Optional Memorial of Saint Denis, Bishop and Martyr, and his Companions, Martyrs
Saint Denis was the first bishop of Paris and was martyred around the year 258 during a Roman persecution. He was beheaded alongside his companions, a priest named Rusticus and a deacon named Eleutherius. It has been said that after his beheading, he picked up his own severed head and walked to his burial site, preaching along the way. This could very well just be a pious legend (although crazier things have happened in Salvation History, e.g., Creation itself and the Resurrection of Christ), but this legend of the walking headless preacher still speaks of something important and, nevertheless, true. To pick up one’s head even after death and to continue preaching the Gospel demonstrates a determination not to be defeated by the enemies of Jesus. It is a heroic and miraculous example of holy defiance - a defiance that holds sin in contempt, a defiance that is defined, ironically, by submission to Jesus. Not even the enemies of Jesus could totally obstruct Jesus working through his instrument, St. Denis. Not even death could make St. Denis turn away from his mission to preach the Gospel.
In a world full of temptations, a world that urges us to minimize or forget what it means to be a disciple, may we imitate St. Denis. May we persevere against all odds.