March.

MARCH 1. S. David, Archbishop, A.D. 544. Patron of Wales. He was descended from the royal family of the Britons, and celebrated for his learning, eloquence, and austerity of life; he founded many monasteries and religious houses, and formed a hermitage and chapel in the vale of Lanthony. Having silenced the Pelagian heretics in a synod held at Brony early in the sixth century, he received from S. Dubritius the see of Caerleon, which see he removed to Menevia, from him ever since called S. David's. He was canonized by Pope Calixtus II., about five hundred years after his death. One legend concerning him is that when speaking at the synod of Brony, the earth beneath his feet swelled up to a hill. He is therefore usually represented preaching on a hill with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, alighting on his shoulder; his

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emblem in the Clog almanacks is a harp: nine Churches in England are named in his honour, and Kilpeck in Herefordshire, in honour of SS. Mary and David conjointly.

MARCH 2. S. Chad, Bishop, A.D. 673. He was brought up in the monastery of

Lindisfarne, under S. Aidan, its founder. In the absence of Wilfrid, Archbishop of York, he was consecrated to that see, but on the return of Wilfrid, he meekly and humbly resigned it to him, and retired to the monastery of Lastingham. He was afterwards appointed fifth Bishop of the Mercians, which see he fixed at Lichfield, and presided over it three years, gaining a high reputation for his Christian virtues and simplicity. At the fall of the old Church of S. Chad, in Shrewsbury, among the few things which escaped destruction was an ancient wooden figure of the patron, which is still preserved in the new Church. S. Chad died in the pestilence of 673. Thirty-one Churches are named in his honour in England, all in the midland counties, and in close proximity to the ancient diocese of Lichfield. There is no distinctive emblem remaining of S. Chad, though the Clog almanacks distinguish his day by what appears to be a branch. In a Church named in his honour, recently erected by Mr. Pugin, he is represented carrying a Church in his hand, as the founder of the mother Church of the diocese.

MARCH 7. S. Perpetua, Martyr, A.D. 203. Suffered with several others in the violent persecution of Severus at Carthage, early in the third age. She was thrown into the amphitheatre to be tossed by a wild cow, which did not quite kill her; after suffering much torture, she was put to death in the "spoliarium," where the wounded were dispatched by the younger gladiators. Her extraordinary vision of a narrow ladder reaching to heaven, beset with spikes on each side, and having a dragon at the bottom, on whose head she trod to mount the first step, is related by herself in her own Acts, and transmitted to posterity by Tertullian and S. Augustine. This vision is represented by Callot. She is generally represented with a cow standing near her.

MARCH 12. S. Gregory the Great, Pope, A.D. 604. He was born at Rome in 540,

and descended from a noble family, and was called Gregory, from a Greek word signifying watchman. He very early addicted himself to study, and piety, giving all his estate to the building and maintaining of religious houses. He was consecrated Pope about the year 590, but vigorously opposed the title of Universal Bishop (which the Bishops of Constantinople did then, and the Bishops of Rome do now assume) as blasphemous, and antichristian. He restored the ancient missal, and what is called the Gregorian Chant is also the work of this Saint, he himself training the choristers to it; he also

instituted the celibacy of the clergy. S. Gregory's festival was formerly kept throughout England by

The Mass of S. Gregory, from a M8. in the Bodleian Library.

order of the council of Oxford, in remembrance of his sending S. Augustine with forty other mis

sionaries to convert the Saxons. He is generally represented with a book in his hand, as a father of the Church, or in allusion to his restoration of the service books, and a dove on his shoulder, emblematical of the gift of the Holy Spirit: John the Deacon, his secretary, affirming that he saw the Dove whispering in his ear, while he was dictating his celebrated homilies. He is often drawn as a Pope, and when a Pope appears among the fathers of the Church, S. Gregory is always intended. Our cut represents a legend known as the "Mass of S. Gregory." One of his congregation doubted the Real Presence at the Mass, and at the Saint's prayers the Saviour descended upon the altar surrounded by all the instruments of the Crucifixion. Twenty-five Churches are named in his honour in England, and Frithelstock, Devon, in honour of SS. Mary and Gregory conjointly.

MARCH 18. S. Edward, King and Martyr, A.D. 978, was the son of Edgar, king of England; after whose death in 975, Edward succeeded to the crown at twelve years of age, but two or three years afterwards was murdered by order of his mother-inlaw, Elfrida; being on a visit to her at Corfe Castle, in Dorsetshire, he was stabbed in the back while drinking the customary grace-cup on taking leave; her object being to make way for her son Ethelred, his half brother. He was privately buried by her orders at Wareham in unhallowed ground, but it