September  10, 2014
Mary the Mother of Jesus   Miracles_BLay Saints
 
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Life in this world is a period of separation from God, which is full of sorrow, and pain:
Sorrow is the bedstead, Pain the fiber with which it is woven, And separation is the quilt See this is the life we lead, O Lord. 
Absorption in the affairs of the world, in forgetfulness of God, is regarded by Sheikh Farid as
desertion by a woman of her husband and going over to an alien house.
 1266 Baba Sheikh Farid Ji
"Be humble and obedient and the Holy Spirit will teach you." 1595 Saint Philip Neri showed humorous side of holiness
1501 Blessed Columba of Rieti pious mystics of the third order of Saint Dominic raising of a dead child to life especially devoted to Our Lady modeled after Saint Catherine of Siena to OP Tert. V (AC)

1501 BD COLUMBA OF RIETI, VIRGIN
IN the chronicles of Perugia we find many references to Bd Columba, a Dominican tertiary who, by virtue of her sanctity and spiritual gifts, became whilst yet living so completely the city's patroness that her mediation was officially sought by the magistrates in times of danger and perplexity. She was a native, not of Perugia, but of Rieti, where her father and mother earned a modest livelihood as weavers and tailors. Although her angelic looks as a baby led her parents to choose for her the name of Angiolella, she was always called Columba, in allusion to a dove which made its appearance during her baptism and alighted on her head. As she grew in years so she grew in beauty of soul and body. From the Dominican nuns who taught her to read she acquired a great veneration for St Dominic and St Catherine of Siena, and during her life they often appeared in visions to encourage or direct her. At the age often she secretly dedicated herself to God, and when her parents urged that she should be betrothed to a wealthy young man, she cut off her hair, declaring that her whole heart belonged to Jesus Christ. She now gave herself up to austerities, hidden as far as possible from the eyes of men, and she strove to tread in the footsteps of St Catherine. On one occasion, after a cataleptic trance in which she had lain as though dead for five days, she described the holy places of Palestine which she had been visiting in spirit. But it was at the age of nineteen, when she had been invested with the Dominican tertiary habit which she had long desired, that she emerged from her retirement and entered upon what may almost be described as her public life.
A resident of Rieti lay under sentence of death for murder, and Columba's prayers were asked on his behalf. She visited him in prison, brought him to repentance and, after he had made a good confession, assured him that his execution would not take place. Her prophecy was fulfilled when at the eleventh hour a reprieve arrived. Her reputation was further enhanced by miracles and by her almost complete abstention from food. At Viterbo, where she cured a demoniac, and also at Narni, the inhabitants sought to detain her by force, but she eluded them. She was not, however, to remain long at Rieti. It was revealed to her that her mission lay elsewhere, and accordingly early one morning she slipped out of the house in secular clothes-bound she knew not whither. Upon her arrival at Foligno she was arrested on suspicion that she was a fugitive for whom the authorities were searching, and her relations were communicated with. Joined by her father, her brother, and an elderly matron, she was then able to pursue her mysterious journey which led finally to the gates of Perugia-perhaps the most turbulent city in Italy. She was received in a humble dwelling already occupied by several tertiaries, and immediately seems to have been made the object of a popular demonstration. Her fame, no doubt, had preceded her. Not only the poor, but many of the rich, including the ladies of the Baglioni family then in power, welcomed her with open arms. On the other hand, certain excellent persons-notably the Franciscan and Dominican friars-were openly suspicious of a young woman who was said to subsist on a few berries and who was constantly falling into ecstasies. Amongst them was Father Sebastian Angeli, afterwards her confessor and biographer. In his book he confesses his early doubts and the incredulity with which he received the information that she had resuscitated a child. "Wait for ten years", he said to young Cesare Borgia, who suggested ringing the city bells, "and then if her conduct has not belied her reputation we can reckon her a saint." The citizens generally, however, had no such doubts, and they offered to provide her with a convent. On January 2, 1490, Columba with a few companions took the vows of a Dominican religious of the third order. A few years later, on the outbreak of plague, her position was so well established that the magistrates applied to her for advice and adopted her suggestion of penitential processions. Many of the sick were healed by her touch, some in her convent where they were tended by her nuns, some outside. She had offered herself to God as a victim; and when in answer to her prayers the plague abated, she contracted it in a virulent form. Her recovery she attributed to St Catherine, in whose honour the magistrates decreed an annual procession which was continued for a hundred years. In the bitter quarrels that rent the city Columba invariably acted as an angel of peace, and once she warned the rulers of a projected attack from outside which they were consequently able to frustrate.
Pope Alexander VI when he came to Perugia asked specially to see her, and was so impressed that at a later date he sent his treasurer to consult her on certain secret projects-only to receive reproaches and warnings the details of which were never made public. But if the pontiff himself was favourably disposed, it was otherwise with his daughter, Lucrezia Borgia, whom Columba had refused to meet and who, it is said, became her bitter enemy. Apparently as the result of her hostile influence, Bd Columba was subjected to a period of persecution, when a decree issued from Rome accused her of magic and deprived her of her confessor. She uttered no complaint and bore all in patience until the attack passed. Towards the end of her life she suffered much bodily pain, but her interest in Perugia continued to the end. To the city fathers who came to visit her in her last illness she gave an exhortation to observe Christian charity and to do justice to the poor. She died at the age of thirty-four, early in the morning on the feast of the Ascension, 1501. The magistrates contributed to provide for her a public funeral, which was attended by the whole city.

In the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. v, the Bollandists have published a Latin biography of Bd Columba which was written by her confessor, Father Sebastian degli Angeli, a Domini­can friar of Perugia. Very little other material seems to have been available from Dominican sources, and Father Leander Alberti, who produced an Italian life in 1521, did little more than translate the Latin text of Father Sebastian. It must be confessed that there are many points in his rather surprising narrative which one would have liked to see presented from another angle. Bd Columba has never been canonized, but her cult was formally confirmed in 1627. In view of this confirmation, or of the continuation of the cause, a summary statement with a brief catalogue of miracles was presented to the Congregation of Rites, and this also may be found in the same volume of the Bollandists. The Dominican Father D. Viretti, Using these sources, compiled in 1777 a Vita de la B. Colomba da Rieti, which was translated into English for the Oratorian Series and edited by Father Faber in 1847. The best modem biography of this interesting beata seems to be that of Ettore Ricci, Storia della A. Colomba da Rieti (1901) but see also M. C. de Ganay, Les Bienheureuses Dominicaines (1913), pp. 305—354. A short sketch in English will be found in Procter, Dominican Saints, pp. 133--136.

Born in Rieti, Umbria, Italy, in 1467; died in Perugia, Italy, in 1501; beatified in 1697 (or 1627). Columba of Rieti is one of many pious mystics of the third order of Saint Dominic. According to legend, angels sang around the house when Columba was born. She was originally to be called Angelica, but a white dove appeared over the baptismal font, and it was decided to change the name to Columba (another source says that her name was Angelella Guardagnoli). Her parents were too charitable to save any money, and the little girl learned to be hungry gracefully with them. Early in life, she learned to spin and sew, and she and her mother took upon themselves the task of doing the mending for the Dominican fathers in her Rieti.

Columba soon picked up the art of reading from the sisters at Rieti, and learned the Little Office from hearing it chanted. She was especially devoted to Our Lady, and, as soon as she had read a life of Saint Catherine of Siena, she began to model her life on that of the great Dominican tertiary. Columba's parents seem to have had a very casual attitude towards the goods of this world, and, apparently, she and they worked only at odd times, when it was absolutely necessary. They devoted the rest of their time to prayer and good works among the poor.

At 12, Columba was self-supporting and, furthermore, she had learned that charming truth: "It is better to need less than to have more." Earnestly praying to know her vocation, she was favored with a vision in which she saw Our Lord on a golden throne, attended by SS Dominic, Jerome, and Peter Martyr of Verona. Columba interpreted the vision to mean that she was to dedicate herself to God, and she pronounced a private vow of virginity and made plans to live a solitary life.

Unfortunately, she did not think to mention this to her parents, who were busy arranging a marriage for her. The night before the engagement was to be publicly announced, they suddenly told her that the young man they had arranged for her to marry was waiting in the parlor to see her. Forewarned by a vision, Columba had made up her mind what to do. She quickly cut off her hair and sent it in to him, which seems to be the accepted Dominican way of declining a suitor. He took the hint and departed, to the fury of Columba's brothers, who perhaps had felt that the family finances were about to be put on a solid basis.

Columba, following Saint Catherine's example, settled down to live the life of a recluse in her father's house. She worked skillfully at whatever her mother suggested, which softened the good lady's annoyance at her daughter's peculiar choice of life. An uncle and one of her brothers persecuted her continually, and one time her brother tried to kill her.

All in all, one would hardly say that these were comfortable surroundings for a mystic. In the midst of all this, Columba set sturdily about her program of spirituality: she kept five Lents a year, fasted on bread and water, and went to Mass and to Communion as often as she was allowed in those days of infrequent Communion.

Columba had a special devotion to the Holy Infancy, and she longed to visit the Holy Land and see the places sanctified by the Incarnate Christ. Never able to make the trip in actuality, she made it spiritually, and once, in an ecstasy that lasted five days, she was conducted to all the holy places in Palestine.

On one occasion, her confessor, who was something of an artist, had promised to make her a set of crib figures to use at Christmas time. He forgot to do so, and she was desolate until the Christ- Child himself appeared to her. Then she had no need of wooden figures. Once, when she was meditating on the Passion, she was so affected by what she saw that she begged our Lord never to let her see such suffering again, for fear she would die of its intensity.

At age 19, Columba was received into the third order of Saint Dominic. She had been favored with a vision telling her that she should join this group, and, as soon as she was clothed with the habit, she led a pilgrimage to the Dominican shrine of Our Lady of the Oak in Viterbo.

Her fame had already begun to spread; as they went along the road, people crowded to get close to her and hailed her as a saint. Columba was embarrassed by such attention, but she proceeded to Viterbo. Here she prayed that a devil might be cast out of a young woman who had been possessed for 18 years. When the woman was healed, the word spread all over the region that Columba was a real saint.

The citizens of Narni determined to trap her and keep her as she passed through that city on her return home. Warned of their intention, Columba and her little party crept out by night and fled from those overly enthusiastic citizens, who would one day wage a bloody battle to gain custody of another saintly Dominican--Lucy of Narni.

It is unknown why Columba moved to Foligno; perhaps the fame of her miracles--including the raising of a dead child to life--was beginning to press down upon her. In 1488, she moved to the convent of the Poor Clares.

The bishop soon heard about her, and, unexpectedly, Columba found herself in the role of foundress for a community of Dominican tertiaries that the bishop wished to establish in Perugia. The bishop sent word for her to go to Perugia, and at the same time the master general told her to return to Rieti.

The good people of Foligno blocked all the roads, and said quite plainly that Columba was going nowhere. When the master general's envoy came to get her, she was in ecstasy, and he had to shake her awake to give her the message. She went along very obediently. Eventually, however, the master general changed his mind, and she was sent to Perugia.

Columba took her solemn vows in the convent of Perugia on Pentecost in 1490. She lived there happily, frequently lost in prayer, until her death 11 years later. Bishops, priests, and magistrates came to consult her about their various problems, and to ask her prayers. When the plague was decimating the peninsula in 1494, she told the people to dedicate the city to Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine. Her request was executed and the plague immediately ceased. She is said to have been ruthlessly persecuted by Lucrezia Borgia, but no details are available.

Despite all this heavenly activity, Columba was a very kind superior, who never expected any of her charges to imitate her extreme penances. She claimed, "No sister dead to grace can remain in a convent; for either she will repent of her sins, or she will be cast out on the cold shores of the world, or, of her own free will, she will leave the blessed retreat of the cloister."

Columba of Rieti died on the eve of the Feast of the Ascension at the age of 34. At the moment of her death, her soul appeared radiant in glory, to her spiritual friend, Blessed Osanna of Mantua (Benedictines, Dorcy).

In art, Columba is a Dominican tertiary to whom an angel brings the Eucharist. At times a hand may reach down from heaven to give her the Host, with a wreath of roses, cross, lily, and rosary; or with a dove, lily, and book (Roeder).
1503 Bd Magdalen Panattieri, Virgin; she seems to have been spared all external contradiction and persecution, soon becoming a force in her town of Trino. Her care for the poor and young children (in whose favour she seems several times to have acted miraculously) paved the way for her work for the conversion of sinners; she prayed and suffered for them and supplemented her austerities with exhortation and reprimands, especially against the sin of usury; She seems to have foreseen the calamities that overtook northern Italy during the invasions of the sixteenth century and made several covert references to them; it was afterwards noticed and attributed to her prayers that, when all around was rapine and desolation, Trino was for no obvious reason spared
1504 Saint Paisius of Uglich igumen of the Protection monastery, near Uglich relics, glorified by miracles, rest beneath
       a crypt in the Protection monastery

1504 Bd Timothy Of Montecchio; aug 26 worked many miracles, visited by our Blessed Lady and St Francis and our
         Saviour spoke to him audibly from the sacramental species
1505 June 18 Blessed Hosanna of Mantua spent her fortune in the service of the poor stigmata OP Tert.  miraculously learned to read/write V (AC)
1507 April 02 St. Francis of Paola hermit foundation of the Minimi fratres ('least brothers') penance, charity, and humility many miracles  gifts of prophesy insight into men's hearts uncorrupt 25 years but burned by Hugenots
 Turónis, in Gállia, sancti Francísci de Paula Confessóris, qui Ordinis Minimórum Institútor éxstitit; atque, virtútibus et miráculis clarus, a Leóne Papa Décimo in Sanctórum númerum est adscríptus.
       At Tours in France, St. Francis of Paula, founder of the Order of Minims.  Because he was renowned for virtues and miracles, he was inscribed
1507 April 02 St. Francis of Paola hermit foundation of the Minimi fratres ('least brothers') penance, charity, and humility many miracles  gifts of prophesy insight into men's hearts uncorrupt 25 years but burned by Hugenotsamong the saints by Pope Leo X.
1508 MAR 03 Blessed Jacobinus de'Canepaci Carmelite lay-brother OC (AC)  this good Carmelite lay-brother seems to have been one of those in which perfection is found by prayer, austerity and charity, A cultus is said to have begun at his tomb shortly after his death on account of the miracles worked there, and this was approved in 1845.
1508 Blessed  Gratia mysterious light seen above his cell miracles at his intercession lay-brother at Monte Ortono, near
         Padua  gift of infused knowledge 
1510 St. Catherine (Caterinetta) of Genoa, Widow;

1511 November 14 Blessed John Liccio Dominican habit 96 years cured the sick when he was a baby reciting daily
        Office of the Blessed Virgin Office of the Dead, and the Penitential Psalms as a child frequently in ecstasy
        withered hand made whole OP (AC)
1513 Blessed Archangelo Canetuli archbishop-elect natural gift of fraternal love gift of prophecy OSA (AC)
        Maddern Or Madron Well.
1513 Blessed Archangelo Canetuli archbishop-elect natural gift of fraternal love and supernatural gift of prophecy OSA (AC)
1516 March 20  Blessed John Baptist Spagnuolo profound gift of counsel 50,000 lines of Latin verse eminent representatives of Christian Humanism in Italy, on the day of his burial, and a number of miracles, ascribed to his intercession, established his cultus immediately after his death. He was beatified in 1885. OC (AC)
(also known as Baptista Mantuanus, Baptista Spagnuolo) Born in Mantua, Italy, in 1448; died 1516; beatified in 1885.


1518 BD GILES OF LORENZANA his ecstatic prayer and gift of prophecy were renowned far and wide. In particular he is said to have been frequently seen raised from the ground and to have been physically assaulted by the Evil One.

1522 May 13 Righteous Virgin Glyceria of Novgorod incorrupt relics During the interment, healings occurred at the relics of the saint.
1530 January 02 BD STEPHANA QUINZANI, VIRGIN; third order of St Dominic, she spent her time in nursing the sick and relieving the poor until she was able herself to found a convent at Soncino;  performed many miracles of healing and to have multiplied food and money;
Dec 1531 Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) The Miracle Of Guadalupe  Mary announced "I am the Entirely and Ever Virgin,
        Saint Mary”. Assuring Juan Diego that she was his “Compassionate Mother” and that she had come out of her
       willingness to love and protect "all folk of every kind," she requested that he build a temple in her honor at the
       place where she stood Tepeyac Hill, on the eastern edge of Mexico City.
1532 Saint Cyril of New Lake fond of solitude and prayer healing through his prayers Lord granted gift of foresight
1539 Mar 11 BD JOHN BAPTIST OF FABRIANO miracles were reported to have been worked at his tomb, and a
            considerable cultus followed confirmed in 1903.

1540 St. Angela Merici innovative education the Ursulines first teaching order of women Saint Ursula appeared to her
        levitated
1542 Saint Sophia the Nun Dec 16, "the holy Righteous Princess the wonderworker, who dwelt at the Protection monastery." several miraculous healings at her grave
1543 jan 18 Blessed Christina Ciccarelli  extraordinary humility and love of the poor; prioress of the Augustinian hermits at Aquila
OSA V (AC) (also known as Christina of Aquila)
1544 BD LUCY OF NARNI, VIRGIN; received the stigmata, and a sensible participation in sufferings of the Passion,
        which happened, accompanied by loss of blood, every Wednesday and Friday for the three years that she
        remained at Viterbo

1545 Oct 20 Holy Righteous Artemius of Verkola a light over the place where the incorrupt body of the Righteous Artemius lay. Taken to the church of St Nicholas in 1577, the holy relics were shown to be a source of numerous healings. In this village a monastery was later built, called the Verkola
1547 St. Cajetan; at his birth his mother, a fervent Dominican tertiary, dedicated Cajetan to the Blessed Virgin; father died fighting for Venetians against King Ferdinand of Naples when Cajetan was only two, example of mother helped Cajetan to grow into a man of sweet temper, constant recollection, unwavering compassion, especially toward poor and afflicted; mystical experience; doctorate in both civil and canon law at Padua, Italy, he became a senator in Vicenza; Pope Julius II compelled him to accept the office of protonotary in his court. Although Julius II was one of the least inspiring examples of a pope, Cajetan saw through the lustful, simonious, indulgent, war-loving court to the essential holiness of the Church. He knew that despite the vices and follies of Her servants, Holy Mother Church still held the keys to the salvation of the world; resigned as protonotary upon Julius's death in 1513 and was ordained in 1516; founder of the blue-habited Theatines, beatified by Urban VIII in 1629; canonized by Clement X in 1671. Miracles    At Naples in Campania, St. Cajetan the Theatine, confessor, founder of the Clerics Regular, who, through singular confidence in God, made his disciples practise the primitive mode of life of the apostles.  Being renowned for miracles, he was ranked among the saints by Clement X.
January 19 1550 Saint Macarius the Roman as an example to others God gave gifts of clairvoyance and wonderworking
Neapoli, in Campania, sancti Cajetani Thienæi Confessóris, Clericórum Regulárium Fundatoris, qui, singulári in Deum fiducia, pristinam Apostolicam vivéndi formam suis coléndam trádidit, et, miráculis clarus, a Cleménte Papa Décimo inter Sanctos relátus est.
1521 BD MARGARET OF LORRAINE, WIDOW; 1513, when her responsibility for her children was at an end, she withdrew to Mortagne, where there was a convent and she could unostentatiously look after the poor and the sick. From there she took some of the nuns and established them, under the rule of the Poor Clares, at Argentan. In this convent Bd Margaret herself took the habit in 1519. She refused the office of abbess, and died, a simple nun; Bd Margaret is mentioned among the praetermissi, and the writer describes the evidences of a still fervent cultus that he witnessed on a visit to Argentan in 1878.
He also refers to a catalogue of miracles at the shrine, drawn up by Fr Mann de Proverre.
1550 Saint Macarius the Roman ascetical struggles and unceasing prayer a pillar of fire would rise up into the sky at night above his place of refuge. During the day, the grace of God was made manifest by a fragrant cloud of smoke gifts of clairvoyance and wonderworking from God
1552 St. Francis Xavier Great Missionary to the Orient by Friar Jack Wintz, O.F.M.
Sancti Francísci Xavérii, Sacerdótis e Societáte Jesu et Confessóris, Indiárum Apóstoli, sodalitátis et óperis Propagándæ Fídei atque Missiónum ómnium Patróni cæléstis; qui prídie hujus diéi quiévit in pace.
    St. Francis Xavier, priest of the Society of Jesus, confessor, Apostle of the Indies, and heavenly patron of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, and also of all the Missions, who died on the day previous.
1554 Saint Nilus of Stolobnoye dec 07strict ascetic life; incessant struggle against snares of the devil-- took on the
        appearance of reptiles and wild beasts; miracles
1555 St. Thomas of Villanueva Augustinian bishop from Fuentellana, Castile Spain; Many examples are recorded of St Thomas’s supernatural gifts, such as his power of healing the sick and of multiplying food, and numerous miracles were attributed to his intercession both before and after his death.
1562 Oct 19 Peter of Alcántara practiced asceticism from 16 until death; appeared to Teresa patron of Brazil  OFM  (RM)
1565 April 27 Blessed Hosanna of Cattaro miracle child; several apparitions; Our Lord and Mary appeared many times
         OP Tert. V (AC)

1567 St. Salvatore Franciscan of the Observance devoted to our Lady and St. Paul appeared several occasions many
        and severe austerities
1567 Marth 18 St. Salvator of Horta known for his asceticism, humility and simplicity healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross
1568 Saint Theodosius of Totma & founded Ephraimov wilderness monastery miracles incorrupt
1572 St. Pius V, Pope from 1566-1572 Catholic Reformation leader taught theology philosophy 16 years excessive zeal
        as grand inquisitor wholeheartedly devoted to the religious life published Roman Catechism revised Roman
       Breviary and Roman Missal organized Battle of Lepanto commission to revise the Vulgate new edition of Thomas
       Aquinas Lepanto  pope had knowledge of the victory through miraculous means
1574  April 05 St. Catherine Thomas Orphan lived unhappy childhood in home of  uncle many strange phenomena
         mystical experiences including visits from angels, Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Catherine gifts of visions
         and prophecy

1580  Blessed John the Merciful of Rostov long life of pursuing asceticism humility, patience and unceasing prayer, he
         spiritually nourished many people many healings that occurred at his grave
1583 Dec 14 Bd Nicholas Factor; His raptures, miracles and visions were so frequent that St Louis Bertrand said he lived more in Heaven than on earth, and among many examples of supernatural knowledge was an announcement of the victory of Lepanto the day after the battle

1587 May 18 St. Felix of Cantalice; noted for his austerities, piety, 38 years in monastery as questor aiding sick the poor and revered by all helped in St. Charles Borromeo's revision of the rule for his Oblates; There is record of a great number of miracles worked after his death, and he was canonized in 1709. “All earthly creatures can lift us up to God if we know how to look at them with an eye that is single.” He loved to dwell upon the sufferings of our Lord, never weary of contemplating that great mystery. Always cheerful, always humble, he never resented an insult or an injury. If reviled he would only say, “I pray God that you may become a saint”.
1589 April 03 St. Bendict the Black Franciscan lay brother superior obscure and humble cook holiness reputation for miracles; patron of African-Americans in the United States incorrupt
1591 Bl. Alphonsus de Orozco vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary
1591 St John Of The Cross- Doctor Of The Church Nov 24 see here;  At twenty-one he took the religious habit among the Carmelite friars at Medina, receiving the name of John-of-St-Matthias. After his profession he asked for and was granted permission to follow the original Carmelite rule, without the mitigations approved by various popes and then accepted in all the friaries. It was John’s desire to be a lay brother, but this was refused him. He had given satisfaction in his course of theological studies, and in 1567 he was promoted to the priesthood. The graces, which he received from the holy Mysteries, gave him a desire of greater retirement, for which purpose he deliberated with himself about entering the order of the Carthusians. Miracles
1592 St. Alexander Sauli The Apostle of Corsica bishop  performed miracles of prophecy, healing, and calming of
        storms both during his life and after his death
1592 May 17 St. Paschal Baylon Franciscan lay brother mystic labored as shepherd for father performed miracles distinguished for austerity spent most of his life as a humble doorkeeper rigorous asceticism deep love for the Blessed Sacrament defended the doctrine of the Real Presence against a Calvinists born and died on Whitsunday
1595 May 26 Saint Philip Neri showed humorous side of holiness secret sins showed vision of hell well-known miracle
        of his heart  "Be humble and obedient and the Holy Spirit will teach you. "

1596 Blessed Gregory Lopez, a page to Philip II, Hermit among the Indians near Zacatecas and later near the capital
        many well-authenticated miracles were recorded at his tomb
1597 Philip of Jesus friar Miracles attested the power before God of these first martyrs of Japan patron of Mexico
        City, Mexico
OFM M (RM)
1597 February 06 Peter Baptist, OFM, (born 1545) was a native of Avila, Spain. He joined the Franciscans in 1567, worked as a missionary in Mexico, was sent to the Philippines in 1583, and on to Japan in 1593, where he served as commissary for the Franciscans.  He had the gift of working miracles and is considered the leader of the Franciscan martyrs.
1599-1624 Virgin Juliana, Princess of Olshansk Uncovering of the Relics of; Many miracles have been worked by St
         Juliana, and she helps those who venerate her holy relics with piety and faith

1599 Righteous Basil of Mangazea incorrupt Many miracles
16th v. Aug 19 St Theophanes the New native of Ioannina city; founded monasteries; worked miracles
16th v. Saint Basil, Bishop of Zakholmsk monk various miracles
16th v. Saint Angelina daughter of Prince George Skenderbeg of Albania

1544 BD LUCY OF NARNI, VIRGIN; received the stigmata, and a sensible participation in sufferings of the Passion, which happened, accompanied by loss of blood, every Wednesday and Friday for the three years that she remained at Viterbo

THE treasurer of the commune of Narni in Umbria during the second half of the fifteenth century was a certain Nicholas Brocadelli, who married Gentilina Cassio and became by her the father of eleven children. The eldest of these was Lucy, who was born at Narni in 1476. At an early age she determined to consecrate herself to God, but, her father being dead, her guardians had other views for her, and when she was fourteen tried to betroth her by force. Lucy threw the ring to the floor, slapped the suitor’s face, and ran out of the room. In the following year another young man was brought forward, a certain Count Peter, and Lucy, after resisting at first, agreed to marry him, having been recommended to do so by a vision of our Lady and by the advice of her confessor.

The Congregation of Sacred Rites in granting to St Lucy in 1729 the Mass and Office of a virgin has accepted the evidence for the union of her and Peter being only nominally marital, and after about three years her husband told her she was free to do whatever she liked. Whereupon she withdrew to her mother’s house, received the habit of the Dominican third order, and joined a community of regular tertiaries in Rome. A little later she went to a similar convent at Viterbo. Here Bd Lucy received the stigmata, and when to these were added a sensible participation in the sufferings of the Passion, which happened, accompanied by loss of blood, every Wednesday and Friday for the three years that she remained at Viterbo, her state could not be concealed. She was examined, skeptically enough, by the local inquisitor, by the Master of the Sacred Palace, by a Franciscan bishop, and by the physician of the pope himself, Alexander VI. They were all convinced of the genuineness of the phenomena. Finally Count Peter came to see he was convinced too, and is said in consequence to have joined the Friars Minor.

The fame of Bd Lucy came to Ercole I, Duke of Ferrara, who had a deep admiration for the memory of St Catherine of Siena and was a sincere friend of such contemporary holy women as Bd Stephana Quinzani, Bd Columba of Rieti and Bd Osanna of Mantua. He obtained the pope’s permission and her agreement to found a convent for Lucy at Ferrara. Great difficulties were put in the way of her leaving Viterbo, and in the end she had to be smuggled out of the town in a clothes-basket strapped to the back of a mule. But Bd Lucy was only twenty-three years old and she had not the natural qualities necessary to a superior moreover, Ercole d’Este was a man of large ideas and wanted his new convent (on whose building and decoration he spent large sums of money) to house not less than a hundred sisters, so he invited none other than Lucretia Borgia (who had just become his daughter-in-law) to help him in his quest for subjects.

These came from several quarters, some of them were not at all suitable, and Lucy’s task became more and more difficult. She was deposed from office and her place taken by Sister Mary of Parma, who was not a tertiary at all but a Dominican nun of the so-called second order, to which she wanted to affiliate the whole community.

In 1505 Bd Lucy’s ducal protector died, and from being a “fashionable mystic” and the protégée of d’Este she sank into complete obscurity and so remained for thirty-nine years. Moreover, the new prioress treated her with a severity that was not short of persecution: the parlour was closed to her, she might speak to nobody except the confessor who was appointed for her, a sister was told off to be always in charge of her.

It was during these weary years, unjustly condemned by the sisters of the house she had been brought with so much trouble from Viterbo to found, that Bd Lucy became a saint. Not a word of impatience or complaint is heard, even when she is ill and left unattended. So completely did she allow herself to be effaced that when she died on November 15, 1544 the people of Ferrara were astonished to hear that she had been still alive: they thought she was dead years ago. Immediately popular veneration was aroused, soon her body had to be translated to a more public resting-place, and many miracles were claimed. This cultus of Bd Lucy of Narni was confirmed in 1710.

There is plenty of evidence available concerning the early mystical life of this beata. Edmund Gardner in his book Dukes and Poets in Ferrara (1904), has left us a graphic account of the more memorable incidents connected with her; see pp. 366—381, 401—404 and 465—467.  His description is largely based upon the work of L. A. Gandini, Sulla venuta in Ferrara della beata Lucia da Narni (1901), and upon the Vita della beata Lucia di Narni of Domenico Ponsi (1711). In connection with this last there is a curious supplement printed in 1740, Aggiunta al libro della Vita della B. Lucia. In this we have a bibliography of earlier publications concerning Lucy, but the substance of the book is taken up with the attempt made by the Franciscans of Majorca to suppress a printed picture of her in which she was represented with the stigmata. The Franciscans contended that by a decree of Sixtus IV (a Franciscan) it had been forbidden under pain of excommunication to represent anyone except St Francis himself as marked with the stigmata. The case was referred to Rome and by a decree of 1740 the matter was decided in favour of the Dominicans. The question of the reality of Lucy’s stigmata had been very thoroughly investigated by Duke Hercules of Ferrara himself, and his letter on the subject printed in the booklet Spiritualium personarum facta admiratione digna (1501)—there is a copy in the British Museum—is a document of great interest. See also another letter of his in G. Marcianese, Narratione della nascita, etc., della b,. Lucia di Narni (1616)

16th v. St Theophanes the New native of Ioannina city; founded monasteries; worked miracles
As a young man, he received monastic tonsure on Mount Athos at the Docheiariou monastery. He was later chosen igumen of this monastery because of his lofty virtue. In giving refuge to his own nephew (who had been forcibly converted to Islam) from the Turks who had captured Constantinople, St Theophanes, with the help of God, freed the youth, hid him in his own monastery and blessed him to enter the monastic life.

The brethren, fearing revenge on the part of the Turks, began to grumble against the saint. He, not wanting to be the cause of discord and dissension, humbly withdrew with his nephew from the Docheiariou monastery, quit the Holy Mountain and went to Beroea. There, in the skete monastery of St John the Forerunner, St Theophanes built a church in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos. And as monks began to gather, he gave them a cenobitic monastic rule.

When the monastery flourished, the saint withdrew to a new place at Naousa, where he made a church in honor of the holy Archangels and founded there also a monastery. To the very end of his days St Theophanes did not forsake guiding the monks of both monasteries, both regarding him as their common father.

In a revelation foreseeing his own end and giving his flock a final farewell, the saint died in extreme old age at the Beroeia monastery. Even during life the Lord had glorified his humble saint: saving people from destruction, he calmed a storm by his prayer, and converted sea water into drinking water. Even after death, the saint has never forsaken people with his grace-filled help.

1599-1624 Virgin Juliana, Princess of Olshansk Uncovering of the Relics of; Many miracles have been worked by St Juliana, and she helps those who venerate her holy relics with piety and faith
St Juliana lived during the first quarter of the sixteenth century. Her father, Prince Yurii Dubrovitsky-Olshansky, was one of the benefactors of the Kiev Caves Lavra. The God-pleasing virgin died at the age of sixteen. Her body, which was buried at the Kiev Caves Lavra near the great church, was found incorrupt during the time of Archimandrite Elisha Pletenets (1599-1624).

The holy relics were in a fire at the great church in the year 1718, and were put into a reliquary and placed in the church of the Near Caves.

St Juliana appeared to Archimandrite Peter Moghila (afterwards Metropolitan of Kiev) in a dream, reproaching him for the carelessness and lack of respect shown to her relics. He ordered a new reliquary to be made, for which a suitable covering was made by pious nuns. On the reliquary was the inscription: "By the will of the Creator of heaven and earth Juliana, patroness and great intercessor to Heaven, rests here for all time. Here are the bones ... healing against all passions ... You adorn Paradise, Juliana, like a beautiful flower ..."

Many miracles have been worked by St Juliana, and she helps those who venerate her holy relics with piety and faith. She is also commemorated on October 10 with the seven saints of Volhynia
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1599 Righteous Basil of Mangazea incorrupt Many miracles.
St Basil was born in the town of Yaroslavl around 1587. His father was a merchant, but the family was very poor. As a child, Basil spent much of his time in church, praying fervently and participating in the divine services.

When he was twelve, the boy set out to earn his living. After a difficult journey through wild forests, he came to the Russian village of Mangazea in Siberia on the River Taz. This was an area inhabited by Mongols and indigenous peoples of Siberia.

After stopping to pray in the village church, St Basil found a job with a local merchant. The merchant was a person of low moral character and did not believe in God, so while he appreciated Basil's work, he did not care for the boy's religious inclinations. Soon the cruel merchant came to hate his clerk and began to mistreat him.

During the Matins of Pascha, thieves robbed the merchant's shop. The merchant discovered the theft and went to the governor, accusing Basil of being one of the thieves. So great was the merchant's hatred of Basil that he falsely accused the young man. The governor did not even bother to investigate the charges, but had Basil arrested and tortured to make him admit his guilt. In spite of unbearable tortures, the saint kept saying, "I am innocent."

Enraged by Basil's endurance and meekness, the merchant struck him in the head with a ring of keys. St Basil fell to the floor and surrendered his soul to God. The governor ordered that the saint's body be placed in a coffin and buried in a swamp.

After several years, the servants who disposed of the body began to speak about the child's murder. Soon all the residents of Mangazea knew that the saint's relics were in the swamp. Because of many signs that took place, people began to address prayers to St Basil. Forty-two years after the unjust murder of the saint, his coffin was removed from the swamp and his holy relics were found to be incorrupt. A chapel was built over his grave, and in 1670 the relics were placed in the church of Holy Trinity Monastery near Turakhanov.

