing is impossible, that He may send food in your way and you may be filled for He hath abundance everywhere’. And so, through God’s help, it came to pass. A herd of swine appeared on the road before their eyes, and they killed many of them, and remained there for two nights until they were well refreshed. Then they gave great thanks to God, and I was honored in their eyes." [Read More]

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St. Audry

St. Audry, then known as Etheldreda, was a newly widowed princess. After her husband died, she retreated to her home, Isle of Ely, where she wanted to found a nunnery. However, her uncle, who was a king, prevailed upon her to marry Prince Egfrid of Northumbria. The Prince was informed that she, Etheldreda, could not be a proper wife because of her dream to serve God as a nun. St. Audry repeatedly begged her husband to let her go. One day, when he was already the king, he gave his permission and St. Audry left the palace and went to  her aunt's convent in Coldingham. But the king changed his mind and ordered his soldiers to follow and bring back the departing queen.  The soldiers, however, lost their way and went back to the king without the queen. So, King Egfrid himself led a second expedition. They managed to catch up with St. Audry and companions in a place called Coldeburgh Head, a great rock jutting out to sea. As the king was about to scramble into the headland to seize St. Audry, the sea suddenly swirled around the rock and cut it from the mainland. For days, the king waited for the tide to recede. But he waited in vain. Soon he gave up, taking the event as his sign from God to let go. St. Audrey and companions were then able to go back to her home and establish the nunnery that she hoped for. (Source - The Young People's Book of SAINTS by Hugh Ross Williamson, Sheila Connelly, ill., Sophia Institute Press.  Orig. Publication - 1960)

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St. Cunegund

St. Cunegund was the wife of St. Henry, Duke of Bavaria.  As husband and wife, they determined to give an example of Christian rulers of a Christian country.   St. Henry apparently spent a lot of money for religious purposes, e.g., building grand Cathedrals.  The nobles did not like it.  They believed that the money could be better spent somewhere else such as their caprices. Because they could not change St. Henry's mind, they decided to spread nasty rumors against the Empress, St. Cunegund.  To silence the gossips, she agreed to go through a trial - walking barefoot over red hot ploughshares.  As in the Old Testament, they believed that she would be unhurt if she was innocent.    Well, not only did she walk over them, she also carried a ploughshare in her hand. (Source- The Young People's Book of SAINTS by Hugh Ross Williamson, Sheila Connelly, ill., Sophia Institute Press.  Orig. Publication - 1960)

Well, I suppose that this last bit did not fit well with the strict idea of escape.  But she was delivered miraculously anyway and I am running out of a more  appropriate story to go with the collection.  

Thank you very much for dropping by.  Please feel free to add to the list.  I suppose that this will be a fine way to remember the saints and God's power and glory.  

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Best regards,

Imelda 

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The Bible is full of  stories of God's generosity.  But when I am troubled, this passage from Matthew 6:  26-34 (Doauy-Rheims version) is a source of courage.  

"Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they? And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature by one cubit? And for raiment why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. And if the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of little faith?

Be not solicitous therefore, saying, What shall we eat: or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for tomorrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.

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One of my favorite stories about God providing for His people is this story of Daniel.  I have told this story at least a couple of times to my children.  The sheer imagery and suspense and drama makes this a wonderful story to tell.  

This chapter of the Book of Daniel tells about the time when the prophet Daniel was again cast into the lions' den.  This time, it was because he slew the dragon which was worshipped by the Babylonians.  And here is his story and the story of God's providence for him (Daniel 14: 31-392, Duoay-Rheims version)

"And in the den there were seven lions, and they had given to them two carcasses every day, and two sheep: but then they were not given unto them, that they might devour Daniel. Now there was in Judea a prophet called Habacuc, and he had boiled pottage, and had broken bread in a bowl: and was going into the field, to carry it to the reapers. And the angel of the Lord said to Habacuc: Carry the dinner which thou hast into Babylon to Daniel, who is in the lions' den. And Habacuc said: Lord, I never saw Babylon, nor do I know the den. And the angel of the Lord took him by the top of his head, and carried him by the hair of his head, and set him in Babylon over the den in the force of his spirit.

And Habacuc cried, saying: O Daniel, thou servant of God, take the dinner that God hath sent thee. And Daniel said: Thou hast remembered me, O God, and thou hast not forsaken them that love thee. And Daniel arose and ate. And the angel of the Lord presently set Habacuc again in his own place. And upon the seventh day the king came to bewail Daniel: and he came to the den, and looked in, and behold Daniel was sitting in the midst of the lions. And the king cried out with a loud voice, saying: Great art thou, O Lord the God of Daniel. And he drew him out of the lions' den."

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The lives of the saints are stories of God's providence.  As I have been reading from the life of St. Benedict, I will share here a story about the miracle that God made for the saint.

This event happened around  530 A.D., and Italy was facing a severe famine.  People came to the monastery  daily to beg for food and other provisions.   Saint Benedict had instructed the custodian, Brother Michael, to be generous to the visitors and to treat them as Christ Himself.  One day, a young man, Agapitus,  came and asked for some oil.  But Brother Michael could think of nothing but the famine and of the fact that the monastery itself was running low on supplies.  There was only a little bottle of oil left for the monastery's use. So, in defiance of an earlier order from St. Benedict, Brother Michael  refused Agapitus' request.   

Brother Michael was, needless to say, severely reprimanded.  But Saint Benedict, recognizing the concern of the brother,  prayed in the kitchen, right before the empty barrel of oil -

"Dear Lord, have pity on your servants.  Don't let us want for the necessities of life.'

When he got up from his knees after some time, the great barrel was no longer empty.  It was  even overflowing with oil.  (From St. Benedict - The Story of the Father of the Western Monks by Mary Fabyan Windeatt)

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God has been very good to me and to my family.  Of course, our very lives are  testaments to God's providence.  And I truly cannot count the ways that God showed us His generosity and providence.   But here are a few - 

About seven years ago, when I was pregnant with my oldest son, my husband and I were but newlyweds, we were quite poor.  My husband just finished his doctorate and had his first real job.  We had also just moved in in our apartment.  We had no money to buy things for our baby.  I was getting so sad that just weeks before our baby was born, we had nothing for him.   I was away from my family and friends who could help me.  I was a new immigrant and I had no job.   But a few days later, my husband brought me to a gathering in one of the parishioner's house.  A baby shower was given me.  And we got most of the things that we needed.

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God does take care of His children.  He is Father after all.   Years of family life and a simpler lifestyle have taught me to rely more on the kindness of the Father.   I have come to regard heaven as a personal bank from which I can draw an allowance when needed.  That makes me quite rich, if I may say so. And I can say that our family has never lacked its necessities. 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Thank you for visiting.  Have a blessed day.

~Imelda