Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
RDeo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
April is dedicated to devotion of the Holy Eucharist and to the Holy Spirit.
2022
22,600 lives saved since 2007

Haitian Help Funding Seeds Haitian Geology AND Haitian Paintings
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For the Son of man ... will repay every man for what he has done.

 
BXVI-PRAYER INTENTIONS/APRIL/...VIS 080401 (90)
April 3 - Apparition of Our Lord to Our Lady and the Apostles in the Upper Room (Jerusalem, 1st century A.D.)


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Please save the unborn from painful deaths; give them the chance for peaceful lives in this world
It is a great poverty that a child must die so that you may live as you wish -- Mother Teresa


The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List
Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday   Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday
   Sorrowful Mystery Friday Tuesday   Luminous Mystery Thursday Veterens of War

Acts of the Apostles

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
How do I start the Five First Saturdays?

Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary
 to those who recite the
Rosary
.


BXVI-PRAYER INTENTIONS/APRIL/...VIS 080401 (90)
April 3 - Apparition of Our Lord to Our Lady and the Apostles in the Upper Room (Jerusalem, 1st century A.D.)


Holy Week: A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week
1st v Pancras of Taormina Antiochene by birth Saint Peter consecrated bishop sent to Sicily BM (RM)
Tauroménii, in Sicília, sancti Pancrátii Epíscopi
127 Sixtus I, Pope survived as pope for about 10 years before being killed by the Roman authorities

304 St. Vulpian Syrian Martyr firmly confessed Jesus as Lord before the judge Urbanus Evagrius and Benignus Martyrs at Tomi on the Black Sea MM (RM)
 695 St. Fara Burgundofara (Fara) convent Abbess 37 yrs Many English princess-nuns and nun-saints were trained under her, including Saints Gibitrudis, Sethrida, Ethelburga, Ercongotha, Hildelid, Sisetrudis, Hercantrudis, and others miracles after death:
 800 Saint Attala monk and of a monastery at Taormina abbot , Sicily Benedictine , OSB Abbot (AC) Monk Illyrikos the Wonderworker asceticised on Mount Marsion in the Peloponessus.
 824 St. Nicetas Abbot From Caesarea Bithynia modern Turkey opposed Iconoclast policies of Emperor Leo V the Armenian

1260 Blessed Gandulphus of Binasco Franciscan while Saint Francis was still alive preaching in Sicily hermit OFM
1458 Blessed Alexandrina di Letto nun abbess founder Poor Clare initiated a new Franciscan reform (PC)
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
17th v. Martyred Monastic Fathers of the Davido-Garedzh Lavra 6,000+, accepted martyr's death in Gruzia (Georgia) for confessing the Christian faith

April 3 – Our Lady of the Cross (Italy, 1490) 
 
A Virgin, wood, and death have become the instruments of our victory
 A virgin, wood, and death were the means and instruments of our defeat. The virgin was Eve who had not yet known Adam; the wood was the tree, and death the punishment imposed on the first man.
A virgin, wood, and death, which had been the means and instruments of our defeat, became the means and instruments of our victory. Mary replaced Eve; the wood of the cross replaced the wood of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; the death of Jesus Christ replaced the death of Adam.
You can see that the devil was defeated by the same means with which he had triumphed. As the devil had overthrown Adam with the wood of the tree, Jesus Christ struck the devil with the wood of the cross. The wood of the tree had thrown men into the abyss, the wood of the cross pulled them out. The wood of the cross stripped of his weapons the one who had vanquished man, and showed his defeat to all the earth.

Adam's death passed upon those who came after him; the death of Jesus Christ brought back to life those who were born before him. We have passed from death to immortality. Such are the accomplishments and benefits of the cross.
Saint John Chrysostom  Excerpts from a Sermon for Good Friday of the year 392


April 3 – Our Lady of the Cross (1490)
 
Even if the events in our life look like real failures
 In this passage of Saint John's Gospel (Chap.19), Jesus is dying, and his disciples have deserted him.
Only John stayed on, as well as the women among whom were his mother, his aunt, and Mary Magdalene.
At the foot of the Cross, the Virgin Mary invites us to remain faithful even if the events of our life sometimes look like real failures, like crosses standing upright along our path. In the most difficult times of our personal life, but also in current world events, the severe economic crisis that we are experiencing, and the moral crisis that we see developing in our society, Mary invites us to strengthen our faith in Jesus.
By her fidelity during trials, she invites us to enter in what we call the Paschal Mystery, i.e. the descent of Jesus to the lowest level of human distress, but also in his victory over the powers of evil and death. We are invited to continually live this Paschal Mystery where we find God's life in the midst of our difficulties, throughout our life.
 His Excellency Laurent Dodnin, Auxiliary Bishop of Bordeaux, France
Homily of July 13, 2012 – Mass in honor of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross

 
Our Lady in Bosnia-Herzegovina (II)
The Church is always cautious and slow to move on such matters, as well it should be, unless of course there is little doubt that an alleged apparition is contrary to the teachings of the Church. Furthermore, the apparitions in Medjugorje are still ongoing, and as such, the Church will put off its final judgment until they have ceased. In other words the current position of the official Church concerning Medjugorje is a sort of "let's wait and see." The only restriction imposed on pilgrimages to Medjugorje is that they cannot be officially organized by Church officials, as that would suggest a seal of approval from the Church prior to a final determination by the Holy See. Private pilgrimages, however, are not forbidden, nor is it forbidden for priests and bishops to accompany such pilgrimages for the spiritual care and direction of fellow pilgrims.
   In the meantime, millions of people make pilgrimages to this remote mountain village, where the messages of Mary continue to give hope and comfort to those who are needy, suffering or searching. A perceived supernatural religious phenomenon has become a reality for millions throughout the world and Medjugorje has also become the site of wonderful conversions to the Catholic faith. Wayne Weible* is one of the millions. Strange it may seem to some, those who believe in this phenomenon