In 1719 the holy Metropolitan Philotheus of Siberia (May 31) sent a carved reliquary to the monastery. Many miracles took place there, and St Basil helped Metropolitan Philotheus on many occasions

A new stone church was built at Holy Trinity Monastery in 1787, and the relics were transferred there.
In iconography, St Basil is portrayed as a young man with light brown hair, bare-footed and wearing only a shirt. He is also depicted on the Abaletsk Icon "Of the Sign" (July 20, November 27).
1597 Philip of Jesus friar Miracles attested the power before God of these first martyrs of Japan patron of Mexico City, Mexico OFM M (RM)

(also known as Philip de las Casas Born in Mexico City, Mexico, May 1, 1571; died in Nagasaki, Japan, 1597; beatified by Pope Urban VIII; canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1862; feast day formerly February 5.

The life of Saint Philip points again to the importance of the domestic church--the family. Early in life Saint Philip ignored the pious teachings of his immigrant Spanish family, but eventually he entered the Reformed Franciscan Convent of Santa Barbara at Puebla, Mexico--and soon exited the novitiate in 1589. Grieved at the inconstancy of his son, Philip's father sent him on a business trip to the Philippines.

Like many of us, Philip sought to escape God's love in worldly pleasures but the Hound of Heaven tracked him down. Gaining courage by prayer, Philip was again able to follow his vocation, joined the convent of Our Lady of the Angels in Manila in 1590, and took his vows in 1594. The richest cargo Philip could have sent back to Mexico couldn't have pleased his father more than the message that Philip had been professed a friar. Alonso de las Casas obtained directions from the commissary of the order that Philip should be sent to Mexico to be ordained a priest.

He embarked with other religious on the Saint Philip in July 1596 but storms shipwrecked them in Japan. Amid the storm, Philip saw over Japan a white cross, in the shape used in that country, which after a time became blood-red, and remained so for some time. It was an omen of his coming victory.

The ship's captain sent Philip and two others to the emperor to gain permission for them to continue their voyage, but they could not obtain an audience. He then continued to the Franciscan house in Macao to see if they could apply pressure. In the meantime, the pilot of the Saint Philip had excited the emperor's fears of Christians, causing him to contemplate their extermination.

In December, officers seized a number of the Franciscan fathers, including Philip, three Jesuits, and several of their young pupils. When Philip had that they were to die, he responded with joy. His left ear was cut off, and he offered the first fruit of his blood to God for the salvation of Japan.

The martyrs were taken to Nagasaki, where crosses had been erected on a high hill. When Philip was led to the one on which he was to die, he knelt down, clasped it, and exclaimed, "O happy ship! O happy galleon for Philip, lost for my gain! Loss--no loss for me, but the greatest of all gain!" He was bound to the cross, but the footrest under him gave way, so that he was strangled by the cords that bound him. While repeating the name of Jesus, he was the first of the group to die. Philip was 25. Miracles attested the power before God of these first martyrs of Japan (Benedictines, Butler, Delaney).

Saint Philip is the patron of Mexico City, Mexico.
1595 Saint Philip Neri showed humorous side of holiness May 27 feast day
Patron of Rome Born at Florence, Italy, 22 July, 1515; died 27 May, 1595  If one had to choose one saint who showed the humorous side of holiness that would Philip Neri.
Born in 1515 in Florence, he showed the impulsiveness and spontaneity of his character from the time he was a boy. In fact one incident almost cost him his life. Seeing a donkey loaded with fruit for market, the little boy had barely formed the thought of jumping on the donkey's back before he had done it. The donkey, surprised, lost his footing, and donkey, fruit, and boy tumbled into the cellar with the boy winding up on the bottom! Miraculously he was unhurt.
His father was not successful financially and at eighteen Philip was sent to work with an older cousin who was a successful businessman. During this time, Philip found a favorite place to pray up in the fissure of a mountain that had been turned into a chapel. We don't know anything specific about his conversion but during these hours of prayer he decided to leave worldly success behind and dedicate his life to God.
After thanking his cousin, he went to Rome in 1533 where he was the live-in tutor of the sons of a fellow Florentine. He studied philosophy and theology until he thought his studies were interfering with his prayer life. He then stopped his studies, threw away his books, and lived as a kind of hermit.
Night was his special time of prayer. After dark he would go out in the streets, sometimes to churches, but most often into the catacombs of St. Sebastiano to pray. During one of these times of prayer he felt a globe of light enter his mouth and sink into his heart. This experience gave him so much energy to serve God that he went out to work at the hospital of the incurables and starting speaking to others about God, everyone from beggars to bankers.
In 1548 Philip formed a confraternity with other laymen to minister to pilgrims who came to Rome without food or shelter. The spiritual director of the confraternity convinced Philip that he could do even more work as a priest. After receiving instruction from this priest, Philip was ordained in 1551.
At his new home, the church of San Girolamo, he learned to love to hear confessions. Young men especially found in him the wisdom and direction they needed to grow spiritually. But Philip began to realize that these young men needed something more than absolution; they needed guidance during their daily lives. So Philip began to ask the young men to come by in the early afternoon when they would discuss spiritual readings and then stay for prayer in the evening. The numbers of the men who attended these meetings grew rapidly. In order to handle the growth, Philip and a fellow priest Buonsignore Cacciaguerra gave a more formal structure to the meetings and built a room called the Oratory to hold them in.

Philip understood that it wasn't enough to tell young people not to do something -- you had to give them something to do in its place. So at Carnival time, when the worst excesses were encouraged, Philip organized a pilgrimage to the Seven Churches with a picnic accompanied by instrumental music for the mid-day break. After walking twelve miles in one day everyone was too tired to be tempted!  In order to guide his followers, Philip made himself available to everyone at any hour -- even at night. He said some of the most devout people were those who had come to him at night. When others complained, Philip answered, "They can chop wood on my back so long as they do not sin."

Not everyone was happy about this growing group and Philip and Buonsignore were attacked by the priests they lived with. But eventually Philip and his companions were vindicated and went on with their work.
In 1555, the Pope's Vicar accused Philip of "introducing novelties" and ordered him to stop the meetings of the Oratory. Philip was brokenhearted but obeyed immediately. The Pope only let him start up the Oratory again after the sudden death of his accuser. Despite all the trouble this man had caused, Philip would not let anyone say anything against the man or even imply that his sudden death was a judgment from God.
One church, for Florentines in Rome, had practically forced him to bring the Oratory to their church. But when gossip and accusations started, they began to harass the very people they had begged to have nearby! At that point, Philip decided it would be best for the group to have their own church. They became officially known as the Congregation of the Oratory, made up of secular priests and clerics.
Philip was known to be spontaneous and unpredictable, charming and humorous.

He seemed to sense the different ways to bring people to God. One man came to the Oratory just to make fun of it. Philip wouldn't let the others throw him out or speak against him. He told them to be patient and eventually the man became a Dominican. On the other hand, when he met a condemned man who refused to listen to any pleas for repentance, Philip didn't try gentle words, but grabbed the man by the collar and threw him to the ground. The move shocked the criminal into repentance and he made a full confession.
Humility was the most important virtue he tried to teach others and to learn himself. Some of his lessons in humility seem cruel, but they were tinged with humor like practical jokes and were related with gratitude by the people they helped. His lessons always seem to be tailored directly to what the person needed. One member who was later to become a cardinal was too serious and so Philip had him sing the Misere at a wedding breakfast. When one priest gave a beautiful sermon, Philip ordered him to give the same sermon six times in a row so people would think he only had one sermon.

Philip preferred spiritual mortification to physical mortification. When one man asked Philip if he could wear a hair shirt, Philip gave him permission -- if he wore the hair shirt outside his clothes! The man obeyed and found humility in the jokes and name-calling he received.
There were unexpected benefits to his lessons in humility. Another member, Baronius, wanted to speak at the meetings about hellfire and eternal punishment. Philip commanded him instead to speak of church history.
For 27 years Baronius spoke to the Oratory about church history. At the end of that time he published his talks as a widely respected and universally praised books on ecclesiastical history!

Philip did not escape this spiritual mortification himself. As with others, his own humbling held humor. There are stories of him wearing ridiculous clothes or walking around with half his beard shaved off. The greater his reputation for holiness the sillier he wanted to seem. When some people came from Poland to see the great saint, they found him listening to another priest read to him from joke books.

Philip was very serious about prayer, spending hours in prayer. He was so easily carried away that he refused to preach in public and could not celebrate Mass with others around. But he when asked how to pray his answer was, "Be humble and obedient and the Holy Spirit will teach you."

Philip died in 1595 after a long illness at the age of eighty years.

In his footsteps:  We often worry more about what others think that about what God thinks. Our fear of people laughing us often stops us from trying new things or serving God. Do something today that you are afraid might make you look a little ridiculous. Then reflect on how it makes you feel. Pray about your experience with God.
Prayer: Saint Philip Neri, we take ourselves far too seriously most of the time. Help us to add humor to our perspective -- remembering always that humor is a gift from God. Amen
1592 St. Paschal Baylon Franciscan lay brother mystic labored as shepherd for father performed miracles distinguished for austerity spent most of his life as a humble doorkeeper rigorous asceticism deep love for the Blessed Sacrament defended the doctrine of the Real Presence against a Calvinists born and died on Whitsunday
Apud Villam Regálem, in Hispánia, sancti Paschális, ex Ordine Minórum, Confessóris, miræ innocéntiæ et pæniténtiæ viri; quem Leo Papa Décimus tértius cæléstem eucharisticórum Cœtuum et Societátum a sanctíssima Eucharístia Patrónum declarávit.
    At Villareal in Spain, St. Paschal of the Order of Friars Minor, confessor.  He was a man remarkable for innocence of life and the spirit of penance, whom Pope Leo XIII declared to be the heavenly patron of Eucharistic Congresses and of societies formed to honour the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Patron of shepherds, the Eucharist and Eucharistic guilds, societies and congresses
1592 ST PASCHAL BAYLON
THE notice of St Paschal Baylon in the Roman Martyrology tells us not only that he was a man of wonderful innocence and austerity of life, but also that he has been proclaimed by the Holy See patron of all eucharistic congresses and confraternities of the Blessed Sacrament. It is a striking fact that a humble friar, of peasant birth, who was never even a priest, whose name in his own day was hardly known to any but his townsfolk in a corner of Spain, should now from his place in Heaven preside over those imposing assemblies of the Catholic Church.
Thanks mainly to his fellow religious, superior and biographer, Father Ximenes, we are well informed regarding Paschal’s early days. He first saw the light at Torre Hermosa, on the borders of Castile and Aragon, on a Whitsunday, and to that accident he seems to have owed his Christian name, for in Spain, as well as in Italy, the term Pascua is given to other great feasts of the year besides Easter. So the little son born to Martin Baylon and his wife Elizabeth Jubera was called Pascual, just as we are told that the famous Cervantes was christened Miguel because he came into the world on St Michael’s day.
The pious couple possessed little in the way of worldly goods, but they owned a flock of sheep, and from his seventh to his twenty-fourth year Paschal, first as the deputy of his own father, and then serving other employers, led the life of a shepherd. Some of the incidents ascribed to that time are probably legendary, but one or two certain facts stand out: for example, that this shepherd lad, who never had any schooling, taught himself to read and write, being determined to recite the Little Office of our Lady, the central feature of the Howe B. Mariae Virginis, then the prayer-book universally in use among lay-folk. It was noticed with surprise that he went barefoot despite the briars and stony mountain tracks, lived on the poorest fare, fasted often, and wore under his shepherd’s cloak some sort of imitation of a friar’s habit. He could not always get to Mass, but when he was unable to leave his charge in the early morning he knelt for long spaces of time absorbed in prayer, his eyes fixed upon the distant sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de Ia Sierra where the holy sacrifice was being offered. Fifty years afterwards an aged shepherd who had known Paschal in those days deposed that on such occasions the angels more than once brought to the lad the Blessed Sacrament suspended in the air above a chalice, that he might gaze upon and venerate It. He is also alleged to have had a vision of saints, identified by conjecture with St Francis and St Clare, who directed him to offer himself to God in the Order of Friars Minor. More convincing than this testimony is the evidence given of his scrupulous sense of justice. The damage which his beasts occasionally caused to the vines or growing crops was to him a continual source of worry. He insisted that compensation should be made to the owners and often paid for it out of his own slender wage. In that matter his fellows, though they respected him for it, thought he went to absurd lengths.
When Paschal, seemingly about the age of eighteen or nineteen, first sought admission among the barefooted Friars Minor, St Peter of Alcantara, the author of the reform, was still living. The austerity of the rule which he had revived was only equalled by the fervour of those who practised it. Probably the friars of the Loreto convent, knowing nothing of the young shepherd who came from a district two hundred miles away, doubted his fortitude. At any rate, they put him off, but when they admitted him some few years later, they soon realized that God had committed a treasure to their keeping.
The community lived at the level of the first fervour of the reform, but Brother Paschal even in this ascetical atmosphere was recognized as being eminent in every religious virtue. One is apt to regard with some distrust the extravagant eulogiums of hagiographers, but no discerning reader can make himself acquainted with the description which Father Ximenes has left of his friend without feeling that we have here no conventional panegyric, but a straightforward statement of his own inmost conviction. In charity towards all, Paschal was a marvel even to those mortified men who shared the same hard external conditions and were bound by the same rule. In what he deemed to be matters of conscience he was inflexible. There is the story of the ladies who, when Paschal was porter, came to the door to ask the father guardian to come down to hear their confessions. “Tell them”, said the guardian, “ that I am out.” “I will tell them”, amended Paschal, “that your Reverence is engaged.” “No”, the guardian insisted, “tell them that I am not at home.” “Forgive me, Father”, objected the brother very humbly and respectfully, “I must not say that, for that would not be the truth and would be a venial sin”; and thereupon he returned to the door in perfect peace of mind. It is such little flashes of independence which relieve the monotony of the catalogue of virtues, and enable us to see something of the human element in a soul so exalted and purified.
It is pleasant, too, to read of the little devices by which Paschal schemed to secure special delicacies for the sick, the poor, and those whom he regarded as exceptionally deserving, as well as of the tears sometimes seen in the eyes of this austere man, who normally repressed all signs of emotion, when he was brought into contact with some pathetically hard case. Although, it seems, he never laughed, still he was gay, and there was nothing gloomy about his devotion or even his spirit of penance. Ximenes tells us how on one occasion when Paschal was refectorian and had shut himself in to lay the tables, another friar, peeping through the buttery-hatch, caught sight of the good brother executing an elaborate dance, like a second jongleur de Notre-Dame, leaping high and moving rhythmically backwards and forwards, before the statue of our Lady which stood over the refectory door. The intruder withdrew noiselessly, but coming in again a few minutes later with the customary salutation, “Praised be Jesus Christ”, he found Paschal with so radiant a countenance that the memory of the scene was a spur to his devotion for many days afterwards. It is no small tribute that Father Ximenes, who was himself a minister provincial of the Alcantarines within little more than half a century of their inauguration, says of St Paschal: “In no single case do I remember to have noted even the least fault in him, though I lived with him in several of our houses and was his companion on two long journeys; such journeys being commonly an occasion when a man, worn out with fatigue and the monotony, allows himself some indulgence which is not entirely free from blame”.
It is, however, as the Saint of the Eucharist that St Paschal is best remembered outside his own country. Many years before the great work of annual eucharistic congresses was instituted and our saint was nominated its patron, the title-page of Father Salmeron’s Spanish biography bore the heading Vida del Santo del Sacramento S. Pascual Bailon. The long hours which he spent before the tabernacle, kneeling without support, his clasped hands held up in front of, or higher than, his face, had left a deep impression upon his brethren. No wonder that he was for them the Saint of the Blessed Sacrament”. The recognition of this special characteristic goes back to his earliest biographer. Ximenes tells us how the good brother, whenever he had a moment free from his other duties, invariably made his way to the church to honour the presence of our Lord, how it was his delight to serve Mass after Mass in succession beginning with the very earliest, how he stayed behind in choir when after Matins and Lauds the rest of the community had retired again to sleep, and how the dawn found him there still on his knees, eager as soon as the bell rang to visit the altars at which the Holy Sacrifice was to be offered.
Father Ximenes prints some specimens, too lengthy to quote, of the simple heartfelt prayers recited by Paschal at the time of communion. Whether they were his own composition, as his biographer supposes, is not so clear. The saint had long kept what he himself calls a cartapacio (a home-made scrap-book, formed, it seems, out of odds and ends of paper which he had rescued from the rubbish-heap) a and in this he noted down in a beautiful handwriting certain prayers and reflections which he had either come across in his reading or had composed himself. One at least of these books—there seem to have been two—is still preserved. Shortly after Paschal’s death some of these prayers were brought to the notice of Bd John de Ribera, then archbishop of Valencia. He was so impressed that he begged to have a relic of this holy lay-brother who, it seemed to him, had achieved so perfect an understanding of spiritual things. When a relic was brought him by Father Ximenes, the archbishop said to him, “Ah Father Provincial, what are we to do? These simple souls are wresting Heaven from our hands. There is nothing for it but to burn our books.” To which Ximenes answered, “My Lord, it is not the books that are in fault, but our own pride. Let us burn that.”
St Paschal, the Saint of the Eucharist, had, it appears, some experience in his own person of the ferocity with which Protestant reformers sometimes manifested their dislike of the sacraments and of faithful sons of the Church. He was on one occasion sent into France as the bearer of an important communication to Father Christopher de Cheffontaines, the very learned Breton scholar who at that time was minister general of the Observants. For a friar wearing the habit of his order the journey across France at that time, when the wars of religion had reached their most acute phase, was extremely dangerous, and the choice for such an errand of a simple lay-brother, who certainly did not know any French, remains a mystery. Perhaps his superior believed that his simplicity and trust in God would carry him through where more diplomatic methods would fail. He succeeded in his mission, but was very roughly handled; on several occasions barely escaping with his life. At one town in particular, where he was stoned by a party of Huguenots, he seems to have sustained an injury to his shoulder which was a cause of suffering for the rest of his days. At Orleans, we are told by most of his biographers, even by Ximenes, he was questioned as to his belief in the Blessed Sacrament, and when he unhesitatingly made profession of his faith, his opponents instituted a sort of formal disputation in which they were worsted by the good brother, who was preternaturally aided from on high. Here again in their fury the Huguenots stoned him, but he escaped, because all their missiles fell wide of the mark. It seems, however, a little difficult to believe in such a disputation in argumentative form with citation of authorities.
St Paschal died, as he was born, on a Whitsunday, in the friary at Villareal. He was fifty-two years old. It was held to be significant of his life-long devotion to the Blessed Sacrament that, with the holy name of Jesus on his lips, he passed away just as the bell was tolling to announce the consecration at the high Mass.
He had long been honoured as a saint, partly owing to the miracles of all kinds attributed to him in life, especially in his dealings with the sick and poor, and these miracles were multiplied beside his bier. There can be little doubt that the unusually great number of remarkable cures, reported then and later, influenced ecclesiastical authorities to take unwontedly speedy action in the matter of his beatification. He was in fact beatified in 1618, before St Peter of Alcantara, the author of the reform to which he belonged, though Peter had died thirty years earlier than he. Perhaps a bizarre factor which intervened in the case, causing considerable popular excitement, contributed to this. It was universally believed that curious knockings (golpes) proceeded from Paschal’s tomb, which knockings were invested with portentous significance. This phenomenon is said to have continued for a couple of centuries, and his later biographers devote much space to the golpes and their interpretation. St Paschal’s canonization took place in 1690.
 Our information concerning St Paschal comes almost entirely from the life by Father Ximenes and the process of beatification. A Latin version of Ximenes’ biography, somewhat abridged, is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. iv. Lives in Spanish, Italian and French are numerous, e.g. those by Salmeron, Olmi, Briganti, Beaufays, Du Lys and L. A. de Porrentruy this last has been translated from the French by O. Staniforth, under the title of The Saint of the Eucharist (1908). See also O. Englebert’s French sketch (1944), and Leon, Aureole Séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. ii, pp. 177—197. Probably the best modern life is that written in German by Father Grötcken (1909).

Born to a peasant family at Torre Hermosa, in Aragon, on Whitsunday, he was christened Pascua in honor of the feast. According to accounts of his early life, Paschal labored as a shepherd for his father, performed miracles, and was distinguished for his austerity. He also taught himself to read. Receiving a vision which told him to enter a nearby Franciscan community, he became a Franciscan lay brother of the Alcantrine reform in 1564, and spent most of his life as a humble doorkeeper.
He practiced rigorous asceticism and displayed a deep love for the Blessed Sacrament, so much so that while on a mission to France, he defended the doctrine of the Real Presence against a Calvinist preacher and in the face of threats from other irate Calvinists. Paschal died at a friary in Villareal, and was canonized in 1690. In 1897 Pope Leo XIII declared him patron of all eucharistic confratemities and congresses. Since 1969, his veneration has been limited to local calendars.

Paschal Baylon, OFM (RM) Born in Torre Hermosa, Aragon, Spain, in 1540; died Villareal, Spain, 1592; beatified in 1618; canonized in 1690; declared patron of all Eucharistic congresses and confraternities in 1897.
Saint Paschal Baylon, son of the peasants Martin Baylon and Elizabeth Jubera, received his name from the day on which he was born: Whitsunday. He worked as a shepherd for his father and others until the age of 24. At 18, after a vision, he had applied to join the Franciscans at Loreto, 200 miles away, but the monks turned him down, knowing nothing of him personally. He applied again, a few years later (1564), and was accepted, and he lived a strict life according to the recently initiated reforms of Saint Peter of Alcantara.
He served primarily as a doorkeeper at various friaries in Spain. His intense devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is obvious from the long hours he spent kneeling before the tabernacle, with his clasped hands outstretched.
He was sent to France with a message to Father Christopher de Cheffontaines, the minister general of the Observants, and travelled wearing his habit during a dangerous time of religious wars. He was accosted several times and once narrowly escaped with his life, after he defended the doctrine of the Real Presence of the Holy Eucharist to a Calvinist preacher and a crowd. He was stoned by a party of Hugenots and suffered from the injury for the rest of his life.
This miracle worker died on a Whitsunday, just as the bell was tolling to announce the consecration at the high Mass.

Saint Paschal Baylon is the patron of shepherds, the Eucharist and Eucharistic guilds, societies and congresses, and of Italian women (there seems no obvious explanation of this except that his name-- "Baylonna," in Italian--rhymes with "donna"). He is portrayed in art in the act of adoration before the Host; or watching sheep (Attwater2, Benedictines, White).
Thursday, May 17, 2012  St. Paschal Baylon (1540-1592)
In Paschal’s lifetime the Spanish empire in the New World was at the height of its power, though France and England were soon to reduce its influence. The 16th century has been called the Golden Age of the Church in Spain, for it gave birth to Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Peter of Alcantara, Francis Solano and Salvator of Horta.
Paschal’s Spanish parents were poor and pious. Between the ages of seven and 24 he worked as a shepherd and began a life of mortification. He was able to pray on the job and was especially attentive to the church bell which rang at the Elevation during Mass. Paschal had a very honest streak in him. He once offered to pay owners of crops for any damage his animals caused!
In 1564, Paschal joined the Friars Minor and gave himself wholeheartedly to a life of penance. Though he was urged to study for the priesthood, he chose to be a brother. At various times he served as porter, cook, gardener and official beggar.
Paschal was careful to observe the vow of poverty. He would never waste any food or anything given for the use of the friars. When he was porter and took care of the poor coming to the door, he developed a reputation for great generosity. The friars sometimes tried to moderate his liberality!
Paschal spent his spare moments praying before the Blessed Sacrament. In time many people sought his wise counsel. People flocked to his tomb immediately after his burial; miracles were reported promptly. Paschal was canonized in 1690 and was named patron of eucharistic congresses and societies in 1897.

Comment:  Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament occupied much of St. Francis’ energy. Most of his letters were to promote devotion to the Eucharist. Paschal shared that concern. An hour in prayer before our Lord in the Eucharist could teach all of us a great deal. Some holy and busy Catholics today find that their work is enriched by those minutes regularly spent in prayer and meditation.
Quote:  "Meditate well on this: Seek God above all things. It is right for you to seek God before and above everything else, because the majesty of God wishes you to receive what you ask for. This will also make you more ready to serve God
and will enable you to love him more perfectly" (St. Paschal).
1587 St. Felix of Cantalice; noted for his austerities, piety, 38 years in monastery as questor aiding sick the poor and revered by all helped in St. Charles Borromeo's revision of the rule for his Oblates; There is record of a great number of miracles worked after his death, and he was canonized in 1709.
Romæ sancti Felícis Confessóris, ex Ordine Minórum Capuccinórum, evangélica simplicitáte et caritáte conspícui; quem Clemens Undécimus, Póntifex Máximus, Sanctórum fastis adscrípsit.
    At Rome, St. Felix, confessor of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, celebrated for his evangelical simplicity and charity.  He was inscribed on the roll of the saints by the Sovereign Pontiff Clement XI.

1587 ST FELIX OF CANTALICE “All earthly creatures can lift us up to God if we know how to look at them with an eye that is single.” He loved to dwell upon the sufferings of our Lord, never weary of contemplating that great mystery. Always cheerful, always humble, he never resented an insult or an injury. If reviled he would only say, “I pray God that you may become a saint”.

ST FELIX was born at Cantalice, near Città Ducale in Apulia. His parents were devout peasants and he himself early evinced such piety that his little companions when they saw him approach would cry out, “Here comes Felix the saint!” As a child he acted as cowherd and often, after driving his cattle to some quiet pasturage, he would spend much time praying at the foot of a tree in the bark of which he had cut a cross. At the age of twelve he was hired out, first as a shepherd and afterwards as a ploughman, to a well-to-do landowner of Città Ducale, named Mark Tully Pichi or Picarelli.
When still quite young, Felix taught himself to meditate during his work, and he soon attained to a high degree of contemplation. In God, in himself, and in all creatures round him, he found a perpetual fund of religious thoughts and affections. In his later life a religious once asked him how he con­trived to keep himself constantly in the presence of God amid the bustle of daily cares and the multiplicity of distractions. “All earthly creatures can lift us up to God”, he replied, “if we know how to look at them with an eye that is single.” He loved to dwell upon the sufferings of our Lord, and he was never weary of contemplating that great mystery. Always cheerful, always humble, he never resented an insult or an injury. If anyone reviled him he would only say, “I pray God that you may become a saint”. An account he heard read of the fathers in the desert attracted him to the life of a hermit, but he decided that it might prove to be a dangerous one for him.

He was still in doubt as to his future vocation when the question was decided for him through an accident. He was ploughing one day with two fresh young bullocks when his master unexpectedly entered the field. His sudden appearance or something else scared the animals and they bolted, knocking down Felix as he tried to hold them in. He was trampled upon; the plough passed over his body, but in spite of this he arose unhurt. In gratitude for this deliverance he promptly betook himself to the Capuchin monastery of Città Ducale, where he asked to be received as a lay-brother. The father guardian, after warning him of the austerity of the life, led him before a crucifix, saying, See what Jesus Christ has suffered for us!” Felix burst into tears, and impressed the superior with the conviction that a soul which felt so deeply must be drawn by God.

During the noviciate, which he passed at Anticoli, Felix appeared already filled with the spirit of his order, with a love of poverty, humiliations and crosses. Often he would beg the novice-master to double his penances and mortifications and to treat him with greater severity than the rest who, he declared, were more docile and naturally more inclined to virtue. Although he thought everyone in the house better than himself, his fellow religious, like the children of Cantalice, spoke of him amongst themselves as “The saint”.
In 1545, when he was about thirty, he made his solemn vows. Four years later he was sent to Rome where for forty years, practically until his death, he filled the post of questor, with the daily duty to go round begging for food and alms for the sustenance of the community. The post was a trying one, but Felix delighted in it because it entailed humiliations, fatigue, and discomforts, and his spirit of recollection was never interrupted. With the sanction of his superiors, who placed entire confidence in his discretion, he assisted the poor liberally out of the alms he collected; and he loved to visit the sick, tending them with his own hands, and consoling the dying.

   St Philip Neri held him in great regard and delighted in conversing with him: the two men, as a greeting, would wish each other sufferings for Christ’s sake. When St Charles Borromeo sent to St Philip the rules he had drawn up for his Oblates with a request that he would revise them, St Philip excused himself but referred them to the Capuchin lay-brother. In vain did St Felix protest that he was illiterate: the rules were read to him and he was commanded to give his opinion about them. He advised the omission of certain regulations which struck him as being too difficult. These emendations were accepted by St Charles, who expressed great admiration for the judgement that had prompted them.

St Felix chastised himself with almost incredible severity and invariably went barefoot, without sandals. He wore a shirt of iron links and plates studded with iron spikes. When he could do so without singularity, he fasted on bread and water, picking out of the basket for his own dinner the crusts left by others. He tried to conceal from notice the remarkable spiritual favours he received, but often when he was serving Mass he was so transported in ecstasy that he could not make the responses. For everything that he saw, for all that befell him, he gave thanks to God, and the words “Deo gratias” were so constantly on his lips that the Roman street-urchins called him Brother Deogratias. When he was old and was suffering from a painful complaint, their cardinal protector, who loved him greatly, told his superiors that he ought to be relieved of his wearisome office. But Felix asked to be allowed to continue his rounds, on the ground that the soul grows sluggish if the body is pampered. He died at the age of seventy-two, after being consoled on his death-bed by a vision of our Lady. There is record of a great number of miracles worked after his death, and he was canonized in 1709.

The Bollandists, in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. iv, have published a considerable selection of materials presented in the beatification process, a process which was begun only a short time after Brother Felix’s death, when witnesses were still available who had lived with him and had been the spectators of his virtues. There is no lack of other biographies, but they are mostly based on the same materials, e.g. those by John Baptist of Perugia, Maximus of Valenza, Angelo Rossi, etc. Lady Amabel Kerr published in 1900 a very acceptable sketch entitled A Son of St Francis. See also Leon, Aureole Seraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. ii, pp. 198—n3, and Etudes franciscaines, t. xxxiii, pp. 97—109.
Felix of Cantalice was born of peasant parents at Cantalice, Apulia, Italy. He was a shepherd and a farm laborer in his youth, became a Capuchin lay brother at nearby Citta Ducale Monastery in Anticoli, and became noted for his austerities and piety. He was sent to Rome in 1549 and spent the next thirty-eight years in the monastery there as questor, aiding the sick and the poor and revered by all.
He was a friend of St. Philip Neri and helped in St. Charles Borromeo's revision of the rule for his Oblates. Felix was canonized in 1709.

1581 St. Louis Bertrand Dominican South America gift of tongues
Valéntiæ, in Hispánia Tarraconénsi, sancti Ludovíci Bertrándi, ex Ordine Prædicatórum, Confessóris; qui, apostólico spíritu clarus, Evangélium quod Americánis prædicáverat, vitæ innocéntia multísque éditis miráculis confirmávit.
    At Valencia in Spain, St. Louis Bertrand, of the Order of Preachers.  Being filled with the apostolic spirit, he confirmed by the innocency of his life and the working of many miracles the Gospel which he had preached in America.
Louis was born in Valencia Spain, in a family of nine children. His good parents brought him up well, and he became a Dominican priest. He was very severe as a master of the novices, but even though he did not have a good sense of humor, he taught the novices to give themselves completely to God. When first he began to preach, it did not seem as though he would be very successful, but his deep love for souls brought great results. At the age of thirty-six, St. Louis left for South America. He stayed in the New World only about six years, but in that short time, this great apostle baptized thousands of persons. Although he knew only Spanish, God gave him the gift of tongues, so that when he spoke, all the different tribes of Indians understood him. Yet his apostolate was not without dangers. A tribe called the Caribs of the Leeward Islands even tried to poison the saint when he visited them to preach the gospel of Our Lord. Once he was called back to Spain, St. Louis trained other preachers, teaching them to prepare themselves by fervent prayer, first of all. The last two years of his life were full of painful sufferings, but still he kept preaching. Finally he was carried from the pulpit to his bed, and he never left it again, for he died eighteen months later.

1581 ST LOUIS BERTRAND
Louis BERTRAN was born at Valencia in Spain in 1526. He was related through his father to St Vincent Ferrer and was baptized at the same font as that saint had been a hundred and seventy-five years before. Louis from his childhood seemed by his teachable disposition and humility of soul to have inherited the spirit of St Vincent: wanting to join the Dominicans, the celebrated Father John Mico, who had been brought up a shepherd in the mountains, gave the habit to young Bertrand when he was eighteen. Sacerdotal ordination was given to him by the archbishop of Valencia, St Thomas of Villanova, in 1547. <>Louis was made master of novices five years after profession, and discharged that office for periods which totalled thirty years. He was very severe and strict, but both by his example and words taught them sincerely and perfectly to renounce the world and to unite their souls to God. St Louis Bertrand was not particularly learned, though a painstaking student, and he was lacking in humour, a character­istic not uncommon among Spaniards. Nor did his talents at first appear promising for the pulpit; nevertheless he overcame all difficulties and his discourses produced very great results, for they were animated with great charity and breathed a spirit of sincere religion and humility.  In 1557 a pestilence raged in Valenca and the saint knew no danger and spared no pains in comforting and assisting the sick. He about this time made the acquaintance of St Teresa, who wrote and asked his advice about her projected convent of reformed Carmelites. St Louis replied: “The matter about which you ask my advice is of such great importance to our Lord’s service that I wished to recommend it to Him in my poor prayers and at the Holy Sacrifice: that is why I have been so long in replying. Now I bid you, in the name of the same Lord, arm yourself with courage to undertake so great an enter­prise. He will help and support you in it and I assure you, as from Him, that before fifty years are out your order will be one of the most famous in the Church, who keeps you in her holy protection.”

In 1562 St Louis left Spain to preach the gospel to the savages in America, and landed at Cartagena in New Granada (Colombia). He spoke only Spanish and had to use an interpreter, but the gifts of tongues, of prophecy and of miracles were conferred by Heaven on this apostle, the bull of his canonization tells us. In the Isthmus of Panama and the province of Cartagena, in the space of three years, he converted to Christ many thousand souls. The baptismal registers of Tubera, in St Louis’s own handwriting, show that all the inhabitants of that place were converted, and he had a like success at Cipacoa. The people of Paluato were more difficult, but in his next mission, among the inhabitants of the mountains of Santa Marta, he is said to have baptized about fifteen thousand persons; and also a tribe of fifteen hundred Indians who, having changed their minds, had followed him thither from Paluato.*[* These wholesale baptisms of Indians who could not possibly have an adequate idea of the faith and its obligations are tributes to the apostolic zeal rather than to the prudence of such great saints as St Louis Bertrand and St Francis Solano. They were often a source of embarrassment to their successors. When Father de Victoria, o.p., took over the vast diocese of Tucuman in 1581 he found there five secular priests and a few regulars, not one of whom could speak any of the local languages.]

He visited the Caribs of the Leeward Islands (whom Alban Butler considers “the most brutal, barbarous, and unteachable people of the human race”—they tried to poison St Louis), San Thomé in the Virgin Islands, and San Vincente in the Windwards, and then returned to Colombia. He was pierced to the quick to see the avarice and cruelty of the Spanish adventurers in the Indies and not to be able to find any means of putting a stop to those evils. He was desirous to seek redress in Spain, and about that time he was recalled thither, thus ending a marvellous mission of six years.

