Flag week, Orsiesius the Cenobite, Juneteenth

June 14 is Flag Day, and the week in which June 14 occurs is National Flag Week, which encourages Americans to display the flag outside their homes and businesses. Although Flag Day is not a federal holiday, Americans everywhere continue to honor the history and heritage it represents.

The Flag of the United States of America is a symbol of freedom and liberty to which Americans pledge their allegiance. It consists of thirteen alternating red and white stripes and fifty white stars on a blue field, with each star representing a state.

The colors on the flag represent:

•Red: valor and bravery

•White: purity and innocence

•Blue: vigilance, perseverance, and justice

June 15 St. Orsiesius c.380 Abbot of the first true monastic cloister in Tabennisi, north of Thebes, in Egypt

Orsiesius was a favorite disciple of Saint Pachomius at Tabennisi and his assistant in drawing up the rules for the cenobites. He succeeded Pachomius as abbot. He was praised by Saint Antony and Saint Athanasius, but some 12 years before his death he was forced by his monks to resign because of the harshness of his rule. He resumed that office several years later. He is the author of an ascetical treatise that Saint Jerome translated into Latin (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

June 19 is Juneteenth is derived from the words June and the nineteenth to commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived on Galveston Island, Texas to take possession of the state and enforce General Order No. 3 which read:

The people of Texas are informed that, following a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.

Juneteenth celebrations began in Texas in 1866. Within a few years, these celebrations spread to other states and are now an annual tradition. Celebrations often open with praying and religious ceremonies and include a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation which was announced on January 1, 1863, with little effect on most slaves, particularly in Texas, which was for the most part under Confederate control. Food is central to the celebrations, with barbecued meats being especially popular.