From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   July 9th - St. Valeriano   
      
   Ariadne, daughter of Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I (ruled 457-474), married   
   Zeno the Isaurian, and gave him a son. The birth of this boy pleased the   
   Emperor, and since he had no son he considered this grandson as heir to the   
   throne. However, the small Prince was attacked by a strange illness that had   
   characteristics of a diabolical possession. All the remedies applied to cure   
   the child were useless.   
      
   At that time a young man called Valeriano was living in Armenia. His   
   reputation for sanctity was great, for through his prayers God worked great   
   miracles. Leo I heard of him and sent a messenger asking him to come to   
   Constantinople. Valeriano agreed. While visiting the child, he made a Sign   
   of the Cross over him and the illness left without any trace. As a reward   
   for this action, Leo I treated Valeriano in a truly imperial way. Since he   
   was intelligent and wise, the Emperor offered him a position as one of his   
   first palace officials.   
      
   This sudden rise of status did not change the habits of Valeriano, who   
   amidst the worldly court, always gave the best example. His pleasing   
   appearance also contributed to the general esteem he won. The Emperor had   
   such confidence in him that he would not make any serious decisions without   
   first asking his opinion. Valeriano took advantage of this situation to   
   defend the Church, his homeland (Armenia), and the poor.   
      
   At the time, the Western Roman Empire was falling apart. Italy itself was   
   the theater of barbarian invasions and the entire country was upset by the   
   Arian heresy. Valeriano was sent to Italy to pacify the region of Emilia   
   Romagna.   
      
   To insure his safety and success, the Emperor chose 80 of his best soldiers   
   to be the personal escort of Valeriano. In combat he was very courageous and   
   his subordinates were encouraged to see his ardent zeal in fighting the   
   Arians, the enemies of the Catholic Religion. St. Valeriano led his troops   
   to Forli and surrounded the city, which was under the control of Leobard, an   
   Arian tyrant.   
      
   Every night of the siege, St. Valeriano used to leave the camp to pray alone   
   and meditate on divine things. Leobard was informed of this by his spies in   
   the camp. He took advantage of this weak point, surprised Valeriano at   
   prayer, and killed him. The heretic thought that without their leader, the   
   troops would become discouraged and lift the siege. Precisely the opposite   
   happened. Eager to avenge Valeriano' death, the soldiers quickly took the   
   city, punished the guilty and re-established the Catholics in their proper   
   places.   
      
   The inhabitants of Forli chose him as their Patron Saint and placed his   
   effigy on the seal of the city. He is mounted on his horse, with this   
   caption underneath: St. Valeriano martyr, protector of the city of Forli.   
      
      
   Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)   
      
   This is a most beautiful selection. To be properly understood, a short   
   historic overview of that time is necessary.   
      
   In that epoch, the most civilized part of the world was the Mediterranean   
   basin. Two Empires had capital importance: the Eastern Roman Empire and the   
   Western Roman Empire. Both empires surrounded the Mediterranean Sea, which   
   the Romans proudly called mare nostrum - our sea.   
      
   The fates of these two Roman Empires were quite different. The Western Roman   
   Empire centered on the Italian Peninsula and encompassed all the European   
   territory from the west of the Rhine to England and Scotland. This immense   
   territory had suffered invasions of the barbarian German tribes, which had   
   adopted the Arianism introduced by a heretic bishop called Ulfilas.   
   Therefore, these barbarians invaded the Western Roman Empire with a true   
   hatred against the Catholic Church.   
      
   To simplify things, the Arians at that time were more or less what the   
   Protestants are today, but they had a great strength and capacity to expand,   
   characteristics that the Protestants lost. Thus you should imagine a   
   powerful, active heresy at the apex of its strength entering the Western   
   Roman Empire riding double behind the barbarians on their horses.   
      
   This Western Roman Empire was tremendously decadent. St. Augustine pointed   
   to the tepidity of Catholics as one the determining factors of this   
   decadence. He also predicted that, given this general tepidity, there would   
   be no resistance against powerful and efficacious enemies. In fact, there   
   was no serious resistance when the barbarians invaded.   
      
   So, the Arian-barbarian hordes poured over all of Italy, destroying   
   churches, killing Bishops and priests, profaning the Sacraments, and also   
   destroying great masterpieces of Roman Civilization. This enormous   
   earthquake, so to speak, shook the imposing Roman structure of the Western   
   Roman Empire.   
      
   To understand the extent of those invasions, you need to realize that the   
   barbarians did not just enter Europe to loot and then return to their   
   places. They entered with the clear intent of staying. Thus, with these new,   
   ignorant and heretical populations, they took over whole cities that until   
   then had been governed by Catholics.   
      
   On the other hand, the Eastern Roman Empire shone brilliantly with all the   
   charms of the East. Its capital, Constantinople-on the borders of the   
   Bosphorus Strait-was considered the most beautiful city of both Empires. It   
   was famous for its ornate churches, palaces and institutions, all them set   
   in a magnificent maritime panorama.   
      
   The emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire was titled Basileus, and lived in a   
   magnificent court, at which many saints played important roles. There were   
   also heresies in the Eastern Empire. Actually, most of the heresies of the   
   time were born in the Eastern Roman Empire, including Arianism.   
      
   The Catholic Religion blossomed in the Eastern Empire, principally   
   eremitism, that is, the holy men who abandoned the cities and retired to the   
   deserts to live completely solitary lives.   
      
   Now then, in the court of the Eastern Roman Empire lived this young   
   Valeriano, who was, as the selection remarks, an Armenian. The Emperor   
   invited him to assume a very important position a kind of government   
   minister, and he came to exert considerable influence over this entire   
   Empire.   
      
   We can imagine a scene from those days: in a room inside a magnificent   
   palace, its windows opening to the Bosphorus on a typically clement day, the   
   Emperor speaks with the Saint at a table. The Emperor is an old man, the   
   Saint is still young. The Emperor asks counsel and the Saint, illuminated by   
   Faith and filled with zeal for the cause of God, indicates the courses to be   
   taken. Then the Emperor rings a small bell and calls one or two of his   
   ministers to execute his decisions. Picturing this scene, we can have some   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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