St Louis arrived at Seville in 1569, whence he returned to Valencia. He trained up many excellent preachers, who succeeded him in the ministry of the word. The first lesson he gave them was that humble and fervent prayer must always be the principal preparation of the preacher for words without works never have power to touch or change hearts. The two last years of his life he was afflicted with painful illness; in 1580 he went to preach in the cathedral at Valencia, where he was carried from the pulpit to his bed, from which he never rose again, dying eighteen months later on October 9, 1581, being fifty-five years old. St Louis Bertrand, who is the principal patron of Colombia, was canonized in 1671.
A very full and devout Life of St Louis Bertrand was published by Fr Bertrand Wilberforce in 1882 the book has been translated into German and French, and seemingly also into Spanish. His narrative is founded on the biography of the saint, printed in 1582—83, almost immediately after his death, by Fr V. J. Antist, his intimate friend and disciple. A Latin version of this, made from the Spanish original, is included in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. v, and it is there supplemented by a still longer biography which was compiled and published in 1623 by Fr B. Aviñone who was familiar with the evidence given in the process of beatification and had come to Rome as procurator of the cause. There were several other lives printed in Spain and Italy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but it does not seem that any new material of notable importance has so far been brought to light. Immense enthusiasm was aroused in Valencia when the decree of beatification was issued in 1608 a book describing these Fiestas was compiled by G. de Aguilar in 1608 and a modern edition of it was brought out in 1914. Another small work, by V. Gomez, dealing with the Sermones y Fiestas which marked the same occasion, appeared in 1609. Copies of both are in the British Museum.
1526-1581)
     Luis Bertrand was a Spaniard, born in Valencia. On his father's side he was related to the famous saint, Vincent Ferrer. Docile and devout, he early chose to enter the same religious order, and he was ordained a priest in 1547. Five years after his solemn profession as a Dominican friar, he was appointed master of novices for his community. Though he belonged to an order famous for its educational standards, Friar Luis was more a hardworking than a brilliant student. But of his holiness there was no doubt. He showed it in his sweet, gentle attitude towards all; in the courage with which he took care of the sick when the plague struck Valencia in 1557; in his skill as a preacher, which enabled him to hold vast crowds spell-bound; in his gift of miracles and prophecy.
     These were the days when Spaniards were conquering and settling Latin America. Fra Luis had long dreamed of going on the American mission. His dream was fulfilled in 1562, when his superiors sent him across the Atlantic to Cartagena, in the present Colombia, South America.
     During the next seven years, this dedicated Dominican missionary had great success as a preacher among the Indians. Although he spoke only Spanish and normally had to use an interpreter, the bull of his canonization tells us that he also had, at least on occasion, the gift of tongues. After converting literally thousands of aborigines around Cartagena and the Isthmus of Panama, he went on to Tubera on the coast. His own entries in the baptismal records there show that he brought all the local natives into the Church. While the people of a place called Paluato were less tractable, he converted thousands at Cipacoa and Santa Marta. Nevertheless, while he was at Santa Marta, 1500 Indians from Paluato, who had changed their minds since his departure, came to petition baptism. Many of the natives baptized in those pioneer days were given only basic instruction. In this case, however, it is said that those whom he received were adequately instructed, and continued steadfast in the Catholic faith.
     After laboring on the mainland, Father Louis sailed through the Caribbean Islands, approaching even the Carib Indians of the Lesser Antilles. The Caribs had a reputation for fierceness; indeed, one of their medicine men gave him a poisoned drink. Miraculously, it seems, he was not harmed by the poison. Among the Caribbean islands he visited were St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, now an American possession. At some period of this missionary career he also ministered at Teneriffe in the Canary Islands, off the northwest coast of Africa.
     Wherever he went, St. Luis was recognized by all as a most admirable man. While on the Latin American mission, he was appalled by the avarice and greed manifested by the Spanish conquistadors. Unfortunately he could find no way of combating it.
     Called back to Spain in 1569, Fra Luis was never again to return to the New World. But he held positions of importance in his order, and was even consulted on affairs of state. He was also able to train many of his younger confreres in skills or preaching so that they might carry on the task of spreading the Word of God. The first lesson he always gave them was that the preacher must pray ardently before he preaches. He told them that it is not our words but our prayers and good works that change human hearts. This he himself exemplified to the last. In 1580, though ill, he ascended the pulpit in the cathedral of Valencia, but had to be carried away to a sickbed. He never again rose, but passed his last months in patient suffering. Valencia rejoiced when Saint Louis was canonized in 1671. The Republic of Colombia adopted him as its principal patron.
     We are told that Luis Bertrand had almost no sense of humor. Sometimes intense people are inclined that way. But if he was not gifted with the wit of a St. Thomas More or a St. Teresa of Avila, he still possessed what is the essence of a sense of humor: an awareness of one's own absurd inadequacy without the grace of God. --Father Robert F. McNamara.
 
1572 St. Pius V, Pope from 1566-1572 Catholic Reformation leader taught theology philosophy 16 years excessive zeal as grand inquisitor wholeheartedly devoted to the religious life published Roman Catechism revised Roman Breviary and Roman Missal organized Battle of Lepanto commission to revise the Vulgate new edition of Thomas Aquinas Lepanto  pope had knowledge of the victory through miraculous means

One of the foremost leaders of the Catholic Reformation. Born Antonio Ghislieri in Bosco, Italy, to a poor family, he labored as a shepherd until the age of fourteen and then joined the Dominicans, being ordained in 1528. Called Brother Michele, he studied at Bologna and Genoa, and then taught theology and philosophy for sixteen years before holding the posts of master of novices and prior for several Dominican houses.
Named inquisitor for Como and Bergamo, he was so capable in the fulfillment of his office that by 1551, and at the urging of the powerful Cardinal Carafa, he was named by Pope Julius III commissary general of the Inquisition. In 1555, Carafa was elected Pope Paul IV and was responsible for Ghislieri’s swift rise as a bishop of Nepi and Sutri in 1556, cardinal in 1557, and grand inquisitor in 1558.

 While out of favor for a time under Pope Pius IV who disliked his reputation for excessive zeal, Ghislieri was unanimously elected a pope in succession to Pius on January 7, 1566.
As pope, Pius saw his main objective as the continuation of the massive program of reform for the Church, in particular the full implementation of the decrees of the Council of Trent. He published the Roman Catechism, the revised Roman Breviary, and the Roman Missal; he also declared Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church, commanded a new edition of the works of Thomas Aquinas, and created a commission to revise the Vulgate.

The decrees of Trent were published throughout all Catholic lands, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and the New World, and the pontiff insisted on their strict adherence. In 1571, Pius created the Congregation of the Index to give strength to the Church’s resistance to Protestant and heretical writings, and he used the Inquisition to prevent any Protestant ideas from gaining a foot hold in Italy.

In dealing with the threat of the Ottoman Turks who were advancing steadily across the Mediterranean, Pius organized a formidable alliance between Venice and Spain, culminating in the Battle of Lepanto, which was a complete and shattering triumph over the Turks. The day of the victory was declared the Feast Day of Our Lady of Victory in recognition of Our Lady’s intercession in answer to the saying of the Rosary all over Catholic Europe.
Pius also spurred the reforms of the Church by example.
He insisted upon wearing his coarse Dominican robes, even beneath the magnificent vestments worn by the popes, and was wholeheartedly devoted to the religious life. His reign was blemished only by the continuing oppression of the Inquisition; the often brutal treatment of the Jews of Rome; and the ill advised decision to excommunicate Queen Elizabeth I of England in February 1570, an act which also declared her deposed and which only worsened the plight of English Catholics. These were overshadowed in the view of later generations by his contributions to the Catholic Reformation. Pope Clement beatified him on May 1, 1672, and Pope Clement XI canonized him on May 22, 1712.

Pius V, OP Pope (RM) (also known as Michael Ghislieri) Born in Bosco (near Alessandria), Italy, on January 17, 1504; died May 1, 1572; canonized in 1712; feast day formerly on May 5. People who know nothing else about Pius V are quite apt to remember him as the Pope of the Rosary, recalling his remarkable connection with the Battle of Lepanto.

Antonio Michael was born into the distinguished but impoverished Ghisleri. His parents could not afford to educate their alert little boy, who seemed far too talented to be a shepherd. One day, as he was minding his father's small flock, two Dominicans came along the road and fell into conversation with him. Recognizing immediately that he was both virtuous and intelligent, they obtained permission from his parents to take the child with them and educate him. He left home at age 12 and did not return until his ordination many years later. After a preliminary course of studies, he received the Dominican habit at the priory of Voghera at age 14 and, as a novice, was sent to Lombardy. Here, for the first time, he met the well-organized forces of heresy which he was to combat so successfully in later years. After his ordination in 1528, he went home to say his first Mass, and he found that Bosco had been razed by the French. There was nothing left to tell him if his parents were alive or dead. He finally found them, however, in a nearby town. After he said Mass, he returned to a career that would keep him far from home for the rest of his life. He began as a lector in theology and philosophy for 16 years.

 Then he served as novice-master, than as prior of several convents, Michael proved to be a wise and charitable administrator. He was made inquisitor at Como, Italy, where many of his religious brethren had died as martyrs to the heretics. By the time of Michael's appointment there, the heretics' chief weapon was the printed word; they smuggled books in from Switzerland, causing untold harm by spreading them in northern Italy. The new inquisitor set himself to fight this wicked traffic, and it was not the fault of the heretics that he did not follow his brethren to martyrdom. They ambushed him several times and laid a number of complicated plots to kill him, but only succeeded in making him determined to explain the situation more fully to the pope in Rome.

He arrived in Rome on Christmas Eve, tired, cold, and hungry, and here it was not the heretics that caused him pain, but his own brothers in Christ. The prior of Santa Sabina saw fit to be sarcastic and inhospitable to the unimportant looking friar, who said he was from Lombardy. The pope knew very well who he was, however, and immediately gave him the commission of working with the heretics in the Roman prisons.

He was a true father to these unfortunates, and he brought many of them back to the faith. One of his most appealing converts was a young Franciscan, a converted Jew of a wealthy family, who had lapsed into heresy through pride in his writing. Michael proceeded to straighten out his thinking, to give him the Dominican habit, and to assure him of his personal patronage, thus securing for the Church a splendid Scripture scholar and writer.

In 1556, Michael was chosen bishop of Nepi and Sutri. The next year he was named inquisitor general against the Protestants in Italy and Spain and was appointed cardinal, in order, as he said, that irons should be riveted to his feet to prevent him from creeping back into the peace of the cloister. In 1559, Pope Pius IV made him bishop of the war-depleted Piedmont see of Mondovi, to which he soon brought order. Insofar as possible, Michael continued to adhere to the Dominican Rule.

He constantly opposed nepotism. Michael opposed Pius IV's attempt to make 13-year-old Ferdinand de'Medici a cardinal, and defeated the attempt of Emperor Maximilian II of Germany to abolish clerical celibacy.

January 7, 1565, when the papal chair was vacant following the death of Pius IV, the cardinals, chiefly through the influence of Saint Charles Borromeo(1538-1584) elected Cardinal Ghislieri pope. With great grief, he accepted the office and chose the name Pius V. Charles Borromeo had backed Michael during the election, trusting that he would act as a much-needed reformer.
 
His judgment proved true: on Pius's coronation, the money usually distributed to the crowds was given to the hospitals and the poor, and money for a banquet for the cardinals and other dignitaries was given to poor convents. When someone criticized this, he observed that God would judge us more on our charity to the poor than on our good manners to the rich. Such an attitude was bound to make enemies in high places, but it endeared him to the poor, and it gave right-thinking men the hope that here was a man of integrity, and one who could help to reform the clergy and make a firm stand against the Lutheran heresy.
 
Pope Saint Pius V
There were massive problems of immediate urgency during the brief reign of Pius V. From within, the peace of the Church was disturbed by the several heresies of Luther, Calvin, and the Lombards, and by the need for clerical reform. In addition, England was tottering on the brink of a break with Rome. The Netherlands were trying to break away from Spain and had embraced Protestantism. The missions across the sea needed attention. And all through the Mediterranean countries, the Turkish were ravaging Christian cities, creeping closer to world conquest. In the six years of his reign, Pope Pius V had to deal with all these questions--any one of which was enough to occupy his entire time.
One of Pius's first actions was to demand that bishops should live in their dioceses and parish priests in their parishes. His efforts at regulating his see embraced issues ranging from the abolition of bullfighting, bear-baiting and prostitution, to cleaning out the Roman curia and eliminating nepotism, to cutting down the activities of bandits. He insisted that Sunday must be hallowed. Once a month he held a special court for anyone who felt they had been treated unjustly. He also brought in shipments of corn during a famine at his own expense.

In his personal life he continued to be a devout mendicant friar; as pope he set himself to enforce the decrees of the Council of Trent with energy and effect. The catechism ordered by the Council of Trent was completed during his rule (1566), and he ordered translations made. The breviary reformed (1568) and missal (1570). He also commissioned the best edition to date of the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas(1159); it was he who made Thomas a Doctor of the Church in 1567.

His was a rigorous character; he made full use of the Inquisition and his methods of combatting Protestantism were ruthless. Pius had hoped to convert Queen Elizabeth of England. The unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots enjoyed his sympathy and encouragement. He sent reassuring letters to her, and once, at a time when no priest was allowed to go near her, he granted her special permission to receive Holy Communion by sending her a tiny pyx that contained consecrated Hosts. It was he who finally had to pronounce excommunication on Elizabeth of England in 1570, after he had given her every possible chance of repentance.

Pius V had a high estimate of papal power in secular matters, though sometimes showing little talent for dealing with them. When he excommunicated Elizabeth I, he absolved her subjects of the allegiance to her as queen. This served only to endanger the Catholics in her realm, however, and many were accused of treason and martyred. (It is interesting to note that Elizabeth II visited Pope John XXIII at the Vatican on Pius V's original feast day, May 5, nearly four centuries later.) That he also came into conflict with Philip II of Spain shows with what consistency he applied his principles.

He encouraged the new society founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) and established the Jesuits in the Gregorian University. He consecrated three Jesuit bishops for India, gave Saint Francis Borgia(1510-1572) his greatest cooperation, and helped to finance missionaries to China and Japan. He built the church of Our Lady of the Angels for the Franciscans and helped Saint Philip Neri(1515-1595) in his establishment of the Oratory. Probably the act for which he will be longest remembered in his leadership at the time of the Battle of Lepanto.

In 1565, the Knights of Saint John defended Malta against a tremendous attack by the Turkish fleet and lost nearly every fighting man in the fortress. It was the pope who sent encouragement and money with which to rebuild their battered city. The pope called for a crusade among the Christian nations and appointed a leader who would be acceptable to all. He ordered the Forty Hours Devotion to be held in Rome, and he encouraged all to say the Rosary.

When the Christian fleet sailed out to meet the enemy, every man on board had received the sacraments, and all were saying the Rosary. The fleet was small, and numerically it was no match for the Turkish fleet, which so far had never met defeat. They met in the Bay of Lepanto on Sunday morning, October 7, 1565. After a day of bitter fighting, and, on the part of the Christians, miraculous help, the Turkish fleet--what was left of it--fled in disgrace, broken and defeated, its power crushed forever.

Before the victorious fleet returned to Rome, the pope had knowledge of the victory through miraculous means. He proclaimed a period of thanksgiving; he placed the invocation, "Mary, Help of Christians" in the Litany of Loreto and established the feast in commemoration of the victory. It was almost the last act of his momentous career for he fell victim to a painful illness that killed him in less than a year. He was attempting to form an alliance of the Italian cities, France, Poland, and other Christian nations of Europe to march against the Turks when he died. He is enshrined at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

Although he was criticized for 'wanting to turn Rome into a monastery,' Saint Pius had the respect of the Roman people, who knew his personal goodness and concern for everybody's welfare. He gave large sums to the poor, lived a life of austerity and piety, and personally visited the sick in hospitals. Pius V is remembered as one of the most important popes of the Counter-Reformation (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Dorcy, White).

In art, he is shown reciting a rosary; or with a fleet in the distance; or with the feet of a crucifix withdrawn as he tried to kiss them (White)

1562 Peter of Alcántara practiced asceticism from 16 until death apared to Teresa patron of Brazil  OFM  (RM)
Born at Alcántara, Estremadura, Spain, in 1499; died at Arenas, 1562; canonized in 1669.
Sixteenth century Spain provided the Church with a wealth of heroes--most of whom seemed to know one another. I hope you enjoy this story of a man who truly fell in love with God at an early age.

Peter Garavito's father, who was a lawyer and governor of the province, died in 1513 and two years later, after studying law in Salamanca, 16-year-old Peter entered the Observant Franciscans at Manxarretes (Manjaretes). At 22 he was sent to Badajoz to found a friary.

He was ordained at the age of 25 (1524), and preached missions in Spain and Portugal. After serving as superior at Robredillo, Plasencia, and Estremadura, Peter finally had his request for solitude granted with an appointment to the friary at Lapa, though he was also named its superior. For a time he served as chaplain to the court of King John III of Portugal. This period of his life is uneventful, but all the time he was longing for a yet more rigorous following of the Franciscan rule.

After he was elected provincial for Saint Gabriel at Estremadura in 1538, he was able to take definite steps to begin the reform, but his efforts were not well received during the provincial chapter at Placensia in 1540. So, he resigned as minister provincial. For two years (1542-44) he lived as a hermit with Friar Martin of Saint Mary on Arabida Mountain near Lisbon and was named superior of Palhaes community for novices when numerous friars were attracted to their way of life. During that period he had become convinced of the need for a vigorous Catholic reform, a Counter-Reformation with which to oppose the Protestant Reformation.

Unable to secure approval for a stricter congregation of friars from his provincial, his idea was accepted by the bishop of Coria. Finally, with the approval of Pope Julius III, c. 1556, he founded the Reformed Friars Minor of Spain, usually called the Alcatarine Franciscans, which established not only monasteries but also Houses of Retreat where anyone could go and try to live according to the Rule of Saint Francis. The friars lived in small groups, in great poverty and austerity, going barefoot, abstaining from meat and wine, spending much time in solitude and contemplation.

Three years later, in 1559, the new order was enlarged with the addition of a new province, that of Saint Joseph. But the Reformed Franciscans failed to win the support of the other Franciscans; Conventuals and Observants, both jealous of their privileges, continued to quarrel over the inheritance of Saint Francis.

At the time of his death in 1562, Saint Peter was still uncertain of the future of his work, which had been placed under the Conventuals. But the example which he set was followed by Saint Teresa of Ávila and there was thus born Saint Joseph of Ávila, the first Reformed Carmel in Spain. Even if Peter's work was surpassed by that of Saint Teresa, it was instrumental in releasing in Spain, and then throughout Europe, a movement of vigorous revival which gave strength to the Church at a time when it was sorely needed.

Teresa and Peter were intimate friends for the last four years of her life. After they met in 1560, he became her confessor, advisor, and admirer. His ferocious and almost unbelievable asceticism is not myth, but rather described by Teresa in a celebrated chapter of her autobiography. She wrote with awe that his penances were "incomprehensible to the human mind." They had reduced him, she tells us, to a condition in which he looked as if "he had been made of the roots of trees."

He practiced asceticism from the age of 16 until his death, opposing a will of iron against the doubtlessly acute temptations of his body. He slept for no more than two hours each night, and even then he did not lie down, but slept either in a hard wooden chair or kneeling against the wall. His cell was no more than 4- ½ feet long. He ate extremely little, at first going for three days, and then for a week without food. When he did eat, he destroyed the taste of the food by sprinkling it with ashes or earth. He never drank wine.

He never wore shoes, or even sandals, and went about barefoot. He never wore a hat or a hood, and exposed his head to the icy rains of winter or the scorching sun of summer. He wore a hair shirt, and though he possessed a cloak, he never wore it in cold weather. He went everywhere on foot, or at the most would ride on a donkey.  Consumed with fever, he refused a glass of water, saying "Jesus was ready to die of thirst on the cross." For three years he never raised his eyes from the ground. And yet, "With all his holiness," wrote Saint Teresa of Ávila, "he was very kindly, though spare of speech except when asked a question, and then he was delightful, for he had a keen understanding."

Such asceticism may seem self-centered and excessive to us today. Some may think that there are sufficient mortifications in the normal course of life without adding to them. But asceticism has been in the Church since the days of the Desert Fathers, and though the practices of the ascetics might seem horrible, unnecessary, or even ridiculous to us, the Church has never reproved them; indeed, they are to be recommended for the active as well as for the contemplative. And who is to say that the present unhappy state of the world would not be greatly changed for the better if people did follow ascetic practices?
Peter's asceticism, however, is only one aspect of his life of great holiness and incessant labor devoted to the restoration in Spain of the primitive Franciscan rule.

Saint Peter was one of the great Spanish mystics and his Treatise on Prayer and Meditation (1926 English translation) was said by Pope Gregory XV to be "a shining light to lead souls to heaven and a doctrine prompted by the Holy Spirit." This treatise was used later by Saint Francis de Sales. His mystical works, intended purely for edification, follow traditional lines.

"He had already appeared to me twice since his death," wrote Teresa of Ávila, "and I witnessed the greatness of his glory. Far from causing me the least fear, the sight of him filled me with joy. He always showed himself to me in the state of a body which was glorious and radiant with happiness; and I, seeing him, was filled with the same happiness. I remember that when he first appeared to me he said, to show me the extent of his felicity, 'Blessed be the penitence which has brought me such a reward'" (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Underhill).

In art he is depicted as a Franciscan in radiance levitated before the Cross, angels carry a girdle of nails, chain, and discipline. Sometimes he is shown (1) walking on water with a companion, a star over his head; (2) praying before a crucifix, discipline (scourge), and hairshirt; or (3) with a dove at his ear, cross and discipline in the picture. He is venerated at Alcántara and Pedrosa (Roeder).
In 1862, he was declared the patron of Brazil (Delaney).
1567 St. Salvatore Franciscan of the Observance specially devoted to our Lady and to St. Paul who appeared to him on several occasions many and severe austerities given by God the gift of performing outstanding miracles
 Cárali, in Sardínia, sancti Salvatóris ab Horta Confessóris, ex Ordine Fratrum Minórum, qui virtútibus et singulári miraculórum dono cláruit, et a Pio Papa Undécimo inter sanctos Cǽlites adnumerátus est.
      At Cagliari in Sardinia, St. Salvatore of Orte, confessor, a member of the Order of Friars Minor, who was numbered among the heavenly saints by Pope Pius XI, because he was graced with every virtue and had been given by God the gift of performing outstanding miracles.
St. Salvatore is usually described as "of Horta" because he spent many years in the Franciscan Friary of that place. He was born at Santa Columba in the diocese of Gerona in Spain. He came of a poor family, and lost both his parents while still a child. Migrating to the town, he worked as a shoemaker in Barcelona. At the age of twenty, as his heart was set on the religious life, he became a Franciscan of the Observance.
Employed in the kitchen, his virtue quickly matured in these humble surroundings, but he thirsted for greater austerity, and passed on, first to the convent of St. Mary of Jesus at Tortosa, and then to the solitude of St. Mary of the Angels at Horta in the same diocese. In that house of very strict observance, he made a protracted stay but eventually he returned to Barcelona, where his supernatural gifts attracted much notice, and where the blind, lame and deaf came to him to be healed. He always walked barefoot, scourged himself daily, and kept long and rigorous fasts. He was specially devoted to our Lady and to St. Paul who appeared to him on several occasions, notably on his death-bed.
St. Salvatore had gone to Sardinia in compliance with the orders of his superiors when he was seized with an illness which proved fatal. He died at Cagliari, being forty-seven years of age, in 1567. He was venerated as a saint during his lifetime and was eventually canonized in 1938.
1567 St. Salvator of Horta known for his asceticism, humility and simplicity healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross
b. 1520   A reputation for holiness does have some drawbacks. Public recognition can be a nuisance at times—as the confreres of Salvator found out. 
Salvator was born during Spain’s Golden Age. Art, politics and wealth were flourishing.
So was religion. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus in 1540.
Salvator’s parents were poor. At the age of 21 he entered the Franciscans as a brother and was soon known for his asceticism, humility and simplicity.

As cook, porter and later the official beggar for the friars in Tortosa, he became well known for his charity. He healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross. When crowds of sick people began coming to the friary to see Salvator, the friars transferred him to Horta. Again the sick flocked to ask his intercession; one person estimated that two thousand people a week came to see Salvator.
He told them to examine their consciences, to go to confession and to receive Holy Communion worthily.
He refused to pray for those who would not receive those sacraments.

The public attention given to Salvator was relentless. The crowds would sometimes tear off pieces of his habit as relics. Two years before his death, Salvator was moved again, this time to Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. He died at Cagliari saying, "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." He was canonized in 1938.

Comment:  Medical science is now seeing more clearly the relation of some diseases to one’s emotional and spiritual life. In Healing Life’s Hurts, Matthew and Dennis Linn report that sometimes people experience relief from illness only when they have decided to forgive others. Salvator prayed that people might be healed, and many were. Surely not all diseases can be treated this way; medical help should not be abandoned. But notice that Salvator urged his petitioners to reestablish their priorities in life before they asked for healing.
Quote:  "Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness" (Matthew 10:1). 
1555 St. Thomas of Villanueva Augustinian bishop from Fuentellana, Castile Spain; Many examples are recorded of St Thomas’s supernatural gifts, such as his power of healing the sick and of multiplying food, and numerous miracles were attributed to his intercession both before and after his death.
He was the son of a miller; studied at the University of Alcala, earned a licentiate in theology, and became a professor there at the age of twenty-six. He declined the chair of philosophy at the university of Salamanca and instead entered the Augustinian Canons in Salamanca in 1516. Ordained in 1520, he served as prior of several houses in Salamanca, Burgos, and Valladolid, as provincial of Andalusia and Castile, and then court chaplain to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (r. 1519-1556). During his time as provincial of Castile, he dispatched the first Augustinian missionaries to the New World. They subsequently helped evangelize the area of modern Mexico. He was offered but declined the see of Granada, but accepted appointment as archbishop of Valencia in 1544. As the see had been vacant for nearly a century, Thomas devoted much effort to restoring the spiritual and material life of the archdiocese. He was also deeply committed to the needs of the poor. He held the post of grand almoner of the poor, founded colleges for the children of new converts and the poor, organized priests for service among the Moors, and was renowned for his personal saintliness and austerities. While he did not attend the sessions of the Council of Trent, he was an ardent promoter of the Tridentine reforms throughout Spain.

ST THOMAS OF VILLANOVA, ARCHBISHOP OF VALENCIA (A.D. 1555)
ST THOMAS, a glory of the Church of Spain, born at Fuentellana in Castile in 1488, but received his surname from Villanueva de los Infantes, a town where he was brought up. His parents were also originally of Villanueva; the father was a miller; their state was not affluent, but solid, and their charitable disposition was the most valuable part of their son's inheritance. At sixteen he was sent to the University of Alcalá, and pursued studies there with success.  He became master of arts and licentiate in theology and, after ten years at Alcalá, was made professor of philosophy in that city, being then twenty-six. Among those who attended his lectures was the famous Dominic Soto.
  In 1516 Thomas joined the Augustinian friars at Salamanca, and his behaviour in the novitiate showed he had been long inured to austerities, to renouncing his own will, and to the exercise of contemplation. In 1518 he was promoted to priestly orders and employed in preaching and taught a course of divinity in his convent. His textbooks were Peter Lombard and Aquinas.  Students from the university soon sought permission to attend his lectures. He was exceptionally clear-headed, with a firm and solid judgement, but always had to cope with absent mindedness and a poor memory. He was afterwards prior in several places, and particularly solicitous for those friars who were sick.  He would often tell his religious that the infirmary was like the bush of Moses, where he who devotes himself to the sick will assuredly find God among the thorns with which he is surrounded.
  In 1533, while provincial of Castile, he sent the first band of Augustinians to the Americas, where they established their order as missionaries in Mexico. Thomas fell into frequent raptures at prayer, especially at Mass; and though he endeavoured to hide such graces he was not able to do it: his face after the holy Sacrifice shone, and as it were dazzled the eyes of those that beheld him.

Preaching once in the cathedral-church at Burgos, reproving the vices and ingratitude of sinners, he held in his hand a crucifix and cried out, "Christians, look here"-and he was not able to go on, being ravished in an ecstasy. Once while addressing a community at the clothing of a novice he was rapt and speechless for a quarter of an hour. When he recovered himself he said : "Brethren, I beg your pardon. I have a weak heart and I feel ashamed of being so often overcome on these occasions. I will try to repair my fault."
  Whilst St Thomas was performing visitation of his convents, he was nominated by the Emperor Charles V to the archhishopric of Granada, and commanded to go to Toledo. He obeyed; but undertook the journey with no other object than that of declining the dignity, in which he succeeded.  When, some years later, Don George of Austria resigned the archbishopric of Valencia, the emperor thought of not offering St Thomas this see because he knew how grievous a trial it would he to him. He therefore, it is said, ordered his secretary to draw up a letter of nomination in favour of a certain religious of the Order of St Jerome. Afterwards, finding that the secretary had put down the name of Brother Thomas of Villanova, he asked the reason. The secretary answered that he thought he had heard his name, but would rectify the mistake. "By no means", said Charles. "This has happened by a particular providence of God. Let us therefore follow His will." So he signed the appointment for St Thomas and it was forthwith sent to Valladolid, where he was prior. The saint used all means possible to excuse himself, but had to accept the appointment and was consecrated at Valladolid. Thomas set out very early next morning for Valencia. His mother, who had converted her house into a hospital for the use of the poor and sick, had asked him to take Villanueva on the way; but Thomas applied literally the words of the gospel, "a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife", and hastened direct to the see with which he was now wedded, convinced that his office obliged him to postpone all other considerations to that of going to the flock committed to his care (later on he spent a month's holiday with his mother at Liria).
  He travelled on foot in his monastic habit (which was very old) with the hat he had worn ever since his profession, accompanied by one religious and two servants. Upon his arrival at Valencia he retired to an Augustinian friary where he spent several days in penance and prayer to beg the grace of God by which he might be enabled worthily to acquit himself of his charge.
  He took possession of his cathedral on first day of year 1545 amidst rejoicings of the people. The chapter, in consideration of his poverty, made him a present of four thousand crowns towards furnishing his house, which he accepted in a humble manner and thanked them for their kindness, hut he immediately sent the money to the great hospital with an order to lay it out in repairing the house and for the use of the patients. He explained to the canons that "our Lord will be better served and glorified by your money being spent on the poor in the hospital, who need it so much, than if it had been used by me.
 What does a poor friar like myself want with furniture.

    It is often said that "Honours change manners", but St Thomas kept not only the same humility of heart but as much as possible the same exterior marks of contempt of himself. He even kept for some years the very habit which he brought from his monastery, which he sometimes mended himself as he had been wont to do. One of his canons, surprising him one day at this, said he wondered he could so employ his time which a tailor would save him for a trifle.
The archbishop replied that he was still a friar and that that trifle would feed some poor man.
 Ordinarily he wore such clothes that his canons and domestics were ashamed of him. When he was pressed by them to put himself into a dress suitable to his dignity his answer was, "Gentlemen, I am much obliged to you for the care you take of my person, but really I do not see how my dress as a religious interferes with my dignity as archbishop. You know well enough that my position and duties are quite independent of my clothes, and consist in taking care of the souls committed to me." The canons eventually induced him to cast away his cloth hat and wear one of silk. He used afterwards sometimes to show this hat and say merrily, "Behold my episcopal dignity. My masters the canons judged it necessary that I should wear this silk hat that I might be numbered among the archbishops."
  St Thomas discharged all the duties of a good pastor and visited the churches of his diocese, preaching everywhere in the towns and villages with zeal and affection. His sermons were followed by a wonderful change in the lives of men, so that one might say he was a new apostle or prophet raised by God to reform the people.  He assembled a provincial council (the first for many years) wherein with the help of his fellow bishops he made ordinances to abolish the abuses he had taken notice of in his visitation of his clergy.  To effect that of his own chapter cost him much difficulty and time. At all times he had recourse to the tabernacle to learn the will of God.  He often spent long hours in his oratory and, perceiving that his servants were unwilling to disturb him at his devotions when persons came to consult him, he gave them strict instructions that as soon as anyone asked for him they should immediately call him, without making the visitor wait.
  There came to St Thomas's door every day several hundred poor people, and each received an alms, which was ordinarily a meal with a cup of wine and a piece of money. He took destitute orphans under his particular care, and for the eleven years that he was archbishop not one poor maiden was married who was not helped by his charity. To his porters, to make them more keen in finding children that were exposed by their parents, he gave a crown for every foundling they brought him. When in 1550 pirates had plundered a coast town in his diocese the archbishop immediately sent four thousand ducats and cloth worth as much more to furnish the inhabitants with necessaries and to ransom the captives.
  Like many good men before and since, St Thomas was remonstrated with because a number of those whom he relieved were idle fellows who abused his kindness.
 "If", he replied, "there are vagabonds and work-shy people here it is for the governor and the prefect of police to deal with them: that is their duty. Mine is to assist and relieve those who come to my door."
  Nor was he only the support of the poor himself, but he encouraged the great lords and all that were rich to make their importance seen not in their luxury and display but by becoming the protectors of their vassals and by their liberality to the necessitous. He exhorted them to be richer in mercy and charity than they were in earthly possessions. "Answer me, sinner," he would say, "what can you purchase with your money better or more necessary than the redemption of your sins?" At other times: "If you desire that God should hear your prayers, hear the voice of the poor. If you desire that God should forestall your wants, prevent those of the indigent without waiting for them to ask you. Especially anticipate the necessities of those who are ashamed to beg; to make these ask an alms is to make them buy it."
     St Thomas was always averse from using the coercive weapons of the Church in bringing sinners to reason before methods of appeal and persuasion had beentried to the utmost. Of a theologian and canonist who objected to the archbishop’s delay in taking threatened strong measures to put down concubinage, he said
   "He is without doubt a good man, but one of those fervent ones mentioned by St Paul as having zeal without knowledge. Is the good man aware of the care and pains I have taken to correct those against whom he fulminates?...Let him inquire whether St Augustine and St John Chrysostom used anathemas and excommunication to stop the drunkenness and blasphemy which were so common among the people under their care. No! For they were too wise and prudent. They did not think it right to exchange a little good for a great evil by inconsiderately using their authority and so exciting the aversion of those whose good will they wanted to gain in order to influence them for good.”
   He invited a canon, in whom he had long tried in vain to procure an amendment of life, to come and stay in his own house under pretext of preparing to go on an errand to Rome for the archbishop. Part of the preparation was to consist of a good confession. At the end of one, of two, of three months, the business for Rome was still not ready and all the time the canon was having unobtrusively put before him the fruits and benefits of penance. At the end of six months he left the saint’s house a changed man, his friends all supposing he had just returned from Rome.
   Another priest of irregular life upon being rebuked abused St Thomas to his face and left his presence in a rage. “Do not stop him,” said the archbishop to his chaplains, “ it is my fault. My remonstrances were a little too rough.”

