From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   September 27th - St. Elzear   
      
   Elzear of Sabran (1285-1325) was born in Saint-Jean de Robians in Provence,   
   France. He was son of the Count of Ariano from the Kingdom of Naples, Italy.   
   His mother consecrated him to God as soon as he was born and raised him with   
   good customs. He was well educated in the eternal and human sciences, as   
   well as in the exercise of weapons. He became an outstanding knight and a   
   champion in the tournaments. He married Delphine of Glandèves. By common   
   agreement, they lived a life of continence. Both belonged to the Third Order   
   of St. Francis.   
      
   When his father died in 1309, he inherited the County of Ariano and went to   
   Italy to assume the government. With John, the brother of the King of   
   Naples, he commanded an army against Emperor Henry VII, who led the   
   anti-papist Ghibelline party in Italy. After two battles, Elzear defeated   
   the German sovereign, who died soon afterward in 1313. As reward for his   
   victories, Count Elzear received many honors and prizes.   
      
   King Robert of Naples chose him to be head of the Counsel of the Kingdom of   
   Naples. As a judge he acted with supreme severity against the guilty, be   
   they corrupt nobles or the lawless bandits who infested the whole Kingdom,   
   and often condemned them to death. But he always took great care of the   
   souls of those men, providing them all spiritual assistance possible and   
   asking the priests to remain with them from the moment of condemnation until   
   the hour of death. He was also chosen to be tutor of Prince Charles, heir to   
   the throne.   
      
   After four years of separation, Delphine joined him from France and found   
   her husband among the brilliant courtiers wearing magnificent clothes. She   
   feared that during this period of separation Elzear had forgotten his duties   
   of religion and became worldly. He sensed her thoughts, and when the two   
   were alone together, he opened his habit and revealed his hair-shirt   
   underneath. He always remained faithful to the Franciscan spirit.   
      
   God granted Count Elzear the grace of an inalterable serenity. His face was   
   always tranquil, communicating peace. Once he revealed to his wife that it   
   was continuous meditation on Our Lord's Passion that gave him this gift.   
      
   In addition to being a skillful warrior and politician, he was also an adept   
   diplomat. He was sent to Paris as a representative of King Robert to ask the   
   hand of the daughter of the Count of Valois for the Prince Heir of Naples.   
   During this mission he became seriously ill and died on September 27, 1325.   
      
   He was buried in the Franciscan habit in the church of the Minor Conventuals   
   at Apt. Many miracles were worked through his intercession. He was canonized   
   44 years later by Pope Urban V. His wife, Countess Delphine, was still   
   alive.   
      
      
   Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)   
      
   We are given a picture of St. Elzear as a saint who was principally a   
   warrior, a winner of battles and tournaments, a governor of his provinces,   
   and a judge.   
      
   In that epoch war was preponderantly an ensemble of individual fights,   
   knight against knight, and soldier against soldier. No one could be weak to   
   fight. In today's wars, a feeble man can be behind a machine gun and do a   
   lot of damage. In that time, men of war had to be courageous, strong, and   
   skillful in martial deeds. This was St. Elzear. He did not abandon the world   
   with platitudes of hatred for war and love for peace. All his life he   
   engaged in war or exercises preparing for it. Doing this, he became a saint.   
   St. Elzear attained sanctity practicing the heroic virtues that shine in the   
   life of a warrior.   
      
   Since he was from a very noble family, the Sabran family, he inherited the   
   fief of his father and became Count d'Ariano in Naples. At that time, the   
   Kingdom of Naples was governed by French Princes. So he also became a saint   
   through the wise governance of his fief. Contrary to the images of saints   
   normally put forth by a sentimental piety, which is also a little   
   progressivist, St. Elzear lived the normal life of a noble at court, which   
   at the time implied among other things, wearing magnificent clothes.   
      
   As a reward for his military conquests, the King of Naples made St. Elzear   
   head of the Counsel of the Kingdom. To be charged with handing down Justice   
   is a difficult mission. The fair-minded judge often has to rule against the   
   great, powerful, and wealthy in favor of the small and poor. This kind of   
   judge raises the scorn and anger of many important persons. St. Elzear was a   
   judge who acted before God, making no compromises with men. He combated the   
   corrupt nobles, but also the bandits.   
      
   You know that in Italy there is an organized drove of bandits - in Sicily   
   and Calabria it is called the Mafia, and in Naples the Camorra. At that time   
   similar groups of bandits were probably in existence and found in St. Elzear   
   an implacable enemy. But as a perfect Catholic, his behavior was entirely   
   balanced: he condemned the guilty to death for the necessity of the common   
   good, but then he took an exquisite care of their souls, trying to save them   
   by all possible means. Death for the body, yes; but life for the soul.   
      
   One would say that a man with such extraordinary qualities to direct a fief   
   and distribute justice, a prince in the court and a lion in the war, would   
   be a pretentious man, quick to anger, stern and arrogant. But he was not   
   that at all. He was most affable and serene with a pacific physiognomy. Here   
   we have a harmonic contrast characteristic of a soul that lives in   
   sanctifying grace.   
      
   Another contrast in his life appears in another episode from the selection.   
   St. Elzear held an important position at court; he was a noble in the   
   fullest sense of the word who carried out with dignity his duties as   
   courtier. Therefore, he dressed in magnificent clothes.   
      
   When his wife joined him in Naples after four years she was surprised by the   
   magnificence of his clothes and company, and feared that he had become   
   worldly. When they were by themselves, he opened his fine outer clothing a   
   bit and showed her the discipline that he wore under it. That is to say, he   
   remained the same penitent, detached person he had been before. He wore   
   those magnificent garments to properly fulfill his noble duties and uphold   
   the situation he occupied at court. It is another contrast that is the fruit   
   of grace.   
      
   The life of St. Elzear is very rich in contrasts and examples for those who   
   do not have a religious vocation, but are called to live in the world as   
   laypeople.   
      
   Let us ask him for confidence in the power of grace, and balance to live our   
   vocation with the needed dignity, brilliance and nobility while maintaining   
   a detached spirit. Like him, we should do everything for the glory of God,   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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