From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   March 19th - Bl. Clement of Dunblane, Bishop   
      
   Died 1256-58. One of the pioneers about whom we hear little is the colorful   
   and resourceful Bishop Clement of Dunblane, who received his habit from   
   Saint Dominic's hands and introduced the Dominicans as he preached in   
   Scotland. The monasteries he founded within a few years of the beginning of   
   the Dominican Order served the Church well, and the Church annals are   
   begemmed with the names of the people who made history in that interesting   
   country.   
      
   We read the names of Robert Bruce and Lord Douglas on the rolls of   
   benefactors of the Blackfriars. James Beaton, archbishop of Saint Andrews,   
   fled for sanctuary to the Dominican church in 1517; and in 1554, John Knox   
   was called to give an account of his strange doctrines in the Blackfriars   
   Church of Edinburgh.   
      
   Clement was Scottish by birth, and having met Saint Dominic at the   
   University of Paris and being received into the order, he was vocal and   
   active in bringing the friars to his homeland. Tradition holds that the   
   Scottish king, Alexander II, in Paris on a diplomatic mission, made a   
   personal appeal to Saint Dominic for missionaries. It is an historical fact   
   that this monarch was their first benefactor when the mission band at last   
   arrived, shortly after Dominic's death.   
      
   The priory in the lovely, seaside town of Ayr was founded in 1230, and seven   
   other large houses soon followed. There is record of transactions with the   
   rulers of the region at this time, and, a few years later, King Robert Bruce   
   granted the Dominicans the privilege of grinding their grain at his mill.   
      
   Clement was appointed bishop of Dunblane in 1233, by Pope Gregory IX, a   
   devoted friend of Saint Dominic. He worked in this see for 23 years, and,   
   according to an old record, he "labored with unflagging zeal to uproot   
   superstition and destroy vice, to make true and solid piety known and   
   practiced, and to draw the faithful entrusted to his charge to the imitation   
   of all the virtues of Christian perfection, as he himself fulfilled all the   
   duties of a watchful and loving pastor"-a description of a bishop that can   
   hardly be bettered. He is described as being poor himself, and the father of   
   the poor, and all the old writers speak of his zeal in restoring the ruined   
   churches and the neglected rights of the Church.   
      
   According to surviving records, he must have been a busy man, this rugged   
   missionary in an equally rugged land. He rebuilt Dunblane Cathedral, visited   
   tirelessly among the outlying regions of his diocese, setting things in   
   order, and solicited most of the funds for reconstruction himself. He was   
   appointed on several papal commissions, once to inquire into the heroic   
   virtues of Margaret of Scotland, another time to determine the validity of a   
   bishop's appointment. He was sent to collect alms for the Holy Land in 1247,   
   at a time when he badly needed the money to rebuild his own diocese.   
      
   Through his influence, the episcopal see was transferred from the Isle of   
   Iona, which was frequently inaccessible and always in danger from stormy   
   seas, to a place where it could be readily in touch with the rest of   
   Scotland. He attended the general chapter of the Order held in London in   
   1250. At one time he had to pronounce a sentence of excommunication on all   
   those who had tried to murder the king.   
      
   In spite of these varied and absorbing labors, we are interested to find   
   that he wrote at least three books: a life of Saint Dominic, a book on   
   pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and the history of the Dominican Order in   
   Scotland.   
      
   When Clement died, he left a legacy of personal holiness so great that even   
   a Protestant historian would say of him: "This man was an excellent   
   preacher, learned above many of that time, and of singular integrity of   
   conversation" (Benedictines, Dorcy).   
      
   Also today:   
   March 19th - Saint Joseph, Spouse of Mary.   
      
   All of the factual knowledge we have of Joseph is from the first chapter of   
   the Gospel of Matthew and the 2nd chapter of Luke. Joseph was descended from   
   the royal line of King David of the Old Testament. He was betrothed to Mary   
   and was hesitant to continue the engagement when he learned of Mary's   
   pregnancy. However, in a dream, he learned of the Divine mystery of her   
   virginal conception and accepted the angel's encouragement, "do not be   
   afraid to take Mary to be your wife..." (Matt. 1:20).   
      
   Because of a Roman census, Joseph had to take Mary four days journey to   
   Bethlehem, and while there Mary gave birth to "Jesus, the Christ". (Luke   
   2:1-7) While in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to be presented to God   
   in the temple, as was required by Jewish law (Lk 2:22-38). Later, after the   
   visit of the Magi, Joseph was warned of Herod's intention to kill Jesus, so   
   he took Mary and Jesus to Egypt for safety (Matt 2:13-15) and verse 19-23   
   tells of his returning and making his home in Nazareth after the death of   
   Herod.   
      
   It is in Luke 2:41-51 that we learn of Jesus, at the age of twelve,   
   accompanying his parents to Jerusalem and staying behind listening and   
   talking with the teachers. Joseph and Mary are very concerned when they at   
   last locate him in the temple. They express their concern, but do not   
   understand Jesus' response that He must be about His Father's business, so   
   Jesus returns to Nazareth with them. Matt 13:55, tells us that Joseph was a   
   "craftsman," which tradition has understood as a carpenter.   
      
   We know from scripture that Joseph was recognized as the legal father of   
   Jesus (Matt 1:1-16, Lk 3:23-28). While he did not share in the generation of   
   Jesus, he must have taken on the responsibility of accepting Jesus as his   
   son, and he protected and supported Him. He provided, with Mary, his wife,   
   the earthly home in which Jesus was raised. He would have naturally   
   developed a very strong paternal bond with Jesus, since he cared for Him   
   right from his birth in Bethlehem. He would have seen it as his   
   responsibility to teach his foster-son the moral tenets of his Jewish faith.   
   It seems only natural that he would have taught Jesus carpentry, as it was   
   the common tradition that the son always took over the father's work.   
      
   As to Joseph's death, we can only speculate. He doesn't appear after the   
   infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke and he was certainly dead when Jesus   
   gave Mary into the care of John at the crucifixion (Jn. 19:27). It seems he   
   lived long enough for Jesus to grow to an age and ability to care for Mary   
   after Joseph's death.   
      
   Perhaps what is most important for this feast day is to recognize the   
   tremendous love God must have had for Joseph in making him responsible for   
   the care of His "Beloved Son" (Mk 1:11.). Joseph is the Patron of the   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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