   St Thomas wished to extend the same sort of methods to the nuevos Cristianos or Moriscos, Moors who were converted to Christianity but whose conversion was often unreal or who lapsed into apostasy and so were brought under the brutal jurisdiction of the Spanish Inquisition. He was never able to achieve much for them in his large diocese, but he induced the emperor to provide a fund to support special priests for work among them and himself founded a college for the children of the newly converted.
   He also founded a college for poor scholars at his old university at Alcalá, and then, having scruples at having expended money outside his own diocese, he endowed another at Valencia. His material charity was equalled by his charity of judgement. Detraction he abhorred and he would always defend the cause of the absent. “Sir
, he would say, “you do not look at this from a right point of view. You are wrong, because he may have had a good intention. For myself, I believe that he had.”
   Many examples are recorded of St Thomas’s supernatural gifts, such as his power of healing the sick and of multiplying food, and numerous miracles were attributed to his intercession both before and after his death.
   It is not known for certain why St Thomas did not attend the Council of Trent.  He was represented there by the bishop of Huesca, and most of the Castilian bishops consulted with him before they left.
   He impressed on them that it was at least as necessary for the council to legislate for an internal reformation in the Church as against the Lutheran heresy, and made two interesting suggestions neither of which was in fact acted upon.
  One was that all benefices having the cure of souls should he filled by incumbents native of the place, so far as possible and providing they were well qualified, especially in rural districts.
  The other was that the ancient canon which forbade the translation of a bishop from one see to another should be re-enforced. The idea of the union of a bishop with his see as with a bride was always present to the saint, and he lived in perpetual concern for the proper discharge of his own episcopal duties. I was never so much afraid, he would say, “of being excluded from the number of the elect as since I have been a bishop.
 Several times he petitioned for leave to resign, and God was pleased at length to hear his prayer by calling him to Himself. He was seized by angina pectoris in August. Having commanded all the money then in his possession to be distributed among the poor, he ordered all goods to be given to the rector of his college, except the bed on which he lay. He gave this bed to the gaoler for the use of prisoners, but borrowed it of him till such time as he should no longer require it.

 On September 8 the end was at hand. He ordered Mass to be offered in his presence, and after the consecration recited the psalm In te, Domine, speravi after the priest’s communion he said that verse, “Into thy hands, 0 Lord, I commend my spirit, at which words he rendered his soul into the hands of God, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. He was buried, according to his desire, in the church of the Austin friars at Valencia and he was canonized in 1618. St Thomas of Villanova was called in his lifetime “the pattern of bishops “the almsgiver the father of the poor, and nothing can be more vehement or more tender than his exhortation to divine love. “Wonderful beneficence he cries, “ God promises us Heaven for the recompense of His love. Is not His love itself the greatest reward, the most desirable, the most lovely, and the most sweet blessing Yet a further recompense, and so immense a recompense, waits upon it. Wonderful goodness. I Thou givest thy love, and for this thy love thou bestowest on us Paradise.”
In setting out history of St Thomas of Villanova (Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. v) Bollandists translated the Spanish life by Miguel Salon, a contemporary who, after a first biography published 1588, utilized materials furnished by the canonization processes to produce a more complete work in 1620. They also printed the memoir by his friend and fellow Augustinian, Bishop Juan de Mufiatones. This had been prefixed to an edition of St Thomas of Villanova’s sermons, etc., which Munatones edited in 1581. Some other sources, including a summary of the depositions in the Valencia and Castile processes, were also available, and these are used in the Bollandist prolegomena and annotations. The whole is supplemented by a notice of the saint’s relics and miracles. Not much fresh biographical material seems to have added to our knowledge since the Bollandists published their account in 1755. There is a brief sketch by Quevedo y Villegas, which was translated into English through a French channel for the Oratorian series in 1847. There is also a German life by Poes! (1860), and one in French by Dabert (1878). The writings of St Thomas of Villanova, however, have been collected and more carefully edited, and some translated into other languages.

1554 Saint Nilus of Stolobnoye strict ascetic life; incessant struggle against snares of the devil-- took on the appearance of reptiles and wild beasts; miracles
Born into a peasant family in a small village of the Novgorod diocese. In the year 1505 he was tonsured at the monastery of St Sava of Krypetsk (August 28) near Pskov. After ten years in ascetic life at the monastery he set out to the River Sereml, on the side of the city of Ostashkova; here for thirteen years he led a strict ascetic life in incessant struggle against the snares of the devil, who took on the appearance of reptiles and wild beasts. Many of the inhabitants of the surrounding area started coming to the monk for instruction, but this became burdensome for him and he prayed God to show him a place for deeds of quietude. Once, after long prayer he heard a voice saying, "Nilus! Go to Lake Seliger. There upon the island of Stolobnoye you can be saved!" St Nilus learned the location of this island from people who visited him. When he arrived there, he was astonished by its beauty.

The island, in the middle of the lake, was covered over by dense forest. St Nilus found a small hill and dug out a cave, and after a while he built a hut, in which he lived for twenty-six years. To his exploits of strict fasting and stillness [ie. hesychia] he added another - he never lay down to sleep, but permitted himself only a light nap, leaning on a prop set into the wall of the cell.


The pious life of the monk frequently roused the envy of the Enemy of mankind, which evidenced itself through the spiteful action of the local inhabitants. One time someone set fire to the woods on the island where stood the saint's hut, but the flames went out in miraculous manner upon reaching the hill. Another time robbers forced their way into the hut. The monk said to them: "All my treasure is in the corner of the cell." In this corner stood an icon of the Mother of God, but the robbers began to search there for money and became blinded. Then with tears of repentance they begged for forgiveness.

St Nilus performed many other miracles. He would refuse gifts if the conscience of the one offering it to him was impure, or if they were in bodily impurity.

Aware of his approaching end, St Nilus prepared a grave for himself. At the time of his death, an igumen from one of the nearby monasteries came to the island and communed him with the Holy Mysteries. Before the igumen's departure, St Nilus prayed for the last time, censing around the holy icons and the cell, and surrendered his soul to the Lord on December 7, 1554. The translation of his holy relics (now venerated at the church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Of the Sign" in the city of Ostashkova) took place in the year 1667, with feastdays established both on the day of his death, and on May 27.
1552 St. Francis Xavier Great Missionary to the Orient by Friar Jack Wintz, O.F.M.
Sancti Francísci Xavérii, Sacerdótis e Societáte Jesu et Confessóris, Indiárum Apóstoli, sodalitátis et óperis Propagándæ Fídei atque Missiónum ómnium Patróni cæléstis; qui prídie hujus diéi quiévit in pace.
    St. Francis Xavier, priest of the Society of Jesus, confessor, Apostle of the Indies, and heavenly patron of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, and also of all the Missions, who died on the day previous.
St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
Though Xavier Castle dates back to the 10th or 11th centuries, it has recently been rebuilt. (photo by Jack Wintz, O.F.M.)
This year is the 500th anniversary of St. Francis Xavier’s birth. He was born on April 7, 1506, at the family castle, known in Spanish as Castillo de Javier (Xavier, in English). The Xavier Castle sits about 45 miles southeast of Pamplona (where his friend-to-be, Ignatius of Loyola, was struck in the leg by a cannonball in 1521). Details of our visit to the Xavier Castle will be given near the end of this column.

Francis Xavier meets Ignatius of Loyola
In 1525, at the age of 19, Francis went to Paris and entered the university there. In time, he and Ignatius of Loyola became roommates and then good friends for the rest of their lives. At this time, Ignatius had already begun developing his Spiritual Exercises, which would later become a published manual and practical program for Christian living known throughout the world. Ignatius shared these Exercises with Francis and several other companions who were trying to discern where God’s Spirit was leading them. In time, Francis and several other companions of Ignatius’s decided to gather together and form a group that would become known as the Society of Jesus.

In 1537, Francis was ordained a priest in Venice along with Ignatius and four other Jesuits. Within two years, Francis was in Rome with Ignatius and others who were laying the foundations of the Society of Jesus. Suddenly, a great opportunity fell in the path of Francis Xavier. He was commissioned by Ignatius, at the request of the king of Portugal, to travel to Lisbon, Portugal, and from there to go as a missionary to the East Indies. Francis sailed from Lisbon for the Orient on April 7, 1541. He was the first Jesuit missionary. As he departed, Francis was given a brief from the pope appointing him apostolic nuncio to the East.

Francis Xavier sails to the Orient (photo by Jack Wintz, O.F.M.) After a dangerous voyage that included a lengthy stopover in Mozambique on the eastern coast of Africa, Francis landed at Goa (in western India) in 1542, 13 months after leaving Lisbon. After ministering in that region for five months, he spent three years near the southern tip of India, evangelizing the people of that area and baptizing them by the thousands. During this time, he was also able to visit the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle in São Thomé, now part of Madras, one of India’s major cities.

In 1546, Francis set off for the Malay Peninsula (now Malaysia) and landed in the Portuguese city of Malacca. From there he evangelized widely and visited several islands in that region, conferring many Baptisms along the way. Back in Malacca, he met Anjiro, a Japanese nobleman who showed interest in the Catholic faith and told Francis many things about Japan.

Francis returned to Goa to concentrate on his responsibilities as superior of the missions there. He also needed to decide what would be the best assignments for Jesuits who had just arrived from Europe and were eager to establish or help out at new missions.
Off to Japan—and dreams of China
In 1549, together with Anjiro and several Jesuits, Francis sailed for Japan by way of Malacca. Japan had not yet been introduced to Christianity. As the group traveled from place to place, it met many challenges. Efforts at gaining converts did not always meet with obvious success. Yet, missionaries laid the groundwork in Japan for Christian communities that would increase rapidly in the years to follow.
In this painting inside Xavier Castle. St. Francis Xavier is shown as he gazes longingly toward the Chinese mainland. (photo by Jack Wintz, O.F.M.)

For some time, Francis had also dreamt of evangelizing China. He set out to do so in 1552, reaching the island of Sancian in the Bay of Canton later that year. From this island, he looked longingly toward the Chinese mainland. Little did he know that his missionary days were about to end. He was soon to take ill with a fever and was confined to a leafy hut on the island’s shore. Two weeks later, on December 3, 1552, he died. His body was buried on the island. In the spring, however, his remains were taken to Malacca for burial. A few years later, his body was transferred to Goa, where his remains are still enshrined—and revered by thousands from all over India and beyond—in the Church of the Good Jesus.

In 1615, the saint’s right arm was removed and transported to Rome. The arm—which had baptized and blessed so many—is now venerated in the well-known Jesuit church in Rome, known as the Gesù. This famous church also houses the earthly remains of Francis’ longtime friend and spiritual mentor, St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Visiting Xavier Castle
The last shrine we visited on our motorbus pilgrimage across Spain was the Castle of Javier, located near a small town with the same name (Javier). This castle, some 60 miles from the Castle of Loyola, greets the visitor’s eye like a picture on a postcard. The castle, which like the Castle of Loyola is under the care of the Jesuits, has many rooms of interest for the numerous tourists who visit. One can visit the room, for example, which was once Francis’s bedroom. There are also various rooms and hallways containing art works and exhibits depicting the life of the great Jesuit missionary.

Our group felt especially honored to celebrate Eucharist in the Chapel of the Xavier Castle, given that this occurred during the 500th anniversary year of the birth of St. Francis Xavier.
1552 St. Francis Xavie4 miracles post mortem
Remembering the great missionary

St. Francis Xavier, whose feast day is December 3, is known as the “Apostle of the Indies” and the “Apostle of Japan.” Many people rank him—after St. Paul, the Apostle—as the greatest missionary of all time. Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622. He was named the patron of the Propagation of the Faith in 1910 and patron of the missions in 1927.

See St. Anthony Messenger's version of Friar Jack's saints series at "Four Great Spanish Saints" (December 2006).

(1506) Catholic Encyclopedia
Born in the Castle of Xavier near Sanguesa, in Navarre, 7 April, 1506; died on the Island of Sancian near the coast of China, 2 December, 1552. In 1525, having completed a preliminary course of studies in his own country, Francis Xavier went to Paris, where he entered the collège de Sainte-Barbe. Here he met the Savoyard, Pierre Favre, and a warm personal friendship sprang up between them. It was at this same college that St. Ignatius Loyola, who was already planning the foundation of the Society of Jesus, resided for a time as a guest in 1529. He soon won the confidence of the two young men; first Favre and later Xavier offered themselves with him in the formation of the Society. Four others, Lainez, Salmerón, Rodríguez, and Bobadilla, having joined them, the seven made the famous vow of Montmartre, 15 Aug., 1534.

After completing his studies in Paris and filling the post of teacher there for some time, Xavier left the city with his companions 15 November, 1536, and turned his steps to Venice, where he displayed zeal and charity in attending the sick in the hospitals. On 24 June, 1537, he received Holy orders with St. Ignatius. The following year he went to Rome, and after doing apostolic work there for some months, during the spring of 1539 he took part in the conferences which St. Ignatius held with his companions to prepare for the definitive foundation of the Society of Jesus. The order was approved verbally 3 September, and before the written approbation was secured, which was not until a year later, Xavier was appointed, at the earnest solicitation of the John III, King of Portugal, to evangelize the people of the East Indies. He left Rome 16 March, 1540, and reached Lisbon about June. Here he remained nine months, giving many admirable examples of apostolic zeal.
   On 7 April, 1541, he embarked in a sailing vessel for India, and after a tedious and dangerous voyage landed at Goa, 6 May, 1542. The first five months he spent in preaching and ministering to the sick in the hospitals. He would go through the streets ringing a little bell and inviting the children to hear the word of God. When he had gathered a number, he would take them to a certain church and would there explain the catechism to them. About October, 1542, he started for the pearl fisheries of the extreme southern coast of the peninsula, desirous of restoring Christanity which, although introduced years before, had almost disappeared on account of the lack of priests. He devoted almost three years to the work of preaching to the people of Western India, converting many, and reaching in his journeys even the Island of Ceylon. Many were the difficulties and hardships which Xavier had to encounter at this time, sometimes on account of the cruel persecutions which some of the petty kings of the country carried on against the neophytes, and again because the Portuguese soldiers, far from seconding the work of the saint, retarded it by their bad example and vicious habits.

In the spring of 1545 Xavier started for Malacca. He laboured there for the last months of that year, and although he reaped an abundant spiritual harvest, he was not able to root out certain abuses, and was conscious that many sinners had resisted his efforts to bring them back to God. About January, 1546, Xavier left Malacca and went to Molucca Islands, where the Portuguese had some settlements, and for a year and a half he preached the Gospel to the inhabitants of Amboyna, Ternate, Baranura, and other lesser islands which it has been difficult to identify. It is claimed by some that during this expedition he landed on the island of Mindanao, and for this reason St. Francis Xavier has been called the first Apostle of the Philippines. But although this statement is made by some writers of the seventeenth century, and in the Bull of canonization issued in 1623, it is said that he preached the Gospel in Mindanao, up to the present time it has not been proved absolutely that St. Francis Xavier ever landed in the Philippines.

By July, 1547, he was again in Malacca. Here he met a Japanese called Anger (Han-Sir), from whom he obtained much information about Japan. His zeal was at once aroused by the idea of introducing Christanity into Japan, but for the time being the affairs of the Society demanded his presence at goa, whither he went, taking Anger with him. During the six years that Xavier had been working among the infidels, other Jesuit missionaries had arrived at Goa, sent from Europe by St. Ignatius; moreover some who had been born in the country had been received into the Society. In 1548 Xavier sent these missionaries to the principal centres of India, where he had established missions, so that the work might be preserved and continued. He also established a novitiate and house of studies, and having received into the Society Father Cosme de Torres, a spanish priest whom he had met in the Maluccas, he started with him and Brother Juan Fernandez for Japan towards the end of June, 1549. The Japanese Anger, who had been baptized at Goa and given the name of Pablo de Santa Fe, accompanied them.

They landed at the city of Kagoshima in Japan, 15 Aug., 1549. The entire first year was devoted to learning the Japanese language and translating into Japanese, with the help of Pablo de Santa Fe, the principal articles of faith and short treatises which were to be employed in preaching and catechizing. When he was able to express himself, Xavier began preaching and made some converts, but these aroused the ill will of the bonzes, who had him banished from the city. Leaving Kagoshima about August, 1550, he penetrated to the centre of Japan, and preached the Gospel in some of the cities of southern Japan. Towards the end of that year he reached Meaco, then the principal city of Japan, but he was unable to make any headway here because of the dissensions the rending the country. He retraced his steps to the centre of Japan, and during 1551 preached in some important cities, forming the nucleus of several Christian communities, which in time increased with extraordinary rapidity.

After working about two years and a half in Japan he left this mission in charge of Father Cosme de Torres and Brother Juan Fernandez, and returned to Goa, arriving there at the beginning of 1552. Here domestic troubles awaited him. Certain disagreements between the superior who had been left in charge of the missions, and the rector of the college, had to be adjusted. This, however, being arranged, Xavier turned his thoughts to China, and began to plan an expedition there. During his stay in Japan he had heard much of the Celestial Empire, and though he probably had not formed a proper estimate of his extent and greatness, he nevertheless understood how wide a field it afforded for the spread of the light of the Gospel. With the help of friends he arranged a commission or embassy the Sovereign of China, obtained from the Viceroy of India the appointment of ambassador, and in April, 1552, he left Goa. At Malacca the party encountered difficulties because the influential Portuguese disapproved of the expedition, but Xavier knew how to overcome this opposition, and in the autumn he arrived in a Portuguese vessel at the small island of Sancian near the coast of China. While planning the best means for reaching the mainland, he was taken ill, and as the movement of the vessel seemed to aggravate his condition, he was removed to the land, where a rude hut had been built to shelter him. In these wretched surroundings he breathed his last.

It is truly a matter of wonder that one man in the short space of ten years (6 May, 1542 - 2 December, 1552) could have visited so many countries, traversed so many seas, preached the Gospel to so many nations, and converted so many infidels. The incomparable apostolic zeal which animated him, and the stupendous miracles which God wrought through him, explain this marvel, which has no equal elsewhere. The list of the principal miracles may be found in the Bull of canonization. St. Francis Xavier is considered the greatest missionary since the time of the Apostles, and the zeal he displayed, the wonderful miracles he performed, and the great number of souls he brought to the light of true Faith, entitle him to this distinction. He was canonized with St. Ignatius in 1622, although on account of the death of Gregory XV, the Bull of canonization was not published until the following year.

The body of the saint is still enshrined at Goa in the church which formerly belonged to the Society. In 1614 by order of Claudius Acquaviva, General of the Society of Jesus, the right arm was severed at the elbow and conveyed to Rome, where the present altar was erected to receive it in the church of the Gesu.

St. Francis Xavier by Kate O'Brien
Francis Xavier was born on April 7th, 1506, in the Spanish kingdom of Navarre; and his native language, like that of Ignatius Loyola, whose devoted disciple he was to become, was Basque. He inherited the proud and passionate temperament of his race and could show himself both fiery and autocratic even to the end of his life. As a boy he was ambitious and fond of sport, but he had a largeness of heart and generosity of nature which made him capable, once he had been converted, of heroic love and endurance.

His first encounter with Ignatius took place at the University of Paris, where Francis went at the age of nineteen. Ignatius was much the elder man, and it took him some time to win Francis from his worldly ambitions. But eventually Francis capitulated and gave himself with his whole soul to the new life which the Exercises of Ignatius opened up to him. He became one of the first members of the Society of Jesus and made his vows with Ignatius and five others on August 15th, 1534, and was finally ordained priest on June 24th, 1537.

The first object of Ignatius and his companions had been to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but events turned out otherwise. Ignatius was asked by King John of Portugal to send priests to the new missions in India, and his choice fell eventually on Francis. Francis, it must be said, had no particular qualifications for this task. Though he took his degree at the University, he was possessed of no great learning, and the only books he took with him on all his missionary journeys were his breviary and a book of meditations. His ignorance of the religion of the people to whom he went to preach the gospel was complete. He regarded all 'moors' and 'pagans' as enemies of God and slaves of the devil, to be rescued at all costs from his power. His attitude never changed, and the devout Muslim, the learned Brahmin and the Buddhist monk made equally little impression on him.

In this respect his mind remained essentially medieval. He saw a vast new world opening before him and his one desire was to win it to Christ. He brought with him nothing but his consuming love for God and for the souls of his fellow men. It is noticeable that he never criticized the social, political or ecclesiastical institutions of his time. He accepted the slave trade and the Inquisition alike apparently without question and, although he complained bitterly of the abuse of power, he never questioned the right of the Portuguese power in India and was prepared at all times to make use of it in the interests of the gospel.

Yet though he might accept the external circumstances of life as he knew it, he preserved an absolute detachment of heart. He deliberately chose to live in the most complete poverty and refused to accept any of the material conveniences which were offered to him. His food was reduced to so small a quantity that it was a miracle that he kept alive. The only concession he would make in clothing for his long missionary journeys under a tropical sun was a pair of boots. He could put up with the most appalling conditions on his long sea voyages and endure the most agonizing extremes of heat and cold. Wherever he went he would seek out the poor and the sick and spend his time in ministering to their needs. Yet while he was occupied all day with these incessant labours, he would spend the greater part of the night in prayer. And all this was done with a gaiety and lightness of heart, which remind one of the other Francis-of Assisi.

The story of his journeys is an epic of adventure. He arrived in Goa in May 1542 and went on from there to Cape Comorin in the south of India. Here he spent three years working among the pearl-fishers, or Paravas, of the Fishery Coast. From there he went on to the East

Indies, to Malacca and the Moluccas, and, finally, in 1549 he set out for Japan. He died on December 3rd, 1552, on a lonely island, vainly seeking to obtain entrance into China. Thus in ten years he traversed the greater part of the Far East. When one considers the conditions of travel, the means of transport, the delays and difflculties which beset him at every stage, it is, even physically an astounding achievement. It is even more remarkable when one considers that he left behind him a flourishing church wherever he went and that the effects of his labours remain to the present day.

Many miracles have been attributed to St Francis. He was said to have possessed the gift of tongues, to have healed the sick and even to have raised the dead; but for the last, at least, there is no real evidence. That he possessed the gift of prophecy seems to be certain, but he can hardly have possessed the gift of tongues. The evidence is, on the contrary, that he had to rely throughout on interpreters to translate his message into the different languages he required, and was often sadly misled. The real miracle of his life, as has been said, was the miracle of his personality, by which he was able to convert thousands to the faith wherever he went and to win their passionate devotion.

He died abandoned with but one companion, without the sacraments or Christian burial. But within a few weeks his body was recovered and found to be perfectly incorrupt. It was brought to Goa and received there with a devotion and an enthusiasm which showed that the people had already recognized him as a saint. He was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1619 and canonized together with St Ignatius by Pope Gregory XV, on March 12th, 1622. He is now the patron of all the missions of the Catholic Church.
1550 Saint Macarius the Roman ascetical struggles and unceasing prayer a pillar of fire would rise up into the sky at night above his place of refuge. During the day, the grace of God was made manifest by a fragrant cloud of smoke gifts of clairvoyance and wonderworking from God
Born at the end of the fifteenth century into a wealthy family of Rome. His parents raised him in piety and gave him an excellent education. He might have expected a successful career in public service, but he did not desire honors or earthly glory. Instead, he focused on how to save his soul.

He lived in an age when the Christian West was shaken by the Protestant Reformation. While others around him were pursuing luxury and lascivious pleasures, he studied the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers. St Macarius was grieved to see so many darkened by sin and worldly vanity, and was disturbed by the rebellions and conflicts within the Western Church. With tears, he asked God to show him the path of salvation, and his prayer did not go unanswered. He came to realize that he would find the safe harbor of salvation in the Orthodox Church.

St Macarius left Rome secretly, and set out for Russia without money, and wearing an old garment. After many sufferings on his journey, he arrived in Novgorod, where he rejoiced to see so many churches and monasteries. One of these monasteries had been founded three centuries before by his fellow countryman, St Anthony the Roman (August 3).

St Macarius came to the banks of the River Svir, where St Alexander of Svir (April 17 and August 30) founded Holy Trinity monastery. St Alexander received Macarius into the Orthodox Church and tonsured him as a monk. Macarius, however longed for the solitary life. He moved to an island on the River Lezna, forty-five miles from Novgorod, where he engaged in ascetical struggles and unceasing prayer.

The winters were very cold, and the summers were hot and humid. The marshy area was also a breeding ground for mosquitos, which tormented the saint. St Macarius survived on berries, roots, and herbs. Sometimes bears would come to him for food, and they allowed him to pet them.

Such a great lamp of the spiritual life could not remain hidden for long. One rainy night someone knocked on his door and asked him to open it. Several people, who seemed to be hunters, entered his cell. Astonished by his appearance, and the divine light shining from his face, the men asked for his blessing. They told him they had come to the forest to hunt, and only by the prayers of the saint did God permit them to find him.
"It is not my sinful prayers," he told them, "but the grace of God which led you here."
After feeding them, he spoke and prayed with them, then showed them the way out of the marsh. St Macarius was concerned that his peace would be disturbed, now that his dwelling place was known. His fears were justified, because many people sought him out to ask for his advice and prayers.

The holy ascetic decided to move even farther into the wilderness, choosing an elevated place on the left bank of the Lezna. Even here, however, he was not able to conceal himself for very long. Sometimes a pillar of fire would rise up into the sky at night above his place of refuge. During the day, the grace of God was made manifest by a fragrant cloud of smoke. Drawn by these signs, the local inhabitants of the region were able to find him once more.

Some of his visitors begged St Macarius to permit them to live near him and to be guided by his counsels. Seeing that this was the Lord's will, he did not refuse them. He blessed them to build cells, and this was the foundation of his monastery.

In 1540, they built a wooden church dedicated to the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. St Macarius was ordained to the holy priesthood by Bishop Macarius of Novgorod, who later became Metropolitan of All Russia. The hierarch also appointed St Macarius as igumen of the monastery.

St Macarius was an example to the others, and was given the gifts of clairvoyance and wonderworking from God. He wore himself out with his labors and vigils, encouraging others not to become faint-hearted in their own struggles.

After several years, he entrusted the monastery to one of his disciples, and returned to the island where he had first lived. There he fell asleep in the Lord on August 15, 1550. His disciples buried him outside on the left side of the Dormition church which he had founded.

The Hermitage of St Macarius was never a prosperous monastery with many monks, but it was distinguished by the high level of spiritual life. In the seventeenth century, many of the monasteries near Novgorod were plundered by Swedish invaders. The Hermitage of St Macarius was also burned in 1615, and some of the monks were put to the sword.

By the eighteenth century, the monastery had become a dependency of the St Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St Petersburg. The Empress Catherine closed it in 1764, just as she had closed other monasteries, and it was designated as a parish church. Although pilgrims still came to venerate the saint's relics and to celebrate his Feast Day, the buildings soon fell into ruin.
In the mid-nineteenth century, some benefactors restored the two churches and the miraculous healing spring which the saint himself had dug. About this time an old priest was living there, and he celebrated the church services until his death. In 1894, the monastery began to function once more under the noted missionary Hieromonk Arsenius, who introduced the Athonite Typikon. The monastery was destroyed by the Soviets in 1932.
St Macarius the Roman is commemorated on August 15 (the date of his repose), and also on January 19 (his nameday).
1547 St. Cajetan; at his birth his mother, a fervent Dominican tertiary, dedicated Cajetan to the Blessed Virgin; father died fighting for Venetians against King Ferdinand of Naples when Cajetan was only two, example of mother helped Cajetan to grow into a man of sweet temper, constant recollection, unwavering compassion, especially toward poor and afflicted; mystical experience; doctorate in both civil and canon law at Padua, Italy, he became a senator in Vicenza; Pope Julius II compelled him to accept the office of protonotary in his court. Although Julius II was one of the least inspiring examples of a pope, Cajetan saw through the lustful, simonious, indulgent, war-loving court to the essential holiness of the Church. He knew that despite the vices and follies of Her servants, Holy Mother Church still held the keys to the salvation of the world; resigned as protonotary upon Julius's death in 1513 and was ordained in 1516; founder of the blue-habited Theatines, beatified by Urban VIII in 1629; canonized by Clement X in 1671. Miracles
Neapoli, in Campania, sancti Cajetani Thienæi Confessóris, Clericórum Regulárium Fundatoris, qui, singulári in Deum fiducia, pristinam Apostolicam vivéndi formam suis coléndam trádidit, et, miráculis clarus, a Cleménte Papa Décimo inter Sanctos relátus est.
    At Naples in Campania, St. Cajetan the Theatine, confessor, founder of the Clerics Regular, who, through singular confidence in God, made his disciples practise the primitive mode of life of the apostles.  Being renowned for miracles, he was ranked among the saints by Clement X.
 
Cajetan took a different route.
Just as concerned as Luther was about what he observed in the Church, he went to Rome in 1523 -- not to talk to the pope or the hierarchy but to consult with members of a confraternity called the Oratory of the Divine Love. When he had first come to Rome many years before, he had felt called to some unknown great work there. A few years later he returned to his hometown of Vicenza -- his great work seemingly unrealized. He had however studied for the priesthood and been ordained and helped re-establish a faded confraternity whose aims were promoting God's glory and the welfare of souls.
In the years he had been gone from Rome, he had founded another Oratory in his home town and Verona where he had promoted spiritual life and care for the poor and sick not only with words but with his heroic example. He told his brothers, "In this oratory we try to serve God by worship; in our hospital we may say that we actually find him." But none of the horrors he saw in the hospitals of the incurables depressed him as much as the wickedness he saw everywhere he looked.

In his former confraternity, he found other clergy who felt the way he did. They didn't want to split off from the Church, they wanted to restore it. So they decided to form an order based on the lives of the apostles in the hopes that these lives would inspire them and others to live holy lives devoted to Jesus . In order to accomplish this they would focus on moral lives, sacred studies, preaching and pastoral care, helping the sick, and other solid foundations of pastoral life. This new order was known as Theatines Clerks Regular because it was an order of the regular clergy and because a bishop known as Theatensis was their first superior general (although Cajetan is considered the founder).
Not surprisingly, they didn't find thousands of formerly greedy and licentious priests flocking to their door. But Cajetan and the others persevered even in the face of open opposition from laity and clergy who didn't want to reform. It was his holy example that converted many as well as his preaching.
Worn out by the troubles he saw in his Church and his home, Cajetan fell ill. When doctors tried to get him to rest on a softer bed then the boards he slept on, Cajetan answered, "My savior died on a cross. Let me die on wood at least." He died on August 7, 1547.
In His Footsteps
Do you have concerns about the Church or about certain people in power in the Church? Have you ever thought of leaving the Church because of these concerns? What positive steps could you take instead of splitting from the Church to help promote holiness and love of God and others?  Prayer: Saint Cajetan, when we see things that trouble us in our Church, help us to continue to love her. Guide us to the positive steps we need to take to work within the Church for renewal. Help us to be examples of holiness to all. Amen

Cajetan (Gaetano) of Thienna, Priest (RM) Born in Vicenza, Lombardy, Italy, in 1480; died in Naples, Italy, on August 7, 1547; beatified by Urban VIII in 1629; canonized by Clement X in 1671. Saint Cajetan, founder of the blue-habited Theatines, was the son of Lord Gaspar of Thienna (Tiene) and his wife Mary di Porto. Both were known for their piety. At his birth his mother, a fervent Dominican tertiary, dedicated Cajetan to the Blessed Virgin. Although his father died while fighting for the Venetians against King Ferdinand of Naples when Cajetan was only two, the example of his mother helped Cajetan to grow into a man of sweet temper, constant recollection, and unwavering compassion, especially toward the poor and afflicted.
   After attaining a doctorate in both civil and canon law at Padua, Italy, he became a senator in Vicenza. He built a parochial chapel at his own expense at Rampazzo, where those living far from the parish church might be catechized and worship. Thereafter he fled to Rome in 1506, where he had hoped to live in obscurity among the crowds; however, Pope Julius II compelled him to accept the office of protonotary in his court. Although Julius II was one of the least inspiring examples of a pope, Cajetan saw through the lustful, simonious, indulgent, war-loving court to the essential holiness of the Church. He knew that despite the vices and follies of Her servants, Holy Mother Church still held the keys to the salvation of the world.
He thanked God for the flowering of the arts in the Renaissance, knowing that the genius of the artist was but a reflection of the creativity of God. Yet he knew that the Church was in need of reformation. Unlike his contemporaries Luther and Savonarola, however, Cajetan wanted to bring about the reform patiently and humbly. He put his trust in the Holy Spirit and the love Christ has for His Bride.
   During the thirteen years Cajetan labored in Rome for reform, he did what he could to bring comfort to others: he visited the sick in hospitals and sought out the incurable and the dying in their homes. He had joined the Confraternity of Divine Love, a small, unofficial group devoted to works of charity. They cared for the sick, the poor, foundlings, and prisoners. Gradually their influence spread further afield in Italy.
He resigned as protonotary upon Julius's death in 1513 and was ordained in 1516. The following year, while praying at the Christmas crib in the church of Saint Mary Maggiore, he had a mystical experience. He records, "Encouraged by the Blessed Saint Jerome, whose bones lie in the crypt beneath the crib, I took from the hands of the timid Virgin who had just become a mother her tender Child, in whom the eternal Word had been made flesh."
In 1518, Cajetan returned to Vicenza and his dying mother. There he joined the Oratory of Saint Jerome. Upon Mary di Porto's death, he dedicated his considerable inheritance to relieving distress, first in Vicenza and then in Verona and Venice. He founded a similar oratory at Venice and continued his work, particularly with the incurable.
In 1523, he returned to Rome, Paul Consiglieri, Boniface da Colle, and Bishop Giovanni Pietro Caraffa of Chieti (or Theate), who later became Pope Paul IV. These men helped Cajetan implement his vision of an order of priests whose lives would be as simple as those of the Apostles and who would serve as models for the secular clergy. The members of the Congregation of Clerks Regular (more generally known as the Theatines) were to dress in black and concentrate on the essentials of the priestly life: embracing poverty, spreading charity, and bringing life in the sacraments. The institute was approved by Pope Clement VII with Bishop Caraffa as the order's first provost general.
In 1524, twelve priests installed themselves in a house on the Pinicio in Rome, where Cajetan occupied himself in the humblest tasks. When Rome was sacked three years later by Charles V, the Theatines moved to Venice, where the famine and plague gave them ample opportunity to devote themselves to the service of others. The Venetians called them "hermits" because of their extreme simplicity of life and Cajetan they named "the saint of Providence." Cajetan was elected superior in 1530, and Caraffa re- elected in 1533. That same year the Theatines founded a house in Naples with Cajetan as its superior. Thereafter, the order rapidly spread throughout Italy, then Europe.
In Naples Cajetan fought widespread opposition to the reforms of the bishops and the prevalent heresies. Later, with Blessed John Marinoni, he founded the montes pietatis to help extend loans to the poor and combat usury.
Cajetan, one of the great Catholic reformers, died in Naples, worn out by his frequent travels and many obligations as superior, on a bed of ashes. At his request, he was buried in a common grave in the church of Saint Paul. Many of the reforms of the Council of Trent were anticipated and implemented by Cajetan long before that council convened (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
In art, Saint Cajetan is depicted as a Theatine monk with a winged heart. He may sometimes be shown (1) with a book, pen, lily, and flaming heart (not to be confused with Saint Augustine, who never has a lily); (2) seeing a vision of the Holy Family with a lily at his feet; or (3) holding the Christ-Child as an angel holds a lily nearby (Roeder). He is venerated in Chieti and Naples (Roeder).

St Cajetan, Co-founder of The Theatine Clerks Regular
St Cajetan (Gaetano) was son of Caspar, Count of Thierie, and Mary di Porto, of the nobility of Vicenza, where he was born in 1480. Two years later his father was killed, fighting for Venetians against King Ferdinand of Naples. His widow was appointed guardian of Cajetan and his two brothers.  The admirable example and teaching she gave her sons bore quick and abundant fruit, and Cajetan in particular was soon known for his unusual goodness. He went 4 years to the University of Padua where long exercises of devotion which he practised were no hindrance to his studies, but sanctified them and purified his understanding, enabling him the better to judge of truth.  He distinguished himself in theology, and took the degree of doctor in civil and Canon law in 1504. He then returned to his native town, of which he was made a senator, and in pursuance of his resolve to serve God as a priest he received the tonsure.
   In 1506 he went to Rome, not in quest of preferment or live at court, but because of a strong inward conviction that he was needed for some great work there.  Soon after his arrival Pope Julius II conferred on him the office of protonotary, with a benefice attached.  On death of Julius II in 1513 Cajetan refused his successor's request to continue in his office, and devoted three years to preparing himself for the priesthood.  He was ordained in 1516 being thirty-three years old, and returned to Vicenza in 1518.
   Cajetan had re-founded a confraternity in Rome, called  "of the Divine Love ", which was an association of zealous and devout clerics who devoted themselves to labour with all their power to promote God's honour and the welfare of souls.
    At Vicenza he now entered himself in the Oratory of St Jerome, which was instituted upon the plan of that of the Divine Love but consisted only of men in the lowest stations of life.  This circumstance gave great offence to his friends, who thought it a reflection on the honour of his family.  He persisted, however, and exerted his zeal with wonderful fruit. He sought out the sick and the poor over the whole town and served them, and cared for those who suffered from the most loathsome diseases in the hospital of the incurables, the revenues of which he greatly increased. But his primary concern was for the spiritual life of the members of his oratory:   In this oratory ", he said, "we try to serve God by worship; in our hospital we may say that we actually find Him."  He founded a similar oratory at Verona and then, in obedience to the advice of his confessor, John-Baptist of Crema, a Dominican friar of great prudence and piety, Cajetan went in 1520  to Venice and, taking up his lodgings in the new hospital of that city, pursued Iris former manner of life there.  He was so great a benefactor to that house as to be regarded as its principal founder.
    He remained in Venice three years, and introduced exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in that city, as well as continuing the promotion of frequent communion:  "I shall never be content till I see Christians flocking like little children to feed on the Bread of Life, and with eagerness and delight, not with fear and false shame ", he wrote.
   The state of Christendom at this time was not less than shocking.
The general corruption weakened the Church before the assaults of Protestantisrn and provided an apparent excuse for that revolt, and the decay of religion with its accompaniment of moral wickedness was not checked by the clergy, many of whom, high and low, secular and regular were themselves sunk in iniquity and indifference. The Church was "sick in head and members ". The spectacle shocked and distressed  Cajetan, and in 1523 he went back to Rome to confer with his friends of the Oratory of Divine Love.  They agreed that little could be done than by reviving in the clergy the spirit and zeal of those holy pastors who first planted the faith, and to put them in mind what this spirit ought to be, and -what it obliges them to, a plan was formed for instituting an order of regular clergy upon the model of lives of the Apostles.
    First associates of St Cajetan in this design were John Peter Caraffa, afterwards pope under the name of Paul IV Clement VII, and Carafh was chosen the first provost general.  From his episcopal name of Theatensis these clerks regular came to be distinguished from others as Theatines.   On September 14, 1524 the four original members laid aside their prelatical robes and
made their profession in St Peter's in the presence of a papal delegate.  The principal ends which they proposed to themselves were to preach sound doctrine to the people, assist the sick, restore the frequent use of the sacraments, and re-establish in  the clergy disinterestedness, regularity of life, sacred studies (especially of the Bible), preaching and pastoral care, and the fitting conduct of divine worhsip.  Life was to be in common, under the usual vows, and poverty was strongly emphasized.
   The success of the new congregation was not immediate, and in 1527, when it still numbered only a dozen members, a calamity happened which might well have put an end to it.  The army of the Emperor Charles V sacked Rome: the Theatines' house was nearly demolished, and the inmates had to escape to Venice.Caraffa's term as superior expired in 1530: St Cajetan was chosen in his place. He accepted the office with reluctance, but did not let its cares abate the energy with which he worked to inspire the clergy with his own fervour and devotion, and his charity was made most conspicuous during a plague which was brought to Venice from the Levant, followed by a dreadful famine. but at that time bishop of Theate (Chieti); Paul Consiglieri, of the family of Ghislieri;  and Boniface da Colle, a gentleman of Milan.  The institute was approved .
   At the end of the three years of office, CarauIa was made superior a second time, and Cajetan was sent to Verona, where both the clergy and laity were tumultuously opposing the reformation of discipline which their bishop was endeavouring to introduce among them.  Shortly after, he was called to Naples to establish the clerks regular there.   The Count of Oppido gave him a large house, and tried to prevail upon him to accept an estate in lands; but this he refused.  In vain the count pointed out that the Neapolitans were neither so rich nor so generous as the Venetians.   "That may be true", replied Cajetan, "but God is the same in both cities."
   A general improvement at Naples was the fruit of his example, preaching and labours, and he was foremost in the successful opposition to the activities of three apostates, a layman, an Augustinian and a Franciscan, who, respectively Socinian, Calvinist and Lutheran, were corrupting the religion of the people.  During the last years of his life he established with Bd John Marinoni the benevolent pawnshops (montes pietatis) sanctioned some time before by the Fifth Lateran Council.  Worn out with trying to appease civil strife in Naples, and disappointed by the suspension of the Council of Trent from which he hoped so much for the Church's good, St Cajetan had to take to his bed in the summer of 1547.  When his physicians advised him not to lie on the hard boards but to use a mattress, his answer was, "My Saviour died on a cross, allow me at least to die on wood ".   He lingered for a week, the end coming on Sunday, August 7.  Many miracles wrought by his intercession were approved at Rome after a rigorous scrutiny, and he was canonized in 1671.
   St Cajetan was one of the most outstanding figures among the pre-Tridentine Catholic reformers, and his institution of clerks regular, priests bound by vow and living in community but engaged in active pastoral work, played a very great part in the Catholic reformation.  Today, with. the one tremendous exception of the Jesuits, all their congregations have been reduced to small bodies,  but continuing their original life and  work. Thomas Goldwell, Bishop of Saint Asaph and  last  survivor of the old hierarchy of England and Wales, was a Theatine, who entered their house of St Paul at Naples in the year of St Cajetan's death.

   No biography of this saint has been left us by anyone who actually knew him.  The life is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. ii, compiled by A. Caracciolo, was not written until some 60  years after the holy priest's death. Probably St Cajetan's close association with Caraffa, and the extreme unpopularity of the latter's pontificate-he became pope, as Paul IV, eight years after the former went to Heaven-rendered the early history of the Theatines a delicate subject to handle.  It is only in recent times that L. von Pastor, G. M. Monti, 0. Premoli, and other conscientious investigators have thrown light upon many matters formerly buried in obscurity.  Though on ly a slight sketch, the bookletof 0. Premoli, S. Gaetano Thiene (1910), perhaps offers the most reliable picture of the saint but for the earlier portion of his career, Pio Paschini, S. Gaetano...e 1a origini dei,,,Teatini (1926), has provided a study of great value, largely based upon unpublished letters. The life by R. de Maulde Ia Claviere, which having been translated into English is the most easily accessible, cannot be recommended without reserves:  see the reviews of both the original and the revised edition in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxii, p. 119, and vol. xxiv, p. 419. Two later biographies in Italian are by P. Chiminelli (1948), very full, and by L. Ruiz de Cardenas (1947), shorter and more popular.
1545 Holy Righteous Artemius of Verkola a light over the place where the incorrupt body of the Righteous Artemius lay. Taken to the church of St Nicholas in 1577, the holy relics were shown to be a source of numerous healings. In this village a monastery was later built, called the Verkola
born in the village of Dvina Verkola around the year 1532. The son of pious parents, Artemius was a child who was courageous, meek and diligent for every good deed. On June 23, 1545 the twelve-year-old Artemius and his father were taken by surprise in a field by a thunderstorm. A clap of thunder broke right over their heads, and the child Artemius fell dead. People thought that this was a sign of God's judgment, therefore they left the body in a pine forest without a funeral, and without burial.

Some years later, the village reader beheld a light over the place where the incorrupt body of the Righteous Artemius lay. Taken to the church of St Nicholas in 1577, the holy relics were shown to be a source of numerous healings. In this village a monastery was later built, called the Verkola. In 1918, the impious Soviets chopped the holy relics into pieces and threw them into a well. The memory of St Artemius is also celebrated on October 20.

1542 Saint Sophia "the holy Righteous Princess Sophia the Nun, the wonderworker, who dwelt at the Protection monastery." several miraculous healings at her grave
in the world Solomonia, a Great Princess, daughter of the noble Yuri Saburov.
In the year 1505 she was chosen as bride by the heir to the throne, the future Great Prince Basil. Their marriage was unhappy, because Solomonia remained childless, so he divorced her. In order to have an heir, Great Prince Basil decided to wed a second time (to Elena Glinsky) and on November 25,

1525 he ordered Solomonia to become a nun. Forcibly tonsured with the name Sophia, Solomonia was sent under guard to the Suzdal Protection convent, where by ascetic deeds she banished from her heart worldly thoughts, and totally dedicated herself to God.

Prince Kurbsky calls the blessed princess "a Monastic Martyr." In the manuscript Lives of the Saints she is called "the holy Righteous Princess Sophia the Nun, the wonderworker, who dwelt at the Protection monastery." Under Tsar Theodore they revered her as a saint. Tsaritsa Irene sent to Suzdal, "to the Great Princess Solomonia, also called Sophia, a velvet veil with depiction of the Savior and other saints." Patriarch Joseph wrote to Archbishop Serapion of Suzdal about serving Panikhidas and Moliebens for Sophia. St Sophia departed to God in the year 1542.
The Suzdal sacristan Ananias speaks of several miraculous healings at her grave.
December 1531 The Miracle Of Guadalupe
For more than three hundred years, the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe has been celebrated and revered in Mexico as the Patroness of Mexican and Indian peoples, and as the Queen of the Americas. 
She stands on home altars, lends her name to men and women alike, and finds herself at rest under their skin in tattoos. Guadalupe’s image proliferates on candles, decals, tiles, murals, and old and new sacred art. Churches and religious orders carry her name, as do place names and streets. Far from vulgarizing her image, these items personalize her and maintain her presence in daily life. She is prayed to in times of sickness and war and for protection against all evils.
The story of Guadalupe begins in December 1531 in Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) when the Virgin Mary appeared four times to the Indian peasant Juan Diego.

(First) He was on his way to mass when a beautiful woman surrounded by a body halo appeared to him with the music of songbirds in the background. As the birds became quiet, Mary announced “I am the Entirely and Ever Virgin, Saint Mary”. Assuring Juan Diego that she was his “Compassionate Mother” and that she had come out of her willingness to love and protect "all folk of every kind," she requested that he build a temple in her honor at the place where she stood, Tepeyac Hill, on the eastern edge of Mexico City. (This spot has been identified as the site where once stood a temple to the Aztec goddess Tonantzin.)
Juan Diego went directly to the bishop of Mexico, Zumarraga, to relate this wondrous event.
The churchman was skeptical and dismissed the humble peasant, who then returned to Tepeyac Hill to beseech the Virgin Mary to find a more prominent person who was less “pitiably poor” than he to do her bidding.
Rejecting his protestations, the Virgin urged him to return to the bishop

and (Second)“indeed say to him once more how it is I Myself, the Ever Virgin Saint Mary, Mother of God, who am commissioning you.”
Juan Diego returned to the churchman’s palace after mass, waited, and was finally able to enter his second plea on behalf of the Virgin. This time, Zumarraga asked the humble native to request a sure sign directly from the “Heavenly Woman” as to her true identity. The bishop then had some members of his staff follow Juan Diego to check on where he went and whom he saw.
The next day, Juan Diego hastened to the bedside of his dying uncle, Juan Bernadino. The old man, gravely ill, begged his nephew to fetch a priest for the last rites of the church. The following morning, before dawn, Juan Diego set off on this mission. He tried to avoid the Virgin because of his uncle’s worsening condition, but she intercepted him and asked “Whither are you going?” He confessed that it was on behalf of his uncle that he was rushing to summon a priest.
During this (third) meeting, she assured him that the uncle was “healed up”, as she had already made a separate appearance to him.
This visitation would start a tradition of therapeutic miracles associated with Our Lady of Guadalupe.
She also comforted Juan Diego with the assurance that she would give him sure proof of her real identity.
Fourth)

On December 12, 1531 the Virgin appeared to Juan Diego for the fourth time and bade him to go to the top of Tepeyac Hill and pick “Castilian garden flowers” from the normally barren summit.
She helped him by “taking them up in her own hands” and folded them into his cloak woven of maguey plant fibers. Juan Diego then set off to Zumarraga’s palace with this sure sign of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe’s identity. As he unwrapped his cloak, the flowers tumbled at the churchman’s feet, and “suddenly, upon that cloak, there flashed a Portrait, where sallied into view a Sacred Image of that Ever Virgin Holy Mary, Mother of God.” This imprint of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, the “Miraculous Portrait” as it is often called, hangs today in the Basilica of Gudalupe in Mexico City.   
1532 Saint Cyril of New Lake fond of solitude and prayer healing through his prayers Lord also granted the gift of foresight
born into a pious family. The Lord marked him as one of the chosen even before he was born. Cyril's mother was praying in church during the Divine Liturgy, and the infant in her womb cried out, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth!"


From the time of his childhood the saint was fond of solitude and prayer, and he dreamt of monastic life. At fifteen years of age Cyril secretly left his parental home, intending to enter the Pskov Caves monastery. He did not know the way to the monastery, and took nothing from home for the journey. He went his way, putting all his trust in the Lord and His All-Pure Mother. Twenty versts from the city the youth met a magnificent monastic Elder, who led him to the monastery. As he left, he blessed him with the words, "May God bless you, my child, and grant you the angelic schema, and may you be a chosen vessel of the Divine Spirit."
Having said this, the Elder became invisible. The boy realized that this had been a messenger from God, and he gave thanks to the Lord.

The igumen St Cornelius (February 20) saw with his clairvoyant eye the grace manifest in the young man. He provided him with much guidance and tonsured him into the monastic schema with the name Cyril. The fifteen-year-old monk astonished the brethren with his efforts. He emaciated the flesh through fasting and prayer, and zealously fulfilled obediences. Day and night he was ready to study the Word of God. Even then he thought to end his days in solitude in the wilderness.

The boy's parents mourned him as one dead, but once an Elder of the monastery of St Cornelius came to them and told them about their son and his life at the monastery.

The joyful news confirmed in Cyril's mother her love for God. She spoke with her husband about leaving to the monastery her portion of the inheritance, then left the world and became a nun with the name Elena (Helen). She died in peace a short time later.  The saint's father came to the monastery, and Igumen Cornelius told Cyril to meet with him. The saint was troubled, but not daring to disobey the igumen, he fell down at his father's feet, imploring forgiveness for secretly leaving home.
The father forgave his son, and he himself remained at the monastery. St Cornelius tonsured him into monasticism with the name Barsanuphius, and gave him to his son for instruction.

Three years later, he peacefully fell asleep in the Lord. His son continued to toil more fervently for the Lord, disdaining his own will, and in was obedient not only to the igumen, but also to the brethren.
He thirsted to go about all the Russian land, venerating its holy shrines and to find for himself a wilderness place for a life of silence.

With the blessing of St Cornelius, St Cyril left the monastery in which he had grown strong spiritually, and he went to the coastal regions, roaming through the forests and the wild places, eating tree roots and berries. The saint spent about twenty years in this difficult exploit of wanderer, and he went to the outskirts of Moscow, Novgorod and Pskov, but he never entered any house nor did he accept alms.
He wandered about during the day, and spent his nights at prayer on church porches, and he attended the church services.

Once while at prayer, St Cyril saw a heavenly light indicating the direction where he should found a monastery. He set off on his way at once, and having reached the Tikhvin monastery, he spent three days and three nights there in ceaseless prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos. The Mother of God appeared to him in a dream. Showing Her approval of him, S
he said, "My servant Cyril, pleaser of the Most Holy Trinity, go to the Eastern region of White Lake, and the Lord My Son will show you the place of rest for your old age."

The saint proceeded to White Lake, weeping copious tears at the miraculous vision. On the lake he saw a small island, from which a pillar of fire rose up to the sky. There, beneath a centuries old spruce tree, St Cyril built a hut, and then set up two cells: one for himself, the other for future brethren. The hermit also constructed two small churches, one in honor of the Resurrection of Christ and the other in honor of the Mother of God Hodigitria. He underwent many temptations from invisible enemies, and from idlers roving about, but he overcame everything by brave endurance and constant prayer.
News of his holy life spread everywhere, and brethren gathered around him.
There were many instances of healing through his prayers, and the Lord also granted His saint the gift of foresight. Sensing his impending end, St Cyril summoned the brethren. With tears of humility the saint instructed his spiritual children one last time, until his voice gave out. For a long time then he was silent, but suddenly he cried out with loud sobbing, "I go to the Lord into life eternal, but I entrust you to God the Word and His Grace, bestowing an inheritance and sanctification upon all. May it help you. But I beseech you, do not become lax in fasting and prayers, guard yourself from the snares of the Enemy, and the Lord in His ineffable mercy will not condemn your humility."
Having said this, the saint gave a final kiss to the brethren, received the Holy Mysteries, signed himself with the Sign of the Cross, and with the words "Glory to God for everything!" he gave up his pure soul to the Lord on February 4, 1532.
Maddern Or Madron Well.  
"Plunge thy right hand in St Maciron's spring, If true to its troth be the palm you bring; But if a false digit thy fingers bear, Lay them at once on the burning share."
OF the holy well at St Maddern, Carne [a] writes thus --
"It has been contended that a virgin was the patroness of this church--that she was buried at Minster--and that many miracles were performed at her grave. A learned commentator, however, is satisfied that it was St Motran, who was one of the large company that came from Ireland with St Buriana, and he was slain at the mouth of the Hayle; the body was begged, and afterwards buried here. Near by was the miraculous Well of St Maddern, over which a chapel was built, so sacred was it held, (This chapel was destroyed by the fanaticism of Major Ceely in the days of Cromwell.) It stood at no great distance on the moor, and the soil around it was black and boggy, mingled with a gray moorstone.  "The votaries bent awfully and tremblingly over its sedgy bank, and gazed on its clear bosom for a few minutes ere they proved the fatal ordeal; then an imploring look was cast towards the figure of St Motran, many a crossing was repeated, and at last the pin or pebble held aloof was dropped into the depth beneath. Often did the rustic beauty fix her eye intently on the bubbles that rose, and broke, and disappeared; for in that moment the lover was lost, or the faithful husband gained. It was only on particular days, however, according to the increase or decrease of the moon, that the hidden virtues of the well were consulted." [b]


Of this well we have the following notice by William Scawen, Esq., Vice-Warden of the Stannaries. The paper from which we extract it was first printed by Davies Gilbert, Esq., F.R.S., as an appendix to his "Parochial History of Cornwall." Its complete title is, "Observations on an Ancient Manuscript, entitled 'Passio Christo," written in the Cornish Language, and now preserved in the Bodleian Library; with an Account of the Language, Manners, and Customs of the People of Cornwall, (from a Manuscript in the Library of Thomas Artle, Esq., 1777)" --"Of St Mardren's Well (which is a parish west to the Mount), a fresh true story of two persons, both of them lame and decrepit, thus recovered from their infirmity. These two persons, after they had applied themselves to divers physicians and chirurgeons, for cure, and finding no success by them, they resorted to St Mardren's Well, and according to the ancient custom which they had heard of, the same which was once in a year--to wit, on Corpus Christi evening--to lay some small offering on the altar there, and to lie on the ground all night, drink of the water there, and in the morning after to take a good draught more, and to take and carry away some of the water, each of them in a bottle, at their departure. This course these two men followed, and within three weeks they found the effect of it, and, by degrees their strength increasing, were able to move themselves on crutches. The year following they took the same course again, after which they were able to go with the help of a stick; and at length one of them, John Thomas, being a fisherman, was, and is at this day, able to follow his fishing craft. The other, whose name was William Cork, was a soldier under the command of my kinsman, Colonel William Godolphin (as he has often told me), was able to perform his duty, and died in the service of his majesty King Charles. But herewith take also this :-- "One Mr Hutchens, a person well known in those parts, and now lately dead, being parson of Ludgvan, a near neighbouring parish to St Mardren's Well, he observed that many of his parishioners often frequented, this well superstitiously, for which he reproved them privately, and sometimes publicly, in his sermons; but afterwards he, the said Mr Hutchens, meeting with a woman coming from the well with a bottle in her hand, desired her earnestly that he might drink thereof, being then troubled with colical pains, which accordingly he did, and was eased of his infirmity. The latter story is a full confutation of the former; for, if the taking the water accidentally thus prevailed upon the party to his cure, as it is likely it did, then the miracle which was intended to be by the ceremony of lying on the ground and offering is wholly fled, and it leaves the virtue of the water to be the true cause of the cure. And we have here, as in many places of the land, great variety of salutary springs, which have diversity of operations, which by natural reason have been found to be productive of good effects, and not by miracle, as the vain fancies of monks and friars have been exercised in heretofore."
Bishop Hale, of Exeter, in his "Great Mystery of Godliness," says --
"Of which kind was that noe less than miraculous cure, which, at St Maddern's Well, in Cornwall, was wrought upon a poore cripple; whereof, besides the attestation of many hundreds of the neighbours, I tooke a strict and impartial examination in my last triennial visitation there. This man, for sixteen years, was forced to walke upon his hands, by reason of the sinews of his Ieggs were soe contracted that he cold not goe or walke on his feet, who upon monition in a dream to wash in that well, which accordingly he did, was suddainly restored to the use of his limbs; and I sasve him both able to walk and gett his owne maintenance. I found here was neither art nor collusion,--the cure done, the author our invisible God," &c. 
In Madron Well--and, I have no doubt, in many others--may be found frequently the pins which have been dropped by maidens desirous of knowing "when they were to be married." I once witnessed the whole ceremony performed by a group of beautiful girls, who had walked on a May morning from Penzance. Two pieces of straw, about an inch long each, were crossed and the pin run through them. This cross was then dropped into the water, and the rising bubbles carefully counted, as they marked the number of years which would pass ere the arrlval of the happy day. This practice also prevailed amongst the visitors to the well at the foot of Monacuddle Grove, near St Austell. On approaching the Waters, each visitor is expected to throw in a crooked pin; and, if you are lucky, you may possibly see the other pins rising from the bottom to meet the most recent offering. Rags and- votive offerings to the genius of the waters are hung around many of the wells. Mr Couch says :-- "At Maciron Well, near Penzance, I observed the custom of hang-jog rags on the thorns which grew in the enclosure."
Crofton Croker tells us the same custom prevails in Ireland; and Dr O'Connor, in his "Travels in Persia," describes the prevalence of this custom.
Mr Campbell,[c] on this subject, writes :--" Holy healing wells are common all over the Highlands, and people still leave offerings of pins and nails, and bits of rag, though few would confess it. There is a well in Islay where I myself have, after drinking, deposited copper caps amongst a hoard of pins and buttons, and similar gear, placed in chinks in the rocks and trees at the edge of the 'Witches' Well.' There is another well with similar offerings freshly placed beside it, in an island in Loch Maree, in Ross-shire, and many similar wells are to be found in other places in Scotland. For example, I learn from Sutherland that a well in the Black Isle of Cromarty., near Rosehaugh, has miraculous healing powers. A country woman tells me, that abput forty years ago, she remembers it being surrounded by a crowd of people every first Tuesday its June, who bathed and drank of it before sunrise. Each patient tied a string or rag to one of the trees that overhung it before leaving. It was sovereign for headaches. Mr--remembers to have seen a well here, called Mary's Well, hung round with votive rags.'"

Well-worship is mentioned by Martin. The custom, in his day, in the Hebrides, was to walk south round about the well.
Sir William Betham, in his "Gael and Cymbri" (Dublin: W. Curry, Jun., & Co., 1834), says, at page 235 :-- "The Celtae were much addicted to the worship of fountains and rivers as divinities. They had a deity called Divona, or the river-god."

[a] "Tales of the West," by the author of "Letters from the East,"
[b] The tale of "The Legend of Pacorra."
[c] "Popular Tales of the West Highlands," by J. F. Campbell. (See page 234, vol. ii.)
1530 BD STEPHANA QUINZANI, VIRGIN; third order of St Dominic, she spent her time in nursing the sick and relieving the poor until she was able herself to found a convent at Soncino;  performed many miracles of healing and to have multiplied food and money;
STEPHANA Quinzani was born in 1457 near Brescia, of a middle-class family. Strange things are related of her childhood, and she is said to have consecrated herself to God at a very early age. Her precise vocation, however, was not decided until her father and mother moved to Soncino, and she came under the influence of the Dominicans. There she had a vision of St Andrew the Apostle holding a cross. Receiving the habit of the third order of St Dominic, she spent her time in nursing the sick and relieving the poor until she was able herself to found a convent at Soncino. The most interesting document which has been preserved concerning her is a contemporary account, drawn up in 1497 and signed by twenty-one witnesses, describing one of the ecstasies in which she represented in her own person the different stages of the Passion, including the scourging, the crowning with thorns and the nailing to the cross. In these ecstasies the wound marks, or stigmata, seem to have shown themselves in her hands and feet, and her frame became so rigid that the onlookers could not change her position or bend her limbs. She is said to have performed many miracles of healing and to have multiplied food and money.
The Legenda Volgare, from which all accounts of Bd Stephana ultimately derive, is called by its editor, Mgr Guerrini, “a mystical romance in full flower, written as ascetical edification rather than history, full of elevations and mystical ramblings for women readers”.  Another source, the fragments of the beata’s own letters,
has not yet been properly explored and studied; she corresponded with many people in northern Italy. Bd Stephana died on January 2, 1530, and her cultus was confirmed in 1740. 

See P. de Micheli, La b. Stefana Quinzani: memorie e documenti, and P. Guerrini, La prima Legenda Volgare de la b. Stefana Quinzani (1930). See also M. C. Ganay, Les Bses. Dominicaines (1913), pp. 413—434, and pp. 545—548 where is printed part of the relazione referred to above.
1521 BD MARGARET OF LORRAINE, WIDOW; 1513, when her responsibility for her children was at an end, she withdrew to Mortagne, where there was a convent and she could unostentatiously look after the poor and the sick. From there she took some of the nuns and established them, under the rule of the Poor Clares, at Argentan. In this convent Bd Margaret herself took the habit in 1519. She refused the office of abbess, and died, a simple nun; Bd Margaret is mentioned among the praetermissi, and the writer describes the evidences of a still fervent cultus that he witnessed on a visit to Argentan in 1878.
He also refers to a catalogue of miracles at the shrine, drawn up by Fr Mann de Proverre.
MARGARET OF Anjou, daughter of “good King René”, married the holy Henry VI of England; her sister, Yolande, married Fern of Lorraine and of their union was born the Margaret whose ancient cultus was confirmed in 1921. When she was twenty-five she married René, Duke of Alençon. The duke died four years later, and Margaret was left with three babies, and the estates of Alençon to be looked after for them. The first thing she did was to ensure the guardianship of her children, which Charles VIII of France wanted to take from her, and then settled down to bring them up at her castle of Mauves. Bd Margaret was as solicitous for the spiritual and temporal welfare of her vassals as for that of her sons; and she proved herself a most capable administrator, so that when her son Charles came of age and married, he received his inheritance in a good deal better state than it had been left by his father.
Margaret had come under the influence of St Francis of Paula, and during her years of widowhood had been leading a life of considerable asceticism. About 1513, when her responsibility for her children was at an end, she withdrew to Mortagne, where there was a convent and she could unostentatiously look after the poor and the sick. From there she took some of the nuns and established them, under the rule of the Poor Clares, at Argentan. In this convent Bd Margaret herself took the habit in 1519. She refused the office of abbess, and died, a simple nun, on November 2, 1521. Her body was taken from its tomb by the Jacobins in 1793 and thrown into the common burying-ground. It was a dastardly act, but there is a certain fitness in the ashes of this holy Duchess of Alençon mingling with those of the nameless poor and obscure people to whom she had been so devoted.

In the Acta Sanctorum (November, vol. i, pp. 418—459) Bd Margaret is mentioned among the praetermissi, and the writer describes the evidences of a still fervent cultus that he witnessed on a visit to Argentan in 1878. He also refers to a catalogue of miracles at the shrine, drawn up by Fr Mann de Proverre, but at that date unprinted. Several lives of this servant of God were published in the seventeenth century for example, one by P. de Hameau in 1628. In more modern times we have biographies by E. Laurent (1854) and R. Guérin (1926). The decree confirming the cultus is printed in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. xiii (1921), pp. 231—233.
1518 BD GILES OF LORENZANA his ecstatic prayer and gift of prophecy were renowned far and wide. In particular he is said to have been frequently seen raised from the ground and to have been physically assaulted by the Evil One.
THE published lives of this Giles tell us that he was born about 1443 at Lorenzana in what was once the kingdom of Naples. His parents were a devout couple of the working class, and the boy was not hindered in the religious practices which he adopted from early youth, more especially after he came under the influence of the Franciscan friars, who made a foundation in his native town. In time he decided to serve God in solitude, settling near a little shrine of our Lady. Here he spent most of his time absorbed in prayer, the birds and beasts becoming his familiar companions. But the news of the miracles he was believed to work gradually attracted visitors, and being forced to seek refuge elsewhere, he next took service with a farmer near Lorenzana. Of this stage of his life it is said that, though he spent most of his time in church, his work, God so disposing, did not suffer from his absence. Eventually he was received into the Franciscan com­munity as a lay-brother, and being given the care of the garden, he was allowed to build himself a little hut there, where he lived as in a kind of hermitage. He was still the friend of the birds and all living creatures, and his miraculous cures, his ecstatic prayer and gift of prophecy were renowned far and wide. In particular he is said to have been frequently seen raised from the ground and to have been physically assaulted by the Evil One. He died on January 10, 1518. The state­ment made that six years after his death his incorrupt body, though it had been laid in the tomb in the ordinary way, was found kneeling, rosary in hand, and the face turned towards the Blessed Sacrament, can hardly be considered to rest upon evidence sufficient to establish so strange a marvel. The cult of Bd Giles was confirmed in 1880.
See Léon, L’Auréole Séraphique (English trans.), January 10 Antony da Vicenza, Vita e miracoli del B. Egidio (1880).
1513 Blessed Archangelo Canetuli archbishop-elect natural gift of fraternal love and supernatural gift of prophecy OSA (AC)
(also known as Archangelus of Bologna) Born at Bologna, Italy; Archangelus became an Augustinian canon regular at Gubbio and was conspicuous for his natural gift of fraternal love and supernatural gift of prophecy. He died as archbishop-elect of Florence (Attwater2, Benedictines).
1510 St Catherine (Caterinetta) of Genoa, Widow; blood from her stigmata gave off exceptional heat; “He who purifies himself from his faults in the present life, satisfies with a penny a debt of a thousand ducats; and he who waits until the other life to discharge his debts, consents to pay a thousand ducats for that which he might before have paid with a penny. Saint Catherine, Treatise on purgatory. (RM)
Génuæ sanctæ Catharínæ Víduæ, contémptu mundi et caritáte in Deum insígnis.
    In Genoa, St. Catherine, a widow, renowned for her contempt of the world and her love of God.
Born in Genoa, Italy, 1447; died there, September 14, 1510; beatified in 1737 and equipollently canonized by Pope Benedict XIV a few years later (others say she was canonized in 1737); feast day formerly on March 22.
Caterina_by Tommasina Fieschi.jpg


    We should not wish for anything but what comes to us from moment to moment, Saint Catherine told her spiritual children, exercising ourselves none the less for good. For he who would not thus exercise himself, and await what God sends, would tempt God. When we have done what good we can, let us accept all that happens to us by Our Lord's ordinance, and let us unite ourselves to it by our will. Who tastes what it is to rest in union with God will seem to himself to have won to Paradise even in this life.

The biography of Saint Catherine of Genoa, who combined mysticism with practicality, was written by Baron Friedrich von Hügel. She was the fifth and youngest child of James Fieschi and his wife Francesca di Negro, members of the noble Guelph family of Fieschi, which had produced two popes (Innocent IV and Adrian V). After her birth, her father later became viceroy of Naples for King René of Anjou.

From the age of 13 Catherine sought to became a cloistered religious. Her sister was already a canoness regular and her confessor was the chaplain of that convent. When she asked to be received, they decided that she was too young. Then her father died and, for dynastic reasons, her widowed mother insisted that the 16-year-old marry the Genoese Ghibelline patrician, Guiliano Adorno. Her husband was unfaithful, violent, and a spendthrift. The first five years of their marriage, Catherine suffered in silence. In some ways it seems odd that he did not find her attractive, because Catherine was a beautiful woman of great intelligence, and deeply religious. But they were of completely different temperaments: she was intense and humorless; he had a zest for life.

Then she determined to win her husband's affection by adopting worldly airs. As it turns out, this only made her unhappy because she lost the only consolation that had previously sustained her-- her religious life. Ten years into her marriage, Catherine was a very unhappy woman; her husband had reduced them to poverty by his extravagance. On the eve of his feast in 1473, Catherine prayed, Saint Benedict, pray to God that He make me stay three months sick in bed. Two days later she was kneeling for a blessing before the chaplain at her sister's convent. She had visited her sister and revealed the secrets of her heart. Her sister advised her to go to confession.

In following her sister's advice, Catherine experienced a sort of ecstasy. She was overwhelmed by her sins and, at the very same time, by the infinite love of God for her. This experience was the foundation for an enduring awareness of the presence of God and a fixed attitude of soul. She was drawn back to the path of devotion of her childhood. Within a few days she had a vision of our Lord carrying His cross, which caused her to cry out, O Love, if it be necessary I am ready to confess my sins in public! On the Solemnity of the Annunciation she received the Eucharist, the first time with fervor for ten years.

Thus began her mystical ascent under very severe mortifications that included fasting throughout Lent and Advent almost exclusively on the Eucharist. She became a stigmatic. A group of religious people gathered around Catherine, who guided them to a spirit- filled life.

Eventually her husband was converted, became a Franciscan tertiary, and they agreed to live together in continence. Catherine and Giuliano devoted themselves to the care of the sick in the municipal hospital of Genoa, Pammatone, where they were joined by Catherine's cousin Tommasina Fieschi. In 1473, they moved from their palazzo to a small house in a poorer neighborhood than was necessary. In 1479, they went to live in the hospital and Catherine became its director in 1490. The heroism of Catherine's charity revealed itself in a special way during the plagues of 1493 and 1501. The first one killed nearly 75 percent of the inhabitants. Catherine herself contracted the disease. Although she recovered, she was forced to resign due to ill health three years later.


After Giuliano's death the following year (1497), Catherine's spiritual life became even more intense. In 1499, Catherine met don Cattaneo Marabotto, who became her spiritual director. Her religious practices were idiosyncratic; for instance, she went to communion daily when it was unusual to do so. For years she made extraordinarily long fasts without abating her charitable activities. Catherine is an outstanding example of the religious contemplative who combines the spiritual life with competence in practical affairs. Yet she was always fearful of "the contagion of the world's slow stain" that had separated her from God in the early years of her marriage.

Her last three years of life were a combination of numerous mystical experiences and ill health that remained undiagnosed by even John-Baptist Boerio, the principal doctor to King Henry VII. In addition to her body remaining undecomposed and one of her arms elongating in a peculiar manner shortly before her death, the blood from her stigmata gave off exceptional heat.

A contemporary painting of Catherine, now at the Pammatone Hospital in Genoa, possibly painted by the female artist Tomasina Fieschi, shows Catherine in middle age. It reveals a slight woman with a long, patrician nose; pronounced, cleft chin; easy smile of broad but thin lips (and, surprisingly, deep laugh lines); high cheekbones; and large dark eyes punctuated by thin, graceful eyebrows.

Dialogue between the soul and the body and Treatise on purgatory are outstanding works in the field of mysticism, which were inspired by her and contain the essence of her, but were actually composed by others under her name. She is the patron of Genoa and of Italian hospitals (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Harrison, Schamoni, Schouppe, Walsh).
Of interest may be The Life and Doctrine of Saint Catherine of Genoa.
1510 ST CATHERINE OF GENOA, WIDOW   
The Fieschi were a great Guelf family of Liguria, with a long and distinguished history. In 1234 it gave to the Church the vigorous Pope Innocent IV, and in 1276 his nephew, who ruled for a few weeks as Adrian V. By the middle of the fifteenth century it had reached the height of its power and splendour in Liguria, Piedmont and Lombardy.  One member was a cardinal, and another, James, descended from the brother of Innocent IV, was viceroy of Naples for King René of Anjou. This James Fieschi was married to a Genoese lady, Francesca di Negro, and to them was born at Genoa in the year 1447 the fifth and last of their children, Caterinetta, now always called Catherine. Her biographers give particulars of her premising childhood which may perhaps be dismissed as common-form panegyric, but from the age of thirteen she was undoubtedly strongly attracted to the religious life. Her sister was already a canoness regular and the chaplain of her convent was Catherine’s confessor, so she asked him if she also could take the habit. In consultation with the nuns he put her off on account of her youth, and about the same time Catherine’s father died. Then, at the age of sixteen, she was married. It is alleged of many saints, both male and female, that, though wishing to enter a monastery, they married in obedience to the will of those in authority over them, and of some of them these circumstances are only doubtfully true. But about St Catherine of Genoa there is no question. The star of the Ghibelline family of the Adorni was in decline, and by an alliance with the powerful Fieschi they hoped to restore the fortunes of their house. The Fieschi were willing enough, and Catherine was their victim. Her bridegroom was Julian Adorno, a young man with too poor a character to bring any good out of his marriage as a marriage. Catherine was beautiful in person (as may be seen from her portraits), of great intelligence and sensibility, and deeply religious; of an intense temperament, without humour or wit. Julian was of very different fibre, incapable of appreciating his wife, and to that extent to be commiserated; but if he failed to win more than her dutiful submission and obedience it was either because he did not try, or because he set about it in the wrong way. He was, on his own admission, unfaithful to her; for the rest, he was pleasure-loving to an inordinate degree, undisciplined, hot-tempered and spendthrift. He was hardly ever at home, and for the first five years of her married life Catherine lived in solitude and moped amid vain regrets. Then for another five she tried what consolations could he found in the gaieties and recreations of her world, and was little less sad and desperate than before.
She had, however, never lost trust in God, or at least so much of it as was implied in the continued practice of her religion, and on the eve of the feast of St Benedict in 1473 she was praying in a church dedicated in his honour near the sea-shore outside Genoa. And she asked that saint, “St Benedict, pray to God that He make me stay three months sick in bed”. Two days later she was kneeling for a blessing before the chaplain at her sister’s convent when she was suddenly overcome by a great love of God and realization of her own unworthiness. She repeated over and over interiorly, “No more world!  No more sins!” and she felt that “had she had in her possession a thousand worlds, she would have cast them all away”. She was able to do nothing but mumble an excuse and retire, and within the next day or two she had a vision of our Lord carrying His cross which caused her to cry out, “0 Love, if it be necessary I am ready to confess my sins in public!” Then she made a general confession of her whole life with such sorrow “as to pierce her soul”. On the feast of the Annunciation she received holy communion, the first time with fervour for ten years, and shortly after became a daily communicant, so remaining for the rest of her life—a most rare thing in those days, so that she used to say she envied priests, who could receive our Lord’s body and blood daily without exciting comment.

   At about this time his luxury and extravagance had brought Julian to the verge of ruin, and his wife’s prayers, added to his misfortunes, brought about a reformation in his life. They moved from their palazzo into a small house, much more humble and in a poorer quarter than was necessary agreed to live together in continence and devoted themselves to the care of the sick in the hospital of Pammatone. Associated with them was a cousin of Catherine, Tommasina Fieschi, who after her widowhood became first a canoness and then a Dominican nun. This went on for six years without change, except in the development of St Catherine’s spiritual life, till in 1479 the couple went to live in the hospital itself, of which eleven years later she was appointed matron. She proved as capable an administrator as she was a devoted nurse, especially during the plague of 1493, when four-fifths of those who remained in the city died. Catherine caught the distemper off a dying woman whom she had impulsively kissed, and herself nearly died. During the visitation she first met the lawyer and philanthropist Hector Vernazza, who was soon to become her ardent disciple (and also the father of the Venerable Battista Vernazza) and to whom is due the preservation of many precious details of her life and conversation.
   In 1496 Catherine’s health broke down and she had to resign the control of the hospital, though still living within the building, and in the following year her husband died after a painful illness. “Messer Giuliano is gone”, she said to a friend, “and as you know well he was of a rather wayward nature, so that I suffered much interiorly. But my tender Love assured me of his salvation before he had yet passed from this life.” Julian provided in his will for his illegitimate daughter Thobia, and her unnamed mother, and St Catherine made herself responsible for seeing that Thobia should never be in want or uncared for.
   For over twenty years St Catherine lived without any spiritual direction whatever, and only rarely going to confession. Indeed, it is possible that, having no serious matter on her conscience, she did not always make even an annual confession, and she had, without fussiness, found no priest who understood her spiritual state with a view to direction. But about 1499 a secular priest, Don Cattaneo Marahotto, was made rector of the hospital, and  “they understood each other, even by just looking each other in the face without speaking. “To him
she said, “Father, I do not know where I am, either in soul or body. I should like to confess, but I am not conscious of any sin.” And Don Marabotto lays bare her state in a sentence “And as for the sins which she did mention, she was not allowed to see them as so many sins thought or said or done by herself. She was like a small boy who has committed some slight offence in ignorance, and who, if someone tells him, ‘You have done wrong’, starts and blushes, yet not because he has now an experimental knowledge of evil.”  We are also told in her life  “that Catherine did not take care to gain plenary indulgences. Not that she did not hold them in great reverence and devotion and consider them of very great value, but she wished that the selfish part of her should be rather chastised and punished as it deserved....” In pursuance of the same heroic idea she but rarely asked others, whether on earth or in Heaven, to pray for her; the invocation of St Benedict mentioned above is a very notable exception and the only one recorded as regards the saints. It is also noteworthy that throughout her widowhood St Catherine remained a laywoman. Her husband on his conversion joined the third order of St Francis (and to become a tertiary of any order was in those days a far more serious matter than it is now), but she did not do even that. These peculiarities are mentioned neither for commendation nor reprobation; those to whom they appear surprising may be reminded that those who examined the cause of her beatification were perfectly well aware of them the Universal Church does not demand of her children a uniformity of practice compatible neither with human variousness nor the freedom of the Holy Spirit to act on souls as He wills.
   From the year 1473 on St Catherine without intermission led a most intense spiritual life combined with unwearying activity on behalf of the sick and sad, not only in the hospital but throughout Genoa.
   She is one more example of the Christian universality which those who do not understand call contradictions complete “other-worldliness” and efficient “practicality”; concern for the soul and care for the body; physical austerity which is modified or dropped at the word of authority, whether ecclesiastical, medical or social; a living in the closest union with God and an “all-thereness” as regards this world and warm affection for individuals in it.
   The life of St Catherine has been taken as the text of a most searching work on the mystical element in religion—and she kept the hospital accounts without ever being a farthing out and was so concerned for the right disposition of property that she made four wills with several codicils.
   Catherine suffered from ill health for some years and had to give up not only her extraordinary fasts, but even to a certain extent those of the Church, and at length in 1507 her health gave way completely. She rapidly got worse, and for the last months of her life suffered great agony; among the physicians who attended her was John-Baptist Boerio, who had been the principal doctor of King Henry VII of England, and he with the others was unable to diagnose her complaint. They eventually decided, “it must be a supernatural and divine thing”, for she lacked all pathological symptoms, which they could recognize. On September 13, 1510, she was in a high fever and delirium, and at dawn of the 15th “this blessed soul gently breathed her last in great peace and tranquillity, and flew to her tender and much-desired Love”. She was beatified in 1737 and Benedict XIV added her name to the Roman Martyrology, with the title of saint. St Catherine left two written works, a treatise on Purgatory and a Dialogue of the soul and the body, which the Holy Office declared were alone enough to prove her sanctity. They are among the more important documents of mysticism, but Alban Butler says of them very truly that “these treatises are not writ for the common”.

Apart from a short notice by Giustiniano, Bishop of Nibio, in his Annali di Genova (1537), the earliest biographical account of St Catherine seems to be preserved in manuscripts varying considerably in their Italian text and belonging to the years 1547—1548. From these in the main was compiled the first book concerning her which was printed in any detail. It is commonly known as the Vita e Dottrina, and was issued in 1551. This work, which has been often reprinted, is our principal source of information concerning the saint, and it contains also a collection of her sayings and meditations. The many problems connected with its text have been discussed in great detail by Baron Friedrich von Hügel in his important work, The Mystical Element of Religion (2 vols., 1908); see especially vol. i, pp. 371—466. His conclusions are beyond doubt justified in the main, but there is room for some difference of opinion as to details, as noted, e.g. in The Month, June, 1923, pp. 538—543. See also the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. v. The numerous modern lives of St Catherine are based on the Vita e Dottrina; among the more recent are Lili Sertorius, Katharina von Genua (1939), and L. de Lapérouse, La vie de Ste Catherine de Gênes (1948). A new translation of the Purgatory treatise and the Dialogue was published in 1946, made by Helen Douglas Irvine and Charlotte Balfour.

1508 Blessed  Gratia mysterious light seen above his cell miracles at his intercession lay-brother at Monte Ortono, near Padua  gift of infused knowledge

According to tradition, Gratia was a native of Cattaro (Kotor) in Dalmatia who followed the trade of the sea till he was thirty years old. Coming one day into a church at Venice, he was deeply impressed by a sermon from an Augustinian friar, Father Simon of Camerino. Gratia determined to enter that order and was accepted as a lay-brother at Monte Ortono, near Padua. Here, brother Gratia was employed in the gardens, and soon earned the respect and veneration of the whole convent.
When he was transferred to the friary of St. Christopher at Venice, a mysterious light was seen above his cell, and miracles took place at his intercession. When the church was being repaired and he was working on the building, his cistern was marvelously supplied with water all through a dry summer, and the water remained fresh even when the sea got into it. In his seventy-first year, Gratia was taken seriously ill, and insisted in getting out of bed to receive the last Sacraments on his knees. He died on November 9, 1508. The cultus of Blessed Gratia was confirmed in 1889.

Blessed Gratia of Cattaro, OSA (AC) Born in Cattaro, Dalmatia; died 1509; beatified in 1889. The Venetian fisherman, Gratia, was converted at the age of 30 on hearing a sermon. He then entered the Augustinians as a lay brother, where he became a gardener famous for his gift of infused knowledge (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

THE BLESSED GRACE [GRATIA, GRACIJA] OF MUL
Augustinian, Hermit (Mul in Boka Kotorska, November 27, 1438 - Venice, November 9, 1508)
Blessed Grace of Mul     In the small village of Mul in Boka Kotorska, a child was born who was christened Grace [Gracija]. This name seemed to characterize his entire life as a fisherman, sailor, monk and saint.
As the child of a poor fisherman, he spent his youth on the sea as a fisherman and working the barren land as a farmer. He soon became a sailor. On one voyage across the Adriatic Sea from his native village to Venice, he found not material but spiritual gain. In 1468, he heard the inspired preaching of the Blessed Simon of Camerine, an Augustinian who was a famous popular missionary of the time. The word of the Blessed Simon was like a seed planted in Grace's heart, which would soon yield fruit. Grace decided to abandon his way of life and devote himself entirely to God.
He knocked on the door of the Augustinian monastery and began a monastic life in the impoverished monastery on Mt. Ortona near Padua. After fifteen years of penitential life, from Ortona he went to a monastery on the island of San Kristoforo in Venice. There he spent the last years of his life and died in holiness at the age of 70. His body was initially buried in a common grave. After a short time, it was placed in a new marble sarcophagus and exhibited to the veneration of believers. Many claimed that they received numerous graces through his intercession.

After the fall of Napoleon, the hermits of St. Augustine left the island of San Kristoforo and returned the body of the Blessed Grace to his native village. Thus, after 250 years, the greatest son of this coastal village returned home by boat to a magnificent celebration. Pope Leo XIII approved the permanent veneration of this modest monk. In 1889, Grace was beatified.

Grace was a man of humble family origins. He went out into the world as a sailor. When he chose the monastic life, he did not want to study books and become a priest but live as a humble friar. Grace worked in the sacristy, monastery and monastery garden with devoted love and sacrifice. He cultivated special reverence toward Christ who is present in the Holy Eucharist. During the Mass, he would submerge himself in the Eucharistic Mystery and nourish himself with Christ's body during Holy Communion. In his free time, he would spend hours kneeling before the Most Holy Altar of the Sacrament. He was a eucharistic soul, distinguished by a childlike sincere piety toward Mary. The poor and beggars who came to the monastery gates had a special place in his heart. He never refused them. He offered each "a crust of bread" and word of encouragement, which often meant more to them than a material gift.

1503 Bd Magdalen Panattieri, Virgin; she seems to have been spared all external contradiction and persecution, soon becoming a force in her town of Trino. Her care for the poor and young children (in whose favour she seems several times to have acted miraculously) paved the way for her work for the conversion of sinners; she prayed and suffered for them and supplemented her austerities with exhortation and reprimands, especially against the sin of usury; She seems to have foreseen the calamities that overtook northern Italy during the invasions of the sixteenth century and made several covert references to them; it was afterwards noticed and attributed to her prayers that, when all around was rapine and desolation, Trino was for no obvious reason spared

Many have seen in the dress of the Order of Preachers the emblem par excellence of loving-kindness and devotion to one’s neighbour, and, in the days when such a course of action was common, many assumed the habit of the Dominican third order and lived in their homes a life of usefulness and charity in accordance with that dress.
St Catherine of Siena is the outstanding example; Bd Magdalen Panattieri is another.

   She was born and spent all her life in the little town of Trino-Vercellese in the marquisate of Montferrat, between Piedmont and Lombardy, and before she was twenty bound herself by a vow of celibacy and became a Dominican tertiary in a local chapter of widows and maidens who engaged themselves in works of devotion and benevolence. The life of Bd Magdalen was notably lacking in eventfulness, and she seems to have been spared all external contradiction and persecution, soon becoming a force in her town of Trino. Her care for the poor and young children (in whose favour she seems several times to have acted miraculously) paved the way for her work for the conversion of sinners; she prayed and suffered for them and supplemented her austerities with exhortation and reprimands, especially against the sin of usury.
   She was a veritable Preacheress and was appointed to give conferences to women and children in a building called the chapel of the Marquis, adjoining the Dominican church; soon the men also, and priests and religious as well, attended and the young novices were taken to hear and profit by her words.
   By her efforts the Dominicans were inspired to undertake a more strict observance, and in 1490 Bd Sebastian Maggi came from Milan to inaugurate it at her suggestion. These same friars were involved in a lawsuit with a Milanese councillor, who used his power so oppressively that he was excommunicated from Rome. In the resulting disorder a young man named Bartholomew Perduto publicly slapped Magdalen in the face, and she turned her other cheek and invited him to smack that also, which made him yet angrier. The people of Trino did not fail to attach significance to the fact that Bartholomew came to a violent end before the year was out, and that the Milanese was stricken with disease and died miserably:  but to the gentle and forgiving Magdalen these unhappy deaths were an occasion only of sorrow. She seems to have foreseen the calamities that overtook northern Italy during the invasions of the sixteenth century and made several covert references to them; it was afterwards noticed and attributed to her prayers that, when all around was rapine and desolation, Trino was for no obvious reason spared but not always, for in 1639 the town was bombarded by the Spaniards and Neapolitans and the relics of Bd Magdalen destroyed.
   When she knew that she was dying she sent for all her tertiary sisters, and many others pressed into her room. She made her last loving exhortation to them, promising to intercede for them all in eternity, adding, “I could not be happy in Heaven if you were not there too”. Then she peacefully made an end, while the bystanders were singing the thirtieth psalm. From before the day of her death, October 13, 1503, the grateful people of Trino had venerated Bd Magdalen Panattieri as a saint, a cultus that was confirmed by Pope Leo XII.
1504 Bd Timothy Of Montecchio; worked many miracles, visited by our Blessed Lady and St Francis and our Saviour spoke to him audibly from the sacramental species.
Very little seems to be recorded concerning the life of this holy Franciscan priest, although his cultus was formally confirmed by Pope Pius IX in 1870.  He was, we are told, of good family and came from the neighbourhood of Aquila in the Abruzzi.  He entered the Franciscan noviceship at an early age and was remarkable from the first for his austerity of life and for his scrupulous observance of the rule. What seems most of all to have impressed his contemporaries was the efficacy of the prayers which he said for those in need of help.  He worked many miracles, and it is alleged that he was visited by our Blessed Lady and St Francis and that our Saviour spoke to him audibly from the sacramental species. He died, aged 60, in the friary of St Angelo at Ocra, where his remains are still honoured.
  See Mazzara, Leggendario Francescano (1680), vol. iii, p. 540   and Leon, Aureole Seraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. `ii, p. 88
.
1504 Saint Paisius of Uglich igumen of the Protection monastery, near Uglich relics, glorified by miracles, rest beneath a crypt in the Protection monastery
He was born in the Tver district near the city of Kashin, and he was a nephew of St Macarius of Kalyazin (March 17).
St Paisius entered his uncle's monastery after the death of his parents, when he was just an eleven-year-old child. Under his uncle's guidance, St Paisius led a monastic life of obedience, fasting and prayer, and he was put to work copying soul-saving books.

"A man wondrous of spirit, famed teacher of holiness and most astounding wonderworker, he founded (in 1464) the cenobitic Protection monastery three versts from Uglich at the wish of Prince Andrew, and he was chosen igumen." St Paisius was also "founder and organizer of the holy Nikolsky Grekhozaruchnya monastery in 1489.

Struggling at the Protection monastery, St Paisius lived into old age and died on June 6, 1504. His relics, glorified by miracles, rest beneath a crypt in the Protection monastery.

St Paisius is also commemorated on January 8.
1505 Blessed Hosanna of Mantua spent her fortune in the service of the poor stigmata OP Tert.  miraculously learned to read/write V (AC)

(also known as Osanna) Born in Mantua, Lombardy, Italy, 1449; cultus confirmed by Popes Leo X and Innocent XII; beatified in 16. Osanna Andreassi was the daughter of the wealthy patrician Andreasio. She experienced visions from her early childhood, but kept the experiences to herself. At the age of six, she saw the Child Jesus carrying a cross and wearing a crown of thorns. He told her that He has a special love of children and purity. She was so impressed, as we all would be, that she immediately consecrated her entire life to God.

Osanna begged her father to allow her to learn to read so that she might be able to pray the Divine Office. He refused her request because it was a waste for a woman who was expected simply to raise a family. Osanna couldn't explain why she wanted to learn; she couldn't reveal her plans to him. When she was 14 and knew that he was arranging a marriage for her, she furtively went to the Dominican church and received the habit of its tertiaries. When she appeared at home in her religious garb, she explained that she had made a vow and must wear it until she had fulfilled her promise.

Now, this should not be understood as condoning deceit, but it served God's purpose. Her pious father accepted her explanation for a time. As the months passed he began to suspect what had happened. He had already refused to give her permission to enter the convent, and he was displeased that she should try to live as a tertiary in his own home. Eventually, his father's heart melted and he allowed Osanna to continue her routine of prayer, penance, and charity for the rest of her life. She was not professed until a few months before her death forty-two years later.

After the early death of both her parents, Osanna spent her fortune in the service of the poor. Her house became a center for people to discuss spiritual matters, for the needy and the sick, for the wealthy and the noble.
It is said that like Saint Catherine, she miraculously learned to read. One day she saw a piece of paper with two words and said, "Those words are 'Jesus' and 'Mary.'" From that time she could read anything pertaining to spiritual matters. By the same sort of favor, she also learned to write.

At age 28 (1477), Osanna received the mark of the wound in Jesus' side, caused by a long nail. For the next year various of the sacred wounds would appear, including the crown of thorns. Others saw them only on Wednesdays, Fridays, and during Holy Week, but it appears that they were visible to her and caused both pain and joy.

At this time Osanna felt the need for a spiritual director and prayed for one with wisdom, patience, and understanding. She found him during Mass when an interior voice said to her, "That's the one you need, the one who is saying Mass." Osanna thought he was too young, but, upon meeting him in the confessional a few days later, all doubts were erased.
Before her death, the soul of Blessed Columba of Rieti, another Dominican tertiary, appeared to her and told Osanna to prepare for death (Benedictines, Dorcy).

In art, Osanna is a Dominican tertiary wearing a crown of thorns, surrounded by rays of light (not the halo of a saint), a lily, a broken heart with a crucifix springing from it, the devil under her feet, two angels (one with a lily, one with a cross). This is similar to the image of Saint Catherine of Siena, who has a halo. Osanna is the patroness of school girls (Roeder).
1507 St. Francis of Paola hermit foundation of the Minimi fratres ('least brothers') penance, charity, and humility many miracles  gifts of prophesy insight into men's hearts uncorrupt 25 years but burned by Hugenots
 Turónis, in Gállia, sancti Francísci de Paula Confessóris, qui Ordinis Minimórum Institútor éxstitit; atque, virtútibus et miráculis clarus, a Leóne Papa Décimo in Sanctórum númerum est adscríptus.
       At Tours in France, St. Francis of Paula, founder of the Order of Minims.  Because he was renowned for virtues and miracles, he was inscribed among the saints by Pope Leo X.

1507 ST FRANCIS OF PAOLA, FOUNDER OF THE MINIM FRIARS miracles worker
ST FRANCIS was born about the year 1416 at Paola, a small town in Calabria. His parents were humble, industrious people who made it their chief aim to love and to serve God. As they were still childless after several years of married life, they prayed earnestly for a son, and when at last a boy was born to them, they named him after St Francis of Assisi, whose intercession they had specially sought.

In his thirteenth year he was placed in the Franciscan friary at San Marco, where he learnt to read and where he laid the foundation of the austere life which he ever afterwards led; although he had not professed the rule of the order, he seemed even at that tender age to outstrip the religious themselves in a scrupulous observance of its requirements. After spending a year there he accompanied his parents on a pilgrimage which included Assisi and Rome. Upon his return to Paola, with their consent, he retired first to a place about half a mile from the town, and afterwards to a more remote seclusion by the sea, where he occupied a cave. He was scarcely fifteen years old. Before he was twenty, he was joined by two other men. The neighbours built them three cells and a chapel in which they sang the divine praises and in which Mass was offered for them by a priest from the nearest church.
This date, 1452, is reckoned as that of the foundation of his order. Nearly seventeen years later, when the number of disciples had been augmented, a church and a monastery were built for them in the same place, with the sanction of the archbishop of Cosenza. So greatly were they beloved by the people that the whole countryside joined in the work of construction. Several miracles are said to have been worked by St Francis during the erection of the building, one or two of which were vouched for in the process of canonization. When the house was finished, the saint set himself to establish regular discipline in the community, whilst never mitigating anything of the austerity he practised. Though his bed was no longer a rock, it was a plank or the bare ground, with a log or a stone by way of a pillow. Only in extreme old age would he allow himself a mat. Penance, charity and humility formed the basis of his rule: charity was the motto he chose; but humility was the virtue which he inculcated continually on his followers. In addition to the three usual monastic obligations he imposed upon them a fourth, which bound them to observe a perpetual Lent, with abstinence not only from flesh but also from eggs and anything made with milk. Fasting he regarded as the royal road to self-conquest and, deploring as he always did the relaxation in the strict rule of Lent which the Church had been obliged to concede, he hoped that the abstinence of his followers might set a good example as well as make some sort of reparation for the lukewarmness of so many Christians.
Besides the gift of miracles St Francis was endowed with that of prophecy, and long afterwards, writing to Pope Leo X for the canonization of St Francis, the Bishop of Grenoble (uncle to Bayard, the “Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche”) wrote, “Most holy Father, he revealed to me many things which were known only to God and to myself”. Pope Paul II sent one of his chamberlains into Calabria to inquire about the truth of the wonderful things that were reported of the saint. Upon seeing a visitor approach, St Francis, who was busy with the masons over the construction of his church, left his work to greet him. The envoy attempted to kiss his hand, but this Francis would not allow; he protested that it was for him to kiss the hands which for some thirty years had been sanctified by offering the holy Sacrifice. The chamberlain, surprised that Francis should know how long he, a stranger, had been a priest, did not disclose his mission, but asked to speak with him and was led within the enclosure. Here he expatiated eloquently on the dangers of singularity, and censured Francis’s way of life as too austere for human nature. The saint attempted humbly to vindicate his rule and then, to prove what the grace of God would enable single-minded men to bear, he lifted out of the fire some burning coals and held them for some time in his hands unscathed. It may be noted that there is record of several similar examples of his immunity from the effects of fire. The chamberlain returned full of veneration for the holy man, and the new order received the sanction of the Holy See in 1474. At that time the community was composed of uneducated men, with only one priest. They were then called Hermits of St Francis of Assisi, and it was not until 1492 that their name was changed to that of “Minims”, at the desire of the founder, who wished his followers to be reckoned as the least (minimi) in the household of God.
St Francis made several other foundations in southern Italy and Sicily but he was threatened with a serious check to his activities; for Ferdinand, King of Naples, annoyed at some wholesome admonitions he and two of his sons had received from Francis, gave orders for him to be arrested and brought a prisoner to Naples. The official arrived to execute his order, but was so impressed with the saint’s personality and humility that, returning awestruck without his prisoner, he dissuaded Ferdinand from interfering in any way with so holy a man. Indeed all Italy was then ringing with the praises of St Francis as a saint, a prophet, and a wonder-worker.
It happened in 1481 that Louis XI, King of France, was slowly dying, after an apoplectic fit. Never had anyone a stronger passion for life or a greater dread of death, and so irritable and impatient was he that everyone feared to approach him. Realizing that he was steadily growing worse, he sent into Calabria to beg St Francis to come and heal him, making many promises to assist him and his order. Then, as his request was not acceded to, he appealed to Pope Sixtus IV, who told Francis to go. He at once set out; and King Louis gave ten thousand crowns to the herald who announced the saint’s arrival in his dominions, and sent the dauphin to escort him to Plessis-les-Tours. Louis, falling on his knees, besought Francis to heal him. The saint replied that the lives of kings are in the hands of God and have their appointed limits; prayer should be addressed to Him. Many interviews followed between the sovereign and his guest. Although Francis was an unlearned man, Philip de Commines, who often heard him, wrote that his words were so full of wisdom that all present were convinced that the Holy Ghost spoke through his lips. By his prayers and example he wrought a change of heart in the king, who died in resignation in his arms.
Charles VIII honoured Francis as his father had done, and would do nothing in the affairs of his conscience or even in state matters without his advice. He built for his friars a monastery in the park of Plessis and another at Amboise, at the spot where they had first met. Moreover, in Rome, he built for the Minims the monastery of Santa Trinità del Monte on the Pincian Hill, to which none but Frenchmen might be admitted.
St Francis passed twenty-five years in France, and died there. On Palm Sunday 1507 he fell ill, and on Maundy Thursday assembled his brethren and exhorted them to the love of God, to charity and to a strict observance of all the duties of their rule. Then he received viaticum barefoot with a rope round his neck, according to the custom of his order. He died on the following day, Good Friday, being then ninety-one years of age. His canonization took place in 1519.  Besides the rule which St Francis drew up for his friars, with a correctorium or method of enjoining penances and a ceremonial, he also composed a rule for nuns, and regulations for a third order of persons living in the world. Today the number of members of the Order of Minims is considerably reduced they are mostly found in Italy.
In the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. i, the Bollandists have printed a great part of the depositions made by witnesses in the process of canonization. Although the saint was canonized only twelve years after his death, still the advanced age to which he lived rendered it difficult to procure contemporary evidence as to his early life; those who had known him when he founded the Order of Minims were nearly all dead. Still the facts of his later career are well known, not only from the depositions but from the chronicles, letters and other documents of the period. Modern biographies are numerous, and among them may be mentioned those of Dabert (1875), Ferrante (1881), Rolland (1874), Pradier (1903), Porpora (1901) and G. M. Roberti (1915). Much information concerning the foundations of the Minims may be gathered from the volumes of G. M. Roberti, Disegno storico dell Online ad Minimi, 1902, 1909, etc.
Francis was born at Paola, Italy and was educated at the Franciscan friary of San Marco there, and when fifteen became a hermit near Paola. In 1436, he and two companions began a community that is considered the foundation of the Minim Friars. He built a monastery where he had led his eremitical life some fifteen years later and set a Rule for his followers emphasizing penance, charity, and humility, and added to the three monastic vows, one of fasting and abstinence from meat; he also wrote a rule for tertiaries and nuns. He was credited with many miracles and had the gifts of prophesy and insight into men's hearts. The Order was approved by Pope Sixtus IV in 1474 with the name Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi (changed to Minim Friars in 1492).

Francis established foundations in southern Italy and Sicily, and his fame was such that at the request of dying King Louis XI of France, Pope Sixtus II ordered him to France, as the King felt he could be cured by Francis. He was not, but was so comforted that Louis' son Charles VIII, became Francis' friend and endowed several monasteries for the Minims. Francis spent the rest of his life at the monastery of Plessis, France, which Charles built for him. Francis died there on April 2nd and was canonized in 1519.

Francis of Paola, O. Min., Hermit (RM) Born in Paola, Calabria, Italy, in 1416; died at Plessis-les-Tours, France, on April 2, 1507; canonized in 1519. 
Image of Saint Francis of Paola courtesy of  Saint Charles Borromeo Church

Francis's parents were of modest means and very devout. They were childless after many years of married life and prayed earnestly for a son. When God granted their prayer, they named the child after Saint Francis of Assisi, who was their special intercessor.
At 13, he joined the Franciscans at San Marco. There he was taught to read and learned to live austerely, which he did for the rest of his life. At 14, he accompanied his parents on a pilgrimage to Assisi and Rome. When they returned, he retired for a time to a place about a half mile from the town, and later, at age 15, to a more solitary place by the sea, where he lived in a cave as a hermit.
 
He was eventually joined by two other men (1436). Neighbors built them three cells and a chapel, where they sang the divine praises and where Mass was said for them by a priest from a nearby church. The foundation of his order in 1452 is said to have been called the Minimi fratres ('least brothers'), who accounted themselves least in the service of God. Their rule of life was notably austere.
About 17 years later, a church and monastery were built for them by the people of the area who had grown to love them, under the sanction of the archbishop of Cosenza. Francis maintained a regular discipline in the community. His bed was on a plank or the ground, with a log or stone for a pillow. He did not allow himself a mat until he was quite old. Charity was the motto he espoused, and humility was the virtue he urged his followers to seek. He asked that they observe a perpetual Lent, abstaining from meat, eggs, and dairy products.

The order received the approval of Pope Sixtus IV in 1474. The rule Francis wrote emphasized penance, charity, and humility. In addition to the three monastic vows he added one of fasting and abstention from meat. The friars were then called the Hermits of Saint Francis of Assisi (until the name was changed to Minim Friars in 1492), and they were composed of uneducated men with one priest. Francis also penned a rule for tertiaries and nuns.

If you read the long testimonies of the healed and the witnesses in the Acta Sanctorum, you would understand how Francis came by this reputation as a miracle-worker, and for other spiritual powers, especially his gifts of reading minds and prophecy.

Francis attained such fame as a worker of miracles that, in 1481, the dying King Louis XI of France sent for Francis, wishing the hermit to heal him, and promising to assist the order. Francis declined the invitation, but Louis appealed to Pope Sixtus IV, who ordered Francis to go. The king sent the dauphin to escort him to Plessis-les-Tours. When Louis fell on his knees before Francis and begged him to heal him, Francis told him that the lives of kings are in the hands of God and that Louis should pray to God.

The king and Francis had many discussions, and although Francis was an uneducated man, Philip de Commines, who was often present, wrote that he was so wise that hearers were convinced that the Holy Spirit spoke through him. He brought about a change of heart in the king, and Louis died, comforted, in his arms.

For a time he was tutor to Charles VIII, who respected Francis as his father had, and asked his advice on spiritual and state matters. Francis is credited with helping to restore peace between France and Brittany, and between France and Spain.  Charles built a monastery for Francis and his followers in the park of Plessis and another at Amboise, on the spot where they had first met. In Rome, he built the monastery at Santa Trinità del Monte on the Pincian Hill, to which only French Minims were admitted.

From the French court the renown of the saint spread to Germany and to Spain. The Emperor Maximilian and Ferdinand the Catholic founded new monasteries for him in their domains.  But Francis was so beloved that the French kings would not allow him to leave, and thus he spent the last 25 years of his life in France. He became famous for prophecies and miracles. He spent the last three months of his life in solitude in his cell, preparing himself for death.
On Palm Sunday, he became ill, and on Maundy Thursday, he assembled his brethren and urged them to love God, to be charitable, and to strictly observe the duties of their rule. He received the sacraments barefoot with a rope around his neck, according to the custom of the order, and died the following day.

As a witness at the canonization proceedings, "the worthy Jean Bourdichon, painter and chamberlain to our lord the king," testified that he had gone to the monastery of the Minimi after the death of Brother Francis and, in order to paint a likeness after the actual visage, had made a mold and cast of the face. 
The saint died on the morning of Good Friday at ten and the burial took place on the morning of Easter Monday. Regarding the funeral, Bourdichon says that a vast crowd of believers assembled and went home gladdened and greatly consoled by the sight of the deceased.

The same witness further testified that since the body was interred in a spot very frequently flooded by the nearby river, the brothers decided, on the advice of the princess, in order that it should not decay more quickly than it need, to disinter him and to rebury him in a stone sarcophagus in a higher grave. This took place 12 days after the funeral.

The witness was present when the corpse was taken out of the earth and laid in the sarcophagus. He saw the face as sound, unravaged, and without trace of dissolution as it was before interment. He knew this, because he purposely laid his face against that of the dead, in order to detect decomposition by the sense of smell.

He regarded the absence of decomposition as a miracle. He deposed further that he made another mask to enable him to make a more accurate and better painting. Asked whether, after the brother's death, the body had been eviscerated or opened, he declared that he knew nothing about this. The next witness said such proceedings had not taken place. As late as 1527, the corpse was still completely unchanged. Later it was burned by the Huguenots (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Gill, Schamoni, Walsh, White).

In art, dressed as a venerable friar, Saint Francis's emblem is the word Caritas in a circle of rays. At times he may be portrayed (1) standing on his cloak in the sea (a story told of several saints) (Roeder, White); (2) levitated above the crowd; kneeling in ecstasy with staff and book; (3) with the scourge and a skull (Roeder).

Saint Francis is the patron saint of sailors, naval officers, navigators, and all people associated with the sea. This patronage originated from an incident that was said to have occurred in 1464. Francis wished to cross the Straits of Messina to Sicily but was refused a boat. He lay his cloak on the sea, tying one end to his staff to make a sail, then sailed across with his companions (White). He is also invoked against plague and sterility (Roeder).

Franz von Paola Katholische Kirche: 2. April
Francesco wurde 1436 (oder 1416) in Paola in Kalabrien geboren. Er kam als Kind zu den Franziskanern zur Ausbildung, wurde Mönch und mit 15 Jahren Einsiedler. Um ihn sammelten sich weitere Einsiedler, so daß er 1454 in Cosenza ein Kloster baute und den Franziskanerorden der mindesten Brüder (Minimiten) gründete. Der Orden, der später auch den Namen Paulaner trug, wurde 1474 anerkannt. Franz, der die Gaben der Heilung und Prophetie bekommen hatte, ging 1482 auf Wunsch des Papstes zu dem todkranken König Ludwig XI. von Frankreich. Franz blieb in Frankreich und starb hier am 2.4.1507. 1519 wurde er heiliggesprochen. Sein Orden breitete sich trotz der streng asketischen Lebensweise (die Brüder legen das Gelübde ab, nur Fastenspeisen zu essen) rasch in Europa aus. Heute gibt es noch einige Paulanerklöster, auch ein weiblicher Zweig besteht seit 1495.

St. Francis of Paola
Francis was born at Paola, Italy and was educated at the Franciscan friary of San Marco there, and when fifteen became a hermit near Paola. In 1436, he and two companions began a community that is considered the foundation of the Minim Friars. He built a monastery where he had led his eremitical life some fifteen years later and set a Rule for his followers emphasizing penance, charity, and humility, and added to the three monastic vows, one of fasting and abstinence from meat; he also wrote a rule for tertiaries and nuns. He was credited with many miracles and had the gifts of prophesy and insight into men's hearts. The Order was approved by Pope Sixtus IV in 1474 with the name Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi (changed to Minim Friars in 1492). Francis established foundations in southern Italy and Sicily, and his fame was such that at the request of dying King Louis XI of France, Pope Sixtus II ordered him to France, as the King felt he could be cured by Francis. He was not, but was so comforted that Louis' son Charles VIII, became Francis' friend and endowed several monasteries for the Minims. Francis spent the rest of his life at the monastery of Plessis, France, which Charles built for him. Francis died there on April 2nd and was canonized in 1519. His feast day is April 2.
1511 Blessed John Liccio Dominican habit 96 years cured the sick when he was a baby reciting daily Office of the Blessed Virgin Office of the Dead, and the Penitential Psalms as a child frequently in ecstasy withered hand made whole OP (AC)

(also known as John Licci) Born in Sicily in 1400; beatified in 1733.

The man who holds the all-time record for wearing the Dominican habit--96 years-- was also a person about whom some delightful stories are told. Perhaps only in Sicily could so many wonderful things have happened to one man.

John was born to a poor family. His mother died at his birth and his father, too poor to hire a nurse for the baby, fed him on crushed pomegranates and other odds and ends. He was obliged to leave the baby alone when he went out to work in the fields, and a neighbor women, who heard the child crying, took the baby over to her house and fed him properly.

She laid the baby in bed beside her sick husband, who had been paralyzed for a long time. Her husband rose up--cured, and the woman began to proclaim the saintly quality of the baby she had taken in. When John's father came home, however, he was not only unimpressed by her pious remarks, he was downright furious that she had interfered in his household. He took the baby home again and fed it more pomegranates.

At this point, the sick man next door fell ill again, and his wife came to John's father and begged to be allowed to care for the child. Begrudgingly, the father let the wonderful child go. The good woman took care of him for several years, and never ceased to marvel that her husband had been cured a second time--and that he remained well.

Even as a tiny baby, John gave every evidence that he was an unusual person. At an age when most children are just beginning to read, he was already reciting the daily Office of the Blessed Virgin, the Office of the Dead, and the Penitential Psalms. He was frequently in ecstasy, and was what might be called an "easy weeper"; any strong emotion caused him to dissolve in floods of tears.

At the age of fifteen, John went to Palermo on a business trip for his father, and he happened to go to confession to Blessed Peter Geremia, at the church of Saint Zita. The friar suggested that he become a religious. John believed himself quite unworthy, but the priest managed to convince him to give it a try. The habit, which he put on for the first time in 1415, he was to wear with distinction for nearly a century.

Humble, pure, and a model of every observance, Brother John finished his studies and was ordained. He and two brothers were sent to Caccamo to found a convent, and John resumed his career of miracle-working, which was to bring fame to the order, and to the convent of Saint Zita.

As the three friars walked along the road, a group of young men began ridiculing them and finally attacked them with daggers. One boy attempted to stab John, but his hand withered and refused to move. After the friars had gone on, the boys huddled together and decided that they had better ask pardon. They ran after the Dominicans and begged their forgiveness. John made the Sign of the Cross, and the withered hand was made whole.

The story of the building at Caccamo reads like a fairy tale. There was, first of all, no money. Since the friars never had any, that did not deter John Liccio, but he knew it would be necessary to get enough to pay the workmen to begin the foundations.

John went into the parish church at Caccamo and prayed. An angel told him to "build on the foundations that were already built." All he had to do was to find them. The next day, he went into the woods with a party of young woodcutters and found the place the angel had described: foundations, strongly and beautifully laid out, for a large church and convent. It had been designed for a church called Saint Mary of the Angels, but was never finished.

John moved his base of operations to the woods where the angel had furnished him with the foundations. One day, in the course of the construction, the workmen ran out of materials. They pointed this out to John, who told them to come back tomorrow anyway. The next day at dawn a large wagon, drawn by two oxen, appeared with a load of stone, lime, and sand. The driver politely inquired where the fathers would like the material put; he capably unloaded the wagon, and disappeared, leaving John with a fine team of oxen--and giving us a fascinating story of an angel truck-driver.

These oxen figured at least once more in the legends of John Liccio. Near Christmas time, when there was little fodder, a neighbor insisted on taking the oxen home with him "because they were too much care for the fathers." John refused, saying that they were not too heavy a burden, and that they had come a long way.

The man took them anyway, and put them into a pasture with his own oxen. They promptly disappeared, and, when he went shamefacedly to report to the fathers, the man found the team contentedly munching on practically nothing in the fathers' yard. "You see, it takes very little to feed them," John said.

During the construction, John blessed a well and dried it up, until they were finished with the building. Whereupon, he blessed it again, and once more it began to give fine sweet water, which had curative properties.

Beams that were too short for the roof, he simply stretched. Sometimes he had to multiply bread and wine to feed his workers, and once he raised from the dead a venturesome little boy who had fallen off the roof while watching his uncle setting stones.

Word of his miraculous gift soon spread, of course, and all the neighbors came to John with their problems. One man had sowed a field with good grain, only to have it grow up full of weeds. John advised him to do as the Scriptures had suggested--let it grow until the harvest. When the harvest came, it still looked pretty bad, but it took the man ten days to thresh the enormous crop of grain that he reaped from that one field.

John never let a day pass without doing something for some neighbor. Visiting a widow whose six small children were crying for food, John blessed them, and he told her to be sure to look in the bread box after he had gone. Knowing there had been nothing in it for days, she looked anyway; it was full, and it stayed full for as long as the need lasted.

Once when a plague had struck most of the cattle of the vicinity, one of John's good friends came to him in tears, telling him that he would be ruined if anything happened to his cattle. "Don't worry," John said, "yours won't get sick." They didn't.

Another time a neighbor came running to tell him that his wife was dying. "Go home," said John. "You have a fine new son, and you shouldn't waste any time getting home to thank God for him."

John was never too famous as a preacher, though he did preach a good deal in the 90 years of his active apostolate. His favorite subject was the Passion, but he was more inclined to use his hands than his speech. He was provincial of Sicily for a time, and held office as prior on several occasions.

John Liccio is especially invoked to help anyone who has been hit on the head, as he cured no less than three people whose heads were crushed by accidents (Dorcy).
1513 Blessed Archangelo Canetuli archbishop-elect natural gift of fraternal love and supernatural gift of prophecy OSA (AC)
(also known as Archangelus of Bologna) Born at Bologna, Italy; Archangelus became an Augustinian canon regular at Gubbio and was conspicuous for his natural gift of fraternal love and supernatural gift of prophecy. He died as archbishop-elect of Florence (Attwater2, Benedictines).
1513 BD ARCHANGELO OF BOLOGNA conspicuous for his holy life, his prophetical gifts and his spirit of Christian brotherly love.
THE martyrology for the canons regular of St Augustine records under the date of April 16 the name of Bd Archangelo, whose relics lie in the church of St Ambrose in Gubbio and who was conspicuous for his holy life, his prophetical gifts and his spirit of Christian brotherly love. He is generally identified with a certain Arch-angelo Canetuli of Bologna, of whom we read that he entered the religious state after his life had been providentially preserved when, in the course of a civil riot, his father and brothers were killed. In the Venetian house of the order he held the post of guestmaster, and was once called upon to entertain his father’s murderer, whom he recognized at first sight. Banishing all feelings of resentment he treated this visitor with the utmost kindness and with the courtesy which he would have accorded to an honoured friend. Bd Archangelo is said to have been nominated for the archbishopric of Florence, but he never held that dignity. He lived for some years in the monastery of St Ambrose at Gubbio, and died at Castiglione, near Arezzo, in 1513.

A tolerably full account of this beato has been compiled by the Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. xiii, pp. 186—193.
1516 Blessed John Baptist Spagnuolo profound gift of counsel 50,000 lines of Latin verse eminent representatives of Christian Humanism in Italy, on the day of his burial, and a number of miracles, ascribed to his intercession, established his cultus immediately after his death. He was beatified in 1885. OC (AC)
(also known as Baptista Mantuanus, Baptista Spagnuolo) Born in Mantua, Italy, in 1448; died 1516; beatified in 1885.

1516 BD BAPTIST OF MANTUA
BD BAPTIST came of a Spanish family on his father’s side, but his mother was a native of Brescia in northern Italy, and he himself was born at Mantua. Because of his ancestry he, like his father, was known by the nickname, or possibly the surname, of Spagnuolo—the Spaniard. As a child he displayed great ability, and while still young he received a good grounding in philosophy and rhetoric. There were irregularities in his youth which led to trouble at home; but in the end Baptist felt himself called to the religious life, and he joined the Carmelite com­munity at Ferrara. From the outset he sought to follow the path of perfection, but he also devoted himself to literature and sacred science with such success that in his Latin composition and verse he was accounted the equal of the most famous humanists of the age. God bestowed on him in a remarkable degree the gift of counsel, which was widely recognized, especially among the Carmelites of Mantua, by whom he was six times re-elected vicar general of the Reform. It was not only in the cloister that he gave inspiration and help, but he endeared himself to many people living in the world, and to the poor and destitute to whom he was a father.

Princes and popes held him in the utmost esteem, partly for his scholarship and partly for the tact he displayed in dealing with delicate negotiations. When away from his convent and in secular surroundings never did he abate any of the rules of his order or depart from that poverty to which he had pledged himself; on several occasions he was visited with illness when a little relaxation would have been permissible, yet he continued all his customary mortifications and practices of devotion in spite of ill-health.

Sorely against his wish Bd Baptist was elected prior general of the Carmelite Order, but the special command of the pope was required before he could be induced to accept the office. In spite of his humble opinion of his own capacities, he proved himself a most able and exemplary superior. He had a great devotion to our Lady and lost no opportunity of extolling her and extending her veneration. His incredibly vast output of Latin verse (55,000 lines) was nearly all animated by some religious purpose. He glorified the marvels of Loreto and sang of the feasts of the Church, desiring above all things to prove that good literature need not necessarily be associated with paganism. His fellow-townsmen of Mantua thought so highly of his merits as a poet that they set up a bust of him in rivalry with that of Virgil. Baptist dedicated one of his longest effusions to that great connoisseur of letters, Pope Leo X, but he did not hesitate to tell him that one of the gravest needs of the time was the reform of the Roman curia, “which was infected by a deep corruption disseminating poison throughout all countries”.

“Help, holy father Leo”, the poet exclaimed, “for Christendom is nigh its fall.”

Returning to Mantua at the end of his days, Baptist endured with exemplary patience a painful illness, to which he succumbed, passing peacefully to his eternal reward in the spring of 1516. The whole city turned out to honour him on the day of his burial, and a number of miracles, ascribed to his intercession, established his cultus immediately after his death. He was beatified in 1885.

See F. Ambrosio, De rebus gestis ... Baptistae Mantuani (1784) G. Fanucci, Della vita di Battista Spagnoli (1887); Villiers, Bibliotheca Carmelitana, i, pp. 2 17—240 B. Zimmerman, Monumenta Historica Carmelitana (1907), pp. 261 and 483—504, where several interesting letters of Bd Baptist are printed. Cf. also Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. viii, pp. 204—207.
Usually called Baptista Mantuanus, his family name Spagnuolo denotes his Spanish origin. He was, however, born in Mantua and studied in Padua. In 1464, he joined the Carmelites. His gift of counsel was so profound that he was elected vicar general of Mantua six consecutive times by his friars, and, in 1513, elected prior-general of the order. He is famous as a Latin poet, having written over 50,000 lines of Latin verse, and is considered one of the most eminent representatives of Christian Humanism in Italy (Attwater2, Benedictines).
1522 Righteous Virgin Glyceria of Novgorod incorrupt relics During the interment, healings occurred at the relics of the saint.
The daughter of Panteleimon, a starosta of Legoscha Street in Novgorod. The saint died in the year 1522. Her incorrupt relics, according to the second Novgorod Chronicle, were uncovered on July 14, 1572 near the stone church of Sts Florus and Laurus.
Archbishop Leonid of Novgorod, assisted by his clergy, buried the holy relics in this church.
During the interment, healings occurred at the relics of the saint.

1539 BD JOHN BAPTIST OF FABRIANO miracles were reported to have been worked at his tomb, and a considerable cultus followed, which was confirmed in 1903.
THE life led by John Baptist Righi of Fabriano is much extolled in the, chronicles of the Order of Friars Minor. He was a priest, but though said to be a man of great natural ability he would never, out of humility, acquire more learning than was needful for ordination. The rigour of his fasts recalled the asceticism of the fathers of the desert. He often passed the entire week from Sunday to Sunday without taking food, and during the long Lent which he kept from the Epiphany until Easter day he never ate except on Sundays and Thursdays. After the termination of the night office, instead of retiring to his cell to rest, he used to remain praying in the church, and on one occasion was discovered there by the sacristan rapt in ecstasy, while diffusing around him a heavenly perfume which had attracted the intruder to the corner in which John Baptist had hidden himself. He was a little man and very frail, but he would not consent to protect himself from the cold by using any more clothing than his single patched habit. He wore himself out rendering services to others, for though he was most earnest in insisting that the rule should be observed with strict fidelity, he spared no pains to secure for his brethren, and especially for the sick, such alleviations as they really needed. After his death at the friary of Massaccio in 1539 miracles were reported to have been worked at his tomb, and a considerable cultus followed, which was confirmed in 1903.

See Ciro da Pesaro, Vita e culto del B. Giovanni Righi (1904) the author has made use of a short biography written shout sixty years after Father John’s death. Cf. also Mark of Lisbon, Croniche del Minori, vol. iii, pp. 602-603.
1540 St. Angela Merici innovative approach to education the Ursulines first teaching order of women Saint Ursula appeared to her levitated
When she was 56, Angela Merici said "No" to the Pope. She was aware that Clement VII was offering her a great honor and a great opportunity to serve when he asked her to take charge of a religious order of nursing sisters. But Angela knew that nursing was not what God had called her to do with her life.

She had just returned from a trip to the Holy Land. On the way there she had fallen ill and become blind. Nevertheless, she insisted on continuing her pilgrimage and toured the holy sites with the devotion of her heart rather than her eyes. On the way back she had recovered her sight. But this must have been a reminder to her not to shut her eyes to the needs she saw around her, not to shut her heart to God's call.

All around her hometown she saw poor girls with no education and no hope.
In the fifteenth and sixteenth century that Angela lived in, education for women was for the rich or for nuns. Angela herself had learned everything on her own. Her parents had died when she was ten and she had gone to live with an uncle. She was deeply disturbed when her sister died without receiving the sacraments. A vision reassured her that her sister was safe in God's care -- and also prompted her to dedicate her life to God.

When her uncle died, she returned to her hometown and began to notice how little education the girls had. But who would teach them? Times were much different then. Women weren't allowed to be teachers and unmarried women were not supposed to go out by themselves -- even to serve others. Nuns were the best educated women but they weren't allowed to leave their cloisters.
 There were no teaching orders of sisters like we have today.
But in the meantime, these girls grew up without education in religion or anything at all.

These girls weren't being helped by the old ways, so Angela invented a new way.
She brought together a group of unmarried women, fellow Franciscan tertiaries and other friends, who went out into the streets to gather up the girls they saw and teach them. These women had little money and no power, but were bound together by their dedication to education and commitment to Christ. Living in their own homes, they met for prayer and classes where Angela reminded them, " Reflect that in reality you have a greater need to serve [the poor] than they have of your service." They were so successful in their service that Angela was asked to bring her innovative approach to education to other cities, and impressed many people, including the pope.

Though she turned him down, perhaps the pope's request gave her the inspiration or the push to make her little group more formal. Although it was never a religious order in her lifetime, Angela's Company of Saint Ursula, or the Ursulines, was the first group of women religious to work outside the cloister and the first teaching order of women.

It took many years of frustration before Angela's radical ideas of education for all and unmarried women in service were accepted. They are commonplace to us now because people like Angela wanted to help others no matter what the cost. Angela reminds us of her approach to change: "Beware of trying to accomplish anything by force, for God has given every single person free will and desires to constrain none; he merely shows them the way, invites them and counsels them."

Saint Angela Merici reassured her Sisters who were afraid to lose her in death: "I shall continue to be more alive than I was in this life, and I shall see you better and shall love more the good deeds which I shall see you doing continually, and I shall be able to help you more." She died in 1540, at about seventy years old.
In Her Footsteps:

Take a look around you. Instead of just driving or walking without paying attention today, open your eyes to the needs you see along the way. What people do you notice who need help but who are not being helped? What are their true needs? Make a commitment to help them in some way.
Prayer: Saint Angela, you were not afraid of change. You did not let stereotypes keep you from serving. Help us to overcome our fear of change in order to follow God's call and allow others to follow theirs. Amen
Copyright (c) 1996-2000 by Terry Matz. All Rights Reserved.

Angela de'Merici, OSU V (RM) (also known as Angela of Brescia)  Born in Desenzano (near Lake Garda and Brescia), Lombardy, Italy, March 21, 1470 or 1474; died in Brescia, Italy, January 27, 1540; canonized 1807; feast day formerly on May 31.

"If any person, because of his state in life, cannot do without wealth and position, let him at least keep his heart empty of the love of them." --Saint Angela Merici.
As is often the case, it was the number of burdens which Angela Merici had to endure that brought her ever closer to God and moved her to order her existemce. Recalling her life, we should thank God for every hardship He permits us and the strength He gives us to endure them. Each trial is an opportunity to trust in God, to realize His power and His movement within and around us.
Orphaned at age 10, Angela and her sister and brother were raised by their wealthy uncle, Biancozi, at Salo. In Angela's first ecstatic experience, the Blessed Mother appeared with Angela's elder sister. Thus put her mind at rest regarding the salvation of her sister, who had died suddenly without receiving the sacraments. Angela became a Franciscan tertiary at 13 and lived austerely, sometimes eating only bread, water, and vegetables once a week. From this time onward, she wished to possess nothing, not even a bed (because the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head).

On the death of her uncle, the 20-year-old Angela returned to her hometown and began giving catechism lessons to the poor children in Desenzano. She discussed her horror at the ignorance so many children had of their religion with her friends, who were mostly tertiaries. They were eager to help if Angela could show them how. Although Angela was small of stature, she had a great spirit, charm, and beauty capable of attracting and leading others. She and her friends began to regularly and systematically teach their young, female neighbors. Angela's own success in teaching the catechism in Desenzano led to the invitation from a wealthy couple, whom she had once helped, to begin a school in Brescia.

Angela had the special gift of being able to remember everything she read. She spoke Latin well and knew the meaning of some of the hardest passages of Scripture, which led to her being sought out for counsel. In Brescia she was brought in touch with the leading families and became the center of a circle of devout men and women whom she inspired with her great ideals.

On a trip to the Holy Land, she suddenly lost her sight in Crete. She continued her trip with devotion, and on the return trip, regained her sight at the very spot where she'd lost it.

During a visit to Rome for the Holy Year 1525, Pope Clement VII asked her to take charge of a group of nursing sisters in Rome, but she declined. She told him of a vision she had experienced years before of maidens ascending to heaven on a ladder of light, which was what led her to gather young women into an informal novitiate. In the vision the holy virgins were accompanied up and down the ladder by glorious angels who played sweet music on golden harps. All wore beautiful crowns decorated with precious jewels. After a time the music stopped and the Savior Himself called her by name to create a society of women. The Holy Father gave her permission to form a community.

Shortly, thereafter, Saint Ursula appeared to her, which is why she became the community's patron. Assisting at Mass one day, Angela fell into ecstasy and was said to have levitated.

Soon after her return to Brescia, she was forced to withdraw to Cremona because war had broken out, and when Charles V was on the point of making himself master of Brescia it was essential that non-combatants leave the city. When peace again prevailed, Angela's return to Brescia was greeted with joy by the citizens who already venerated her as a prophetess and saint.

In Saint Afra's Church at Brescia on November 25, 1535, Angela and 28 younger companions bound themselves before God to devote the rest of their lives to his service, especially by the education of girls. Angela placed herself and the novices under the protection of Saint Ursula, the patroness of medieval universities and venerated as a leader of women. This was the beginning of the Company of Saint Ursula (Ursuline nuns), the first teaching order of women--a novel idea that needed time before it was accepted.

The order had no habit (members usually wore a simple black dress), took no vows, and pursued neither an enclosed nor a communal life; they worked to oversee the religious education of girls, especially among the poorer classes, and to care for the sick. The Ursulines were formally recognized by Pope Paul III four years after Angela's death (1544) and were organized into a Congregation in 1565. At the start much of the teaching was done in the children's homes: but in her conception of an uncloistered, flexible society of women Saint Angela was before her time.
She survived to direct the society for only four years.

During that time Angela was noted for her patience to her sisters and kindness in her many acts of mercy to the poor, sick, and ignorant. Soon there were 150 sisters to whom Angela addressed her wise sayings in her Counsels. As her sisters surrounded her in prayer at the hour of her death, a beautiful ray of light shone upon the saint--a sign that God was welcoming her to her eternal home. Angela died with the name of Jesus on her lips.

In 1568, Saint Charles Borromeo called the Ursulines to Milan and persuaded them to assume a cloistered communal life. In a provincial synod he explained to his suffragan bishops that he knew of no better means for the reform of their dioceses than to introduce the Ursulines into populous communities.
Later in France strict enclosure was adopted and the teaching of young girls was made the chief concern of the order. The Ursulines flourish today (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley, Caraman, Delaney, Farmer, Schamoni, Walsh, White).

In art Saint Angela is represented by the image of virgins ascending a ladder; or with Saint Ursula and companions appearing to her (White).
1543 Blessed Christina Ciccarelli  extraordinary humility and love of the poor; prioress of the Augustinian hermits at Aquila OSA V (AC) (also known as Christina of Aquila)
Born in Lucco, Abruzzi, Italy, in 1481; died in Aquila, Italy, 1543; cultus confirmed 1841. Blessed Christina, prioress of the Augustinian hermits at Aquila, was known for her extraordinary humility and love of the poor (Attwater2, Benedictines).

1543 BD CHRISTINA OF AQUILA, VIRGIN gave long hours to prayer, was often rapt in ecstasy, and seemed to possess a knowledge of future events. She is also said to have practised severe penance, and to have worked many miracles

THE family name of this Christina was Ciccarelli, and when she was born in the Abruzzi she received in baptism the name of Matthia. Entering the convent of Augustinian hermitesses at Aquila at an early age, she was there called Sister Christina. In the cloister she showed herself a model of virtue, but she was especially remarkable for her humility and love of the poor. She gave long hours to prayer, was often rapt in ecstasy, and seemed to possess a knowledge of future events. She is also said to have practised severe penance, and to have worked many miracles, but our information about her is scanty. When she died on January 18, 1543, it is stated that the children of Aquila went through the town proclaiming the news of her death by “shouting and singing”, with the result that an enormous concourse of people attended her obsequies. The cultist paid to her from time immemorial was confirmed in 1841.

See P. Seeböck, Die Herrlichkeit der Katholischen Kirche (1900), p. 297, and biographical details in the decree of confirmation.
1565 Blessed Hosanna of Cattaro miracle child; several apparitions; Our Lord and Mary appeared many times OP Tert. V (AC)
(also known as Ossana) Born in Kumano, Montenegro, in 1493; cultus confirmed in 1928; beatified in 1934.

Catherine Kosic (Cosie) was baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church. As a young girl, whe tended her family's sheep; thus, left alone for long periods of time, she developed a habit of contemplative prayer. One day while watching the flocks, she saw a pretty child lying asleep on the grass. Attracted by its beauty, she went to pick up the baby, but it disappeared, leaving Catherine with a feeling of great loneliness.
She told her mother about the incident but received little understanding; her mother told her that God didn't appear to such poor people, and that the Christ Child was simply a figment of her imagination. After several more apparitions of which she wisely said nothing, Catherine developed a desire to visit Cattaro because there were several churches there in which she felt that she could pray better. Her mother thought this urge was unreasonable, but she finally arranged for Catherine to go to Cattaro as a servant of a wealthy woman. Her mother gave little thought to the fact that the woman was a pious Catholic, but the girl rejoiced in her good luck. At the age of 12, Catherine settled down as a servant to the kindly woman who made no objection to the fact that Catherine's errands invariably led her past the church, where she would stop for a visit.

After a few years of the pleasant life, Catherine consulted her spiritual director about becoming a recluse. He thought her too young, but she continued to insist. After much prayer and discussion, they decided that she should follow the life of a hermit.

In the Middle Ages, it was common for every church or place of pilgrimage to have one or more cells in which solitaries dwelt in prayer and penance. Such a cell was built near the Saint Bartholomew's in Cattaro. It had a window through which the anchorite could hear Mass and another tiny window to which people would come occasionally to ask for prayers or to give food. Catherine was conducted to her cell in solemn ceremony, and, after making promises of stability, the door was sealed.

In response to a vision, she was later transferred to a cell at the Church of St. Paul, where she followed the rule of the tertiaries of Saint Dominic for 52 years. Upon becoming a Dominican, she chose the name Osanna, in honor of Blessed Osanna of Mantua, a Dominican tertiary who had died in 1505.
   The life of an anchorite is barren of comforts and replete with penances. Even without the spiritual punishments that she endured, it was a rugged life. Osanna wore the coarsest of clothes, ate almost nothing, and endured the heat and cold and misery of enclosure in a small space for half a century. Her tiny cell, however, was often bright with heavenly visitors. Our Lord appeared to her many times, usually in the form of the beautiful baby she had seen while tending her flocks. Our Lady visited, too, with several of the saints, as well as demons who attempted to distract her from prayer. Once the devil appeared to her in the form of the Blessed Virgin and told her to modify her penances. By obedience to her confessor, she managed to penetrate this clever disguise and vanquish her enemy.

Although she lived alone, there was nothing selfish about Osanna's spirituality. A group of her Dominican sisters, who considered her their leader, consulted her frequently and sought her prayers. A convent of sisters founded at Cattaro regarded her as their foundress, because of her prayers, although she never saw the place. When the city was attacked by the Turks, the people ran to her for help, and they credited their deliverance to her prayers. Another time, her prayers saved them from the plague (Benedictines, Dorcy).
1567 St. Salvator of Horta known for his asceticism, humility and simplicity healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross
b. 1520   A reputation for holiness does have some drawbacks. Public recognition can be a nuisance at times—as the confreres of Salvator found out. 
Salvator was born during Spain’s Golden Age. Art, politics and wealth were flourishing. So was religion. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus in 1540.

Salvator’s parents were poor. At the age of 21 he entered the Franciscans as a brother and was soon known for his asceticism, humility and simplicity.

As cook, porter and later the official beggar for the friars in Tortosa, he became well known for his charity. He healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross. When crowds of sick people began coming to the friary to see Salvator, the friars transferred him to Horta. Again the sick flocked to ask his intercession; one person estimated that two thousand people a week came to see Salvator.
He told them to examine their consciences, to go to confession and to receive Holy Communion worthily.

He refused to pray for those who would not receive those sacraments.
The public attention given to Salvator was relentless. The crowds would sometimes tear off pieces of his habit as relics. Two years before his death, Salvator was moved again, this time to Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. He died at Cagliari saying, "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." He was canonized in 1938.
Comment:  Medical science is now seeing more clearly the relation of some diseases to one’s emotional and spiritual life. In Healing Life’s Hurts, Matthew and Dennis Linn report that sometimes people experience relief from illness only when they have decided to forgive others. Salvator prayed that people might be healed, and many were. Surely not all diseases can be treated this way; medical help should not be abandoned. But notice that Salvator urged his petitioners to reestablish their priorities in life before they asked for healing.
Quote:  "Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness" (Matthew 10:1).
1568 Saint Theodosius of Totma & founded Ephraimov wilderness monastery miracles incorrupt
born at Vologda about the year 1530.

In his youth he was raised in a spirit of Christian piety and the fear of God. At the insistence of his parents he married, but family life did not turn him away from God. He went fervently to church and prayed at home, particularly at night. After the death of his parents and his wife, he withdrew to the Priluki monastery not far from Vologda.

At the monastery Theodosius passed through the various obediences: he carried water, chopped fire-wood, milled flour and baked bread. He went to Totma on the igumen's orders to search for a salt-works for the monastery. He sought the permission of Tsar Ivan Vasilevich and the blessing of Archbishop Nicander to found a monastery at Totma.
Theodosius was appointed head of this newly-formed Totma monastery, which in a grant of 1554 was declared free of taxation.

The saint founded the Totma Ephraimov wilderness monastery and brought brethren into it. Eventually becoming the head of two monasteries, Theodosius continued to lead an ascetic life. He wore down his body by wearing chains and a hairshirt, and beneath his monastic cowl he wore an iron cap. Fond of spiritual reading, he acquired many books for the monastery. St Theodosius reposed in the year 1568 and was buried in the monastery he founded, and miracles occurred at his grave.

On September 2, 1796 during the reconstruction of the Ascension church, his relics were found incorrupt, and their glorification took place on January 28, 1798, on the day of his repose.
1574   St. Catherine Thomas Orphan lived unhappy childhood in home of  uncle many strange phenomena mystical experiences including visits from angels, Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Catherine gifts of visions and prophecy
Palmæ, in ínsula Majórica, sanctæ Catharínæ Thomas, Vírginis, Canoníssæ Reguláris, ex Ordine sancti Augustíni, quam Pius Papa Undécimus in sanctárum Vírginum númerum rétulit.
      In the monastery at Palma, in the diocese of Majorca, the birthday of St. Catherine Thomas, Canoness Regular of the Order of St. Augustine, whom Pope Pius XI, in the fiftieth year of his priesthood, placed among the number of virgin saints.
Felt a call to the religious life at age 15, but her confessor convinced her to wait a little. Domestic servant in Palma where she learned to read and write. Joined the Canonesses of Saint Augustine at Saint Mary Magdalen convent at Palma. Subjected to many strange phenomena and mystical experiences including visits from angels, Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Catherine. Had the gifts of visions and prophecy. Assaulted spiritually and physically by dark powers, she sometimes went into ecstatic trances for days at a time; her wounds from this abuse were treated by Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian. During her last years she was almost continually in ecstasy. Foretold the date of her death.
Born    1 May 1533 at Valldemossa, Mallorca, Spain
Died    5 April 1574 at Saint Mary Magdalen convent, Palma, Spain of natural causes
1580  Blessed John the Merciful of Rostov long life of pursuing asceticism humility, patience and unceasing prayer, he spiritually nourished many people many healings that occurred at his grave
(also known as "the Hairy") struggled at Rostov in the exploit of holy foolishness, enduring much deprivation and sorrow. He did not have a permanent shelter, and at times took his rest at the house of his spiritual Father, a priest at the church of the All-Holy, or with one of the aged widows.

Living in humility, patience and unceasing prayer, he spiritually nourished many people, among them St Irenarchus, Hermit of Rostov (January 13). After a long life of pursuing asceticism, he died on September 3, 1580 and was buried, according to his final wishes, beside the church of St Blaise beyond the altar.

He had "hair upon his head abundantly," therefore he was called "Hairy." The title "Merciful" was given to Blessed John because of the many healings that occurred at his grave, and also in connection with the memory of the holy Patriarch John the Merciful (November 12), whose name he shared.
1583 Bd Nicholas Factor; His raptures, miracles and visions were so frequent that St Louis Bertrand said he lived more in Heaven than on earth, and among many examples of supernatural knowledge was an announcement of the victory of Lepanto the day after the battle
Vincent Facto was a Sicilian tailor who came to live at Valencia in Spain, where he married a young woman called Ursula, and in 1520 their son, Peter Nicholas, was born. He was a pious child and quick at school, and when he was fifteen his father wanted him to go into the business, but Nicholas heard a call to the religious life and in 1537 joined the Friars Minor of the Observance in his native town. He made rapid progress in his order, and many times asked to be sent on foreign missions, but had to content himself with working for the conversion of the Moors in Spain: he is said twice to have offered to throw himself into a furnace if, on his coming out unhurt, his hearers would receive baptism. But the offer was refused. During the last year of his life Bd Nicholas migrated to the Capuchin Friars Minor at Barcelona, but returned to his own branch after a few months.
“I left those men, who are entirely holy”, he told the Carthusians at La Scala, “to go back to men who are also entirely holy.”
The biographers of Bd Nicholas devote most of their space to accounts of his austerities and of the marvels connected with his name. He used always to take the discipline before celebrating Mass and three times before preaching, and carried his physical mortifications to such a degree that he was delated to the Inquisition for singularity. His raptures, miracles and visions were so frequent that St Louis Bertrand said he lived more in Heaven than on earth, and among many examples of supernatural knowledge was an announcement of the victory of Lepanto the day after the battle.
   He was known and revered by the great ones of Spain from King Philip II downwards, and his personal friends included St Paschal Baylon, St Louis Bertrand and Bd John de Ribera, all of whom gave evidence for his beatification. Among the characteristic stories told of Nicholas, in which there would seem to be a considerable degree of exaggeration or misunderstanding, are that our Lady through the mouth of a statue once told him to go and celebrate Mass, whereupon he was assisted in vesting by St Francis and St Dominic; that divine love so warmed his heart that cold water into which he plunged became heated almost to boiling-point; and that Satan frequently attacked him in the form of a lion, a bear, a snake and the like. Bd Nicholas Factor died at Valencia on December 23, 1583, and was beatified in 1786.

Long accounts of Bd Nicholas may be found in all the Franciscan chroniclers. For example, in Mazzara’s Leggendario Francescano (1680), he fills pages 718 to 749 in vol. ii, pt 2; and in the Croniche of Leonardo da Napoli, pt 4, vol. ii, more than 120 closely printed pages are devoted to him. The best biography is probably that of G. Alapont, Compendio della Vita del B. Niccolô Fattore, which claims to be based upon the process of beatification and was printed in 1786. A short life in English was included in the Oratorian Series in the middle of the last century, and see also Léon, Auréole Séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. iv, pp. 178—191. 
1585 Saint Sergius of Malopinega (in the world Simeon) he possessed a kindly soul pure mind a courageous heart humility and quiet strength love for truth was merciful to the poor to the point of self-denial numerous miracles which occurred at the grave
Born in 1493. His father, Markian Stephanovich Nekliud, was descended from Novgorod nobles. Together with other fellow citizens they left their native-place setting off "to the side of the icy sea," when Great Novgorod was finally subjugated to the power of Moscow by Ivan III. There in the northlands, Markian Stephanovich married Apollinaria, a maiden from a rich and noble family. The pious spouses raised their son Simeon in the fear of God, they gave him a fine education, and inculcated in him the love for "book-learning." Having grown old, Markian and Apollinaria by mutual agreement went to monasteries. Markian (in monasticism Matthew) was afterwards igumen of the Resurrection monastery in the city of Keurola. Apollinaria died a schemanun with the name Pelagia.

Simeon was ordained presbyter at the canonical age of thirty to serve the churches of the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Great Martyr George in the Malopinega district. The holy presbyter Simeon with love finished his pastoral service at age sixty-two. With apostolic zeal he labored over the conversion of the pagan Chud people. The rare personal qualities of the pastor contributed much to the success of his preaching. As the Chronicle notes, he possessed a kindly soul and pure mind, a courageous heart, humility and quiet strength, love for truth, and was merciful to the poor to the point of self-denial.

In the final year of his life, the monk took the schema with the name Sergius and died on November 16, 1585. Following the saint's final instructions, they buried him near the altar of the Transfiguration church. Later, a chapel was built over his grave. The old hand-written manuscript tells about the numerous miracles which occurred at the grave of the saint.
1591 Bl. Alphonsus de Orozco vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary
born in 1500 in Oropesa, Spain. He studied at Talavera, Toledo, and Salamanca, and became an Augustinian at the age of twenty-two. St. Thomas of Villanova was one of his instructors, imbuing him with a spirit of recollection and prayer. Alphonsus, a popular preacher and confessor, served as prior of the Augustinians in Seville and then in 1554, at Valladolid. In 1556 he became a court preacher, and in 1561 accompanied King Philip II of Spain to Madrid. Throughout his court life, he did not engage in the pleasures or intrigues around him. His example of holiness made a great impression on the royal family and the nobles of Madrid. Alphonsus was given a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and wrote treatises on prayer and penance as Our Lady instructed him. He was beatified in 1881.
1592 St. Alexander Sauli The Apostle of Corsica bishop  performed miracles of prophecy, healing, and calming of storms both during his life and after his death
He came from a prominent family of Lombard, Italy, born in Milan in 1533. At an early age he entered the Barnabite Congregation

{ Anthony Mary Zaccaria, Priest Born in Cremona, Italy, 1502; died there, July 15, 1539; canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1897.  "That which God commands seems difficult and a burden. . . . The way is rough; you draw back; you have no desire to follow it. Yet do so and you will attain glory." Antony studied medicine at the University of Padua. In 1524, at the age of 25, he set up his practice in his hometown. As a medical man he found himself ministering not only to the sick but also to the dying and the bereaved. He found man and women sick not only in the body but spiritually, and so he turned to the study of theology to learn more about the comfort and ways of God. By 1528, it seemed natural that the young doctor should be ordained as a secular priest who pursued a spiritual and corporeal ministry. Soon he moved to work in Metan near Milan. His zeal, molded on that of Saint Paul, knew no bounds.  In 1530, he and a few other priests, including Venerable Bartholomew Ferrari and Venerable James Morigia, founded the congregation of Clerks Regular of Saint Paul, the members of which were neither monks nor friars but lived under a rule "to revive the love of divine worship and a true Christian way of life by continual preaching and faithfully administering the sacraments."  They worked among the plague-stricken Milanese, in the midst of wars, and during Luther's reforms. The group so invigorated the city's spiritual life that it was approved by Pope Clement VI in 1533 with Antony as its first provost general. The order became known as the Barnabites when, in the last year of Antony's life, the church of Saint Barnabas in Milan became the order's headquarters. Antony resigned in 1536, helped spread the community, and worked ceaselessly to reform the Church. Under his direction, Louisa Torelli founded the congregation of women called Angelicals, who protected and rescued girls who had fallen into disreputable lives. Antony was only 37 when he died as a result of his unceasing apostolic toil (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, White).}

, and became a teacher at the University of Pavia and superior general of the congregation. In 1571 he was appointed by Pope Pius V to Aleria on Corsica.
Taking three companions, Alexander rebuilt churches, founded seminaries and colleges, and stood off the pirate raids in the area. He became the bishop of Pavia after refusing other sees, serving only a year before his death. Alexander was a noted miracle worker. He was also spiritual advisor to St. Charles Borromeo and to Cardinal Sfondrato, who became Pope Gregory XIV. He was canonized in 1904 by Pope St. Pius X.
Alexander Sauli, Barnabite B (RM)
Born at Milan, Italy, in 1534; died at Colozza (near Pavia) on October 11, 1593; beatified in 1741 or 1742; canonized by Pope Saint Pius X in 1904. At the age of 17, Saint Alexander, son of an important Genoese family, joined the Barnabites, which had been recently founded by Saint Antony Zaccharia, studied at the order's college at Pavia, endowed the college with a library, and was ordained in 1556. He was the confessor of Saint Charles Borromeo and Cardinal Sfondrati (later Pope Gregory XIV). Alexander earned the reputation as a zealous preacher during the time he was teaching at the university in Pavia.
In 1567, he was elected general of his congregation. About this time, Borromeo was given the mandate to reform the Humiliati. With the support of Pope Saint Pius V, Borromeo favored merging the group into the lively Barnabites. As provost general Sauli resisted Borromeo's efforts to incorporate the Humiliati friars into the Barnabites because he feared that they would reduce the discipline of his congregation. The assassination attempt on the life of Charles Borromeo in 1571, led to the complete suppression of the order soon afterwards.

Later (1570) he began his 20 years of service to the Church as a bishop of the Corsican diocese of Aleria. There he carried out religious reforms that were as unwelcome as they were necessary and overdue. The saint found that the clergy were ignorant and the people irreligious, engaging in frequent vendettas and brigandage. The bishop moved his cathedral from Aleria to Cervione and began a systematic visitation. He promulgated the decrees of the Council of Trent assiduously.

Sauli refused translation to the see of Tortona and then Genoa, but just before his death in 1592, Bishop Sauli was transferred to the Italian see of Pavia at the command of Pope Gregory XIV. His friend, Saint Philip Neri, considered that Sauli's reforms had transformed the disreputable Corsican diocese into a model for others. He died during a visitation of his new diocese.

The bishop was reputed to have performed miracles of prophecy, healing, and calming of storms both during his life and after his death. He was a learned man with a special aptitude for canon law, preaching, and catechesis. Although he is not as charismatic as some of the saints of the Counter-Reformation, Saint Alexander Sauli was an exemplary pastor in an age of abuse and corruption (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Orsenigo, Yeo).
1595 St. Philip Romolo Neri THE APOSTLE OF ROME well-known miracle of his heart
Born at Florence, Italy, 22 July, 1515; died 27 May, 1595. Philip's family originally came from Castelfranco but had lived for many generations in Florence, where not a few of its members had practised the learned professions, and therefore took rank with the Tuscan nobility. Among these was Philip's own father, Francesco Neri, who eked out an insufficient private fortune with what he earned as a notary.
A circumstance which had no small influence on the life of the saint was Francesco's friendship with the Dominicans; for it was from the friars of S. Marco, amid the memories of Savonarola, that Philip received many of his early religious impressions.

Besides a younger brother, who died in early childhood, Philip had two younger sisters, Caterina and Elisabetta. It was with them that "the good Pippo", as he soon began to be called, committed his only known fault. He gave a slight push to Caterina, because she kept interrupting him and Elisabetta, while they were reciting psalms together, a practice of which, as a boy, he was remakably fond.


One incident of his childhood is dear to his early biographers as the first visible intervention of Providence on his behalf, and perhaps dearer still to his modern disciples, because it reveals the human characteristics of a boy amid the supernatural graces of a saint. When about eight years old he was left alone in a courtyard to amuse himself; seeing a donkey laden with fruit, he jumped on its back; the beast bolted, and both tumbled into a deep cellar. His parents hastened to the spot and extricated the child, not dead, as they feared, but entirely uninjured.

From the first it was evident that Philip's career would run on no conventional lines; when shown his family pedigree he tore it up, and the burning of his father's house left him unconcerned. Having studied the humanities under the best scholars of a scholarly generation, at the age of sixteen he was sent to help his father's cousin in business at S. Germano, near Monte Cassino. He applied himself with diligence, and his kinsman soon determined to make him his heir. But he would often withdraw for prayer to a little mountain chapel belonging to the Benedictines of Monte Cassino, built above the harbour of Gaeta in a cleft of rock which tradition says was among those rent at the hour of Our Lord's death. It was here that his vocation became definite: he was called to be the Apostle of Rome.

In 1533 he arrived in Rome without any money. He had not informed his father of the step he was taking, and he had deliberately cut himself off from his kinsman's patronage. He was, however, at once befriended by Galeotto Caccia, a Florentine resident, who gave him a room in his house and an allowance of flour, in return for which he undertook the education of his two sons.
For 17 years Philip lived as a layman in Rome, probably without thinking of becoming a priest. It was perhaps while tutor to the boys, that he wrote most of the poetry which he composed both in Latin and in Italian. Before his death he burned all his writings, and only a few of his sonnets have come down to us. He spent some three years, beginning about 1535, in the study of philosophy at the Sapienza, and of theology in the school of the Augustinians. When he considered that he had learnt enough, he sold his books, and gave the price to the poor. Though he never again made study his regular occupation, whenever he was called upon to cast aside his habitual reticence, he would surprise the most learned with the depth and clearness of his theological knowledge.


He now devoted himself entirely to the sanctification of his own soul and the good of his neighbour. His active apostolate began with solitary and unobtrusive visits to the hospitals. Next he induced others to accompany him. Then he began to frequent the shops, warehouses, banks, and public places of Rome, melting the hearts of those whom he chanced to meet, and exhorting them to serve God.
In 1544, or later, he became the friend of St. Ignatius.
Many of his disciples tried and found their vocations in the infant Society of Jesus; but the majority remained in the world, and formed the nucleus of what afterwards became the Brotherhood of the Little Oratory.
Though he "appeared not fasting to men", his private life was that of a hermit. His single daily meal was of bread and water, to which a few herbs were sometimes added, the furniture of his room consisted of a bed, to which he usually preferred the floor, a table, a few chairs, and a rope to hang his clothes on; and he disciplined himself frequently with small chains.
Tried by fierce temptations, diabolical as well as human, he passed through them all unscathed, and the purity of his soul manifested itself in certain striking physical traits. He prayed at first mostly in the church of S. Eustachio, hard by Caccia's house. Next he took to visiting the Seven Churches.

But it was in the catacomb of S. Sebastiano -- confounded by early biographers with that of S. Callisto -- that he kept the longest vigils and received the most abundant consolations. In this catacomb, a few days before Pentecost in 1544, the well-known miracle of his heart took place. Bacci describes it thus: "While he was with the greatest earnestness asking of the Holy Ghost His gifts, there appeared to him a globe of fire, which entered into his mouth and lodged in his breast; and thereupon he was suddenly surprised with such a fire of love, that, unable to bear it, he threw himself on the ground, and, like one trying to cool himself, bared his breast to temper in some measure the flame which he felt. When he had remained so for some time, and was a little recovered, he rose up full of unwonted joy, and immediately all his body began to shake with a violent tremour; and putting his hand to his bosom, he felt by the side of his heart, a swelling about as big as a man's fist, but neither then nor afterwards was it attended with the slightest pain or wound." The cause of this swelling was discovered by the doctors who examined his body after death. The saint's heart had been dilated under the sudden impulse of love, and in order that it might have sufficient room to move, two ribs had been broken, and curved in the form of an arch. From the time of the miracle till his death, his heart would palpitate violently whenever he performed any spiritual action.

During his last years as a layman, Philip's apostolate spread rapidly. In 1548, together with his confessor, Persiano Rosa, he founded the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity for looking after pilgrims and convalescents. Its members met for Communion, prayer, and other spiritual exercises in the church of S. Salvatore, and the saint himself introduced exposition of the Blessed Sacrament once a month (see FORTY HOURS' DEVOTION). At these devotions Philip preached, though still a layman, and we learn that on one occasion alone he converted no less than thirty dissolute youths. In 1550 a doubt occurred to him as to whether he should not discontinue his active work and retire into absolute solitude. His perplexity was set at rest by a vision of St. John the Baptist, and by another vision of two souls in glory, one of whom was eating a roll of bread, signifying God's will that he should live in Rome for the good of souls as though he were in a desert, abstaining as far as possible from the use of meat.

In 1551, however, he received a true vocation from God. At the bidding of his confessor - nothing short of this would overcome his humility - he entered the priesthood, and went to live at S. Girolamo, where a staff of chaplains was supported by the Confraternity of Charity. Each priest had two rooms assigned to him, in which he lived, slept, and ate, under no rule save that of living in charity with his brethren.
Among Philip's new companions, besides Persiano Rosa, was Buonsignore Cacciaguerra (see "A Precursor of St. Philip" by Lady Amabel Kerr, London), a remarkable penitent, who was at that time carrying on a vigorous propaganda in favour of frequent Communion. Philip, who as a layman had been quietly encouraging the frequent reception of the sacraments, expended the whole of his priestly energy in promoting the same cause; but unlike his precursor, he recommended the young especially to confess more often than they communicated. The church of S. Girolamo was much frequented even before the coming of Philip, and his confessional there soon became the centre of a mighty apostolate.
He stayed in church, hearing confessions or ready to hear them, from daybreak till nearly midday, and not content with this, he usually confessed some forty persons in his room before dawn. Thus he laboured untiringly throughout his long priesthood.

As a physician of souls he received marvellous gifts from God. He would sometimes tell a penitent his most secret sins without his confessing them; and once he converted a young nobleman by showing him a vision of hell. Shortly before noon he would leave his confessional to say Mass.
His devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, like the miracle of his heart, is one of those manifestations of sanctity which are peculiarly his own. So great was the fervour of his charity, that, instead of recollecting himself before Mass, he had to use deliberate means of distraction in order to attend to the external rite. During the last five years of his life he had permission to celebrate privately in a little chapel close to his room. At the "Agnus Dei" the server went out, locked the doors, and hung up a notice: "Silence, the Father is saying Mass". When he returned in two hours or more, the saint was so absorbed in God that he seemed to be at the point of death.

Philip devoted his afternoons to men and boys, inviting them to informal meetings in his room, taking them to visit churches, interesting himself in their amusements, hallowing with his sweet influence every department of their lives. At one time he had a longing desire to follow the example of St. Francis Xavier, and go to India. With this end in view, he hastened the ordination of some of his companions. But in 1557 he sought the counsel of a Cistercian at Tre Fontane; and as on a former occasion he had been told to make Rome his desert, so now the monk communicated to him a revelation he had had from St. John the Evangelist, that Rome was to be his India. Philip at once abandoned the idea of going abroad, and in the following year the informal meetings in his room developed into regular spiritual exercises in an oratory, which he built over the church. At these exercises laymen preached and the excellence of the discourses, the high quality of the music, and the charm of Philip's personality attracted not only the humble and lowly, but men of the highest rank and distinction in Church and State. Of these, in 1590, Cardinal Nicolo Sfondrato, became Pope Gregory XIV, and the extreme reluctance of the saint alone prevented the pontiff from forcing him to accept the cardinalate. In 1559, Philip began to organize regular visits to the Seven Churches, in company with crowds of men, priests and religious, and laymen of every rank and condition. These visits were the occasion of a short but sharp persecution on the part of a certain malicious faction, who denounced him as "a setter-up of new sects". The cardinal vicar himself summoned him, and without listening to his defence, rebuked him in the harshest terms. For a fortnight the saint was suspended from hearing confessions; but at the end of that time he made his defence, and cleared himself before the ecclesiastical authorities. In 1562, the Florentines in Rome begged him to accept the office of rector of their church, S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini, but he was reluctant to leave S. Girolamo. At length the matter was brought before Pius IV, and a compromise was arrived at (1564). While remaining himself at S. Girolamo, Philip became rector of S. Giovanni, and sent five priests, one of whom was Baronius, to represent him there. They lived in community under Philip as their superior, taking their meals together, and regularly attending the exercises at S. Girolamo. In 1574, however, the exercises began to be held in an oratory at S. Giovanni. Meanwhile the community was increasing in size, and in 1575 it was formally recognised by Gregory XIII as the Congregation of the Oratory, and given the church of S. Maria in Vallicella. The fathers came to live there in 1577, in which year they opened the Chiesa Nuova, built on the site of the old S. Maria, and transferred the exercises to a new oratory. Philip himself remained at S. Girolamo till 1583, and it was only in obedience to Gregory XIII that he then left his old home and came to live at the Vallicella.

The last years of his life were marked by alternate sickness and recovery. In 1593, he showed the true greatness of one who knows the limits of his own endurance, and resigned the office of superior which had been conferred on him for life. In 1594, when he was in an agony of pain, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, and cured him. At the end of March, 1595, he had a severe attack of fever, which lasted throughout April; but in answer to his special prayer God gave him strength to say Mass on 1 May in honour of SS. Philip and James. On the following 12 May he was seized with a violent haemorrhage, and Cardinal Baronius, who had succeeded him as superior, gave him Extreme Unction. After that he seemed to revive a little and his friend Cardinal Frederick Borromeo brought him the Viaticum, which he received with loud protestations of his own unworthiness. On the next day he was perfectly well, and till the actual day of his death went about his usual duties, even reciting the Divine Office, from which he was dispensed. But on 15 May he predicted that he had only ten more days to live. On 25 May, the feast of Corpus Christi, he went to say Mass in his little chapel, two hours earlier than usual. "At the beginning of his Mass", writes Bacci, "he remained for some time looking fixedly at the hill of S. Onofrio, which was visible from the chapel, just as if he saw some great vision. On coming to the Gloria in Excelsis he began to sing, which was an unusual thing for him, and sang the whole of it with the greatest joy and devotion, and all the rest of the Mass he said with extraordinary exultation, and as if singing." He was in perfect health for the rest of that day, and made his usual night prayer; but when in bed, he predicted the hour of the night at which he would die. About an hour after midnight Father Antonio Gallonio, who slept under him, heard him walking up and down, and went to his room. He found him lying on the bed, suffering from another haemorrhage. "Antonio, I am going", he said; Gallonio thereupon fetched the medical men and the fathers of the congregation. Cardinal Baronius made the commendation of his soul, and asked him to give the fathers his final blessing. The saint raised his hand slightly, and looked up to heaven. Then inclining his head towards the fathers, he breathed his last. Philip was beatified by Paul V in 1615, and canonized by Gregory XV in 1622.

It is perhaps by the method of contrast that the distinctive characteristics of St. Philip and his work are brought home to us most forcibly (see Newman, "Sermons on Various Occasions", n. xii; "Historical Sketches", III, end of ch. vii).

We hail him as the patient reformer, who leaves outward things alone and works from within, depending rather on the hidden might of sacrament and prayer than on drastic policies of external improvement; the director of souls who attaches more value to mortification of the reason than to bodily austerities, protests that men may become saints in the world no less than in the cloister, dwells on the importance of serving God in a cheerful spirit, and gives a quaintly humorous turn to the maxims of ascetical theology; the silent watcher of the times, who takes no active part in ecclesiastical controversies and is yet a motive force in their development, now encouraging the use of ecclesiastical history as a bulwark against Protestantism, now insisting on the absolution of a monarch, whom other counsellors would fain exclude from the sacraments (see BARONIUS), now praying that God may avert a threatened condemnation (see SAVONAROLA) and receiving a miraculous assurance that his prayer is heard (see Letter of Ercolani referred to by Capecelatro); the founder of a Congregation, which relies more on personal influence than on disciplinary organization, and prefers the spontaneous practice of counsels of perfection to their enforcement by means of vows; above all, the saint of God, who is so irresistibly attractive, so eminently lovable in himself, as to win the title of the "Amabile santo"
1589 St. Bendict the Black Franciscan lay brother superior obscure and humble cook holiness reputation for miracles patron of African-Americans in the United States incorrupt
 Panórmi sancti Benedícti a sancto Philadélpho, ob córporis nigrédinem cognoménto Nigri, ex Ordine Minórum, Confessóris; qui, signis et virtútibus clarus, in Dómino quiévit, et a Pio Séptimo, Pontífice Máximo, in Sanctórum númerum relátus est.
      At Palermo, St. Benedict of St. Philadelphus, called the Black because of the darkness of his body, a confessor of the Order of Friars Minor.  After becoming outstanding for signs and virtues, he went to rest in the Lord, and was enrolled among the saints by Pope Pius VII.

There is a saint called Benedict the Black or Benedict the Moor ('the Moor' is a misnomer originating from the Italian il moro -- the black).

He was born a slave near Messina, Italy. He was freed by his master and became a solitary, eventually settling with other hermits at Montepellegrino. He was made superior of the community, but when he was about thirty-eight, Pope Pius IV disbanded communities of solitaries and he became a Franciscan lay brother and the cook at St. Mary's convent near Palermo.
    He was appointed, against his will, superior of the convent when it opted for the reform, though he could neither read nor write. After serving as superior, he became novice master but asked to be relieved of this post and return to his former position of cook. His holiness, reputation for miracles, and his fame as a confessor brought hordes of visitors to see the obscure and humble cook.

Benedict the Black, OFM (RM) (also known as Benedict the Moor) Born near Messina, Italy, in 1526; died at Palermo, Italy, April 4, 1589; beatified in 1743; canonized in 1807. Benedict was the son of freed negro slaves of Sicily. He was about 21 when he was publicly insulted on account of his race, and his patient and dignified demeanor on that occasion was observed by the leader of a group of Franciscan hermits.

Benedict was invited to join the group at Montepellegrino. When their superior died, he was made superior of the community. When he was about 38 (1564), Pope Pius IV disbanded communities of hermits and they were absorbed into the Friars Minor of Observance. Thus, Benedict became a Franciscan lay brother and the cook at Saint Mary's monastery near Palermo.

 In 1578, Benedict was appointed superior (guardian) of the convent when it opted for the reform, though he was an illiterate laybrother. With understandable reluctance he accepted the office, and, rule with many evidences of direct supernatural aid, successfully carried through the adoption of a stricter interpretation of the Franciscan.

After serving as superior, he became novice master but asked to be relieved of this post and returned to his former position as cook. Benedict's reputation for holiness, working miracles, and as a sympathetic and understanding religious counsellor brought hordes of visitors to see the obscure and humble cook. Saint Benedict is the patron of African-Americans in the United States. The surname 'the Moor' is a misnomer originating from the Italian il moro (the black) (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Gill). 
Died 1589 of natural causes; body reported incorrupt when exhumed several years later
Beatified 15 May 1743 by Pope Benedict XIV
Canonized 24 May 1807 by Pope Pius VIII

1596 Blessed Gregory Lopez, a page to Philip II, Hermit among the Indians near Zacatecas and later near the capital  many well-authenticated miracles were recorded at his tomb (PC)
Born in Madrid, Spain, 1542; died in Mexico in 1596. Gregory was a page to Philip II. In 1562, he migrated to Mexico and lived as a hermit among the Indians near Zacatecas and later near the capital. Although he has a widespread cultus throughout the country, the process for his beatification, which was begun in 1752, has stalled (Benedictines).
Blessed Gregory Lopez
AT the time when the empire of Spain was reaching its widest extent and highest point of power Gregory, who afterwards assumed the name of Lopez, was born at Madrid.   Of his parentage and family nothing is known. As a youth he served as a page at the court of King Philip II, but the turning-point of his life came in 1562 when he undertook a pilgrimage to the shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe in Estremadura.   While here he doubtless heard of the other shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, and he determined to go to that country, having an inward conviction that there God would show him what he was to do.
       At Vera Cruz he sold his possessions and gave the money to the poor, and then wandered off in search of a place where he might live as a hermit.   This he found in a lonely valley, where for a time he lived peacefully in prayer and penance, walking twenty-four miles to the nearest mission station to assist at Mass and receive the sacraments on great feasts.   Soon, however, Gregory learned that some of the Spaniards were very shocked that he chose to live in a place where he could get to Mass at only irregular intervals; so, not wishing to appear to set a bad example, he went to a plantation, where he remained till after the earthquake of 1566.  Then he returned to his hermitage, which after five years he was persuaded by Friar Dominic de Salazar, a famous missionary, to leave in order to enter the Dominican convent in Mexico City; a few days of community life was sufficient to show he was not fitted for it, and he returned to solitude, at Guestaca and other places.
  Tongues meanwhile were wagging; the simple Gregory was made into a "mystery man", and all sorts of things were said.  So the archbishop of Mexico appointed a commission to look into the matter; when he received its report, he unhesitatingly pronounced in public that Gregory Lopez was a man of extraordinary piety and virtue.   This made Gregory far too popular both for his convenience and his humility, and he fled to the sanctuary of our "Lady de los Remedios". 
  For a time Gregory was in the hospital, where he wrote a book on pharmacy for the use of the nursing brothers, for in the desert he had learned much about the properties of herbs.   Then, in 1589, with the help of his friend, a priest, Francis Losa, he established himself in a hermitage not far from the church of Michoacan.    Here he was joined by Don Losa, and the two lived together there until Gregory's death.
  Their life was simple and orderly, with nothing startling about it.  Gregory's practice of poverty was marked by careful use of what was available rather than by an excessive "going without", and, unlike some solitaries, he was scrupulously clean in his body and neat in his clothes.  Much time was spent in scriptural study:  Gregory had a remarkable knowledge both of the text and the sense of the Bible; and he was often consulted by clergy and lay people of all classes.  Naturally he passed long hours in prayer, and that of a high order;
when conversation once turned to those who enjoy tranquillity in a state of passive union with God, he said:
 "They are good souls and on a good path.  But perfection and merit do not lie in acts of enjoyment, but in the soul's effort to use all her forces in loving God in the most perfect way and with the most perfect acts of which she is capable.  This, you see, is rather doing than enjoying, whereas the other is enjoying rather than doing.  The soul which loves God perfectly is she who is capable of giving no more than she does; in that consists the whole Law and the Prophets,
and God requires nothing else from her."

Gregory Lopez died on July 20, 1596, age fifty-four. Relics of the dead man were eagerly sought, many well-authenticated miracles were recorded at his tob, and his cultus soon spread all over Mexico ; Don Losa wrote his life,and the book was translated into English in 1675.    But this popular cultus has never been officially confirmed, and the cause of the beatification seems to have been in abeyance since 1752. Lopez was admired by such diverse people as Eossuet, John Wesley, the Quietists and the German Pietists. The life by Don Losa was many times reprinted in Spanish; it was a favourite book of Father Augustine Baker. The unskilful English version of 1675 was replaced in 1876 by a new life written by Canon F. Doyle.  Cf. also Father M. Cuevas, Historia de ía Iglesia en Mejico, vol. ii.  Gregory Lopez wrote a commentary on the Apocalypse of St John which was printed in Madrid in 1678.
1597 Peter Baptist, OFM, (born 1545) was a native of Avila, Spain. He joined the Franciscans in 1567, worked as a missionary in Mexico, was sent to the Philippines in 1583, and on to Japan in 1593, where he served as commissary for the Franciscans.  He had the gift of working miracles and is considered the leader of the Franciscan martyrs.
Peter Sukejiro (Xukexico), OFM Tert., a Japanese Franciscan tertiary who served as a catechist, house servant, and sacristan to the Franciscan missionaries. He was sent by a Jesuit priest to help the prisoners, and was then arrested.
1597 Saint Therapon of Monza labored in asceticism until the end of his life gift of wonderworking

A monk in the monastery of St Adrian (May 5) at the River Monza. The monk began his ascetic deeds in Moscow, and then transferred to the city of Kostroma at the Elevation of the Cross monastery, and was tonsured there.

The pious monks Adrian and Paphnutius, from the monastery of St Paul of Obnora (January 10). Seeking solitude, they moved to the Monza and founded a monastery 25 versts from Galich. St Therapon transferred to this monastery, where he labored in asceticism until the end of his life. Each day, with the blessing of the igumen, he withdrew into a forest thicket and prayed. By night he read and transcribed copies of spiritually useful books.

In his life he emulated Blessed Basil of Moscow (August 2), whom he called his friend, although personally he never saw him. Even during his life, St Therapon was glorified with a gift of wonderworking. Before his death he predicted a year of famine (1601). He surrendered his soul to God in the year 1597. The monastery at the River Monza was called after him the Theraponov.
1599 Righteous Basil of Mangazea incorrupt Many miracles.
St Basil was born in the town of Yaroslavl around 1587. His father was a merchant, but the family was very poor. As a child, Basil spent much of his time in church, praying fervently and participating in the divine services.

When he was twelve, the boy set out to earn his living. After a difficult journey through wild forests, he came to the Russian village of Mangazea in Siberia on the River Taz. This was an area inhabited by Mongols and indigenous peoples of Siberia.

After stopping to pray in the village church, St Basil found a job with a local merchant. The merchant was a person of low moral character and did not believe in God, so while he appreciated Basil's work, he did not care for the boy's religious inclinations. Soon the cruel merchant came to hate his clerk and began to mistreat him.

During the Matins of Pascha, thieves robbed the merchant's shop. The merchant discovered the theft and went to the governor, accusing Basil of being one of the thieves. So great was the merchant's hatred of Basil that he falsely accused the young man. The governor did not even bother to investigate the charges, but had Basil arrested and tortured to make him admit his guilt. In spite of unbearable tortures, the saint kept saying, "I am innocent."

Enraged by Basil's endurance and meekness, the merchant struck him in the head with a ring of keys. St Basil fell to the floor and surrendered his soul to God. The governor ordered that the saint's body be placed in a coffin and buried in a swamp.

After several years, the servants who disposed of the body began to speak about the child's murder. Soon all the residents of Mangazea knew that the saint's relics were in the swamp. Because of many signs that took place, people began to address prayers to St Basil. Forty-two years after the unjust murder of the saint, his coffin was removed from the swamp and his holy relics were found to be incorrupt. A chapel was built over his grave, and in 1670 the relics were placed in the church of Holy Trinity Monastery near Turakhanov.

In 1719 the holy Metropolitan Philotheus of Siberia (May 31) sent a carved reliquary to the monastery. Many miracles took place there, and St Basil helped Metropolitan Philotheus on many occasions

A new stone church was built at Holy Trinity Monastery in 1787, and the relics were transferred there.

In iconography, St Basil is portrayed as a young man with light brown hair, bare-footed and wearing only a shirt. He is also depicted on the Abaletsk Icon "Of the Sign" (July 20, November 27).

16th v. Saint Basil, Bishop of Zakholmsk monk various miracles
Born of pious parents in the sixteenth century in the Popov district of Herzegovina.
At the age of maturity he left his parental home and settled in the Trebinsk monastery in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, and became a monk.

For his virtuous life the saint was elevated to be Bishop of Zakholm and Skenderia. He occupied the bishop's cathedra in the second half of the sixteenth century, a successor to Bishop Paul and predecessor of Bishop Nicodemus. St Basil was a good pastor of the flock of Christ, and the Lord strengthened his discourse with various miracles.
For the sanctifying of soul with the wisdom of holy ascetic fathers, the saint journeyed to Athos.
St Basil died peacefully and was buried in the city of Ostrog in Chernogoria on the border with Herzegovina.
16th v. Saint Angelina daughter of Prince George Skenderbeg of Albania
Her mother's name is not known, but she raised her daughter in Christian piety and taught her to love God.
St Stephen Brancovich (October 9 and December 10), the ruler of Serbia, had come to Albania to escape those who wished to kill him. Some time before he arrived in Albania, St Stephen was unjustly blinded by the Turkish Sultan for some perceived offense. Since he was innocent, he bore his affliction with courage.  St Stephen was not only Prince George's guest, but he was also treated as a member of his family. Not surprisingly, Stephen and Angelina eventually fell in love. With her parents' blessing, they were married in church. After a few years, they were blessed with two sons: George and John.
When the boys were grown, St Stephen and his family were forced to flee to Italy for their safety. At that time the Turks invaded Albania and began to slaughter men, women, and even children.  St Stephen died in 1468, leaving Angelina a widow. In her distress, she turned to the ruler of Hungary for help. He gave them the town of Kupinovo in Sirmie.  St Angelina left Italy with her sons in 1486, stopping in Serbia to bury St Stephen's incorrupt body in his native land.  The children of these pious parents also became saints. George gave up his claim to the throne in favor of his brother John, then entered a monastery and received the name Maximus.  John was married, but had no sons. He died in 1503 at a young age, many miracles took place before his holy relics.
St Angelina survived her husband and both of her sons. Mindful of her soul's salvation, she entered a women's monastery. She departed to the Lord in peace, her body was buried in the same tomb as her sons in monastery of Krushedol in Frushka Gora.
St Angelina is also commemorated on December 10 with her husband St Stephen and her son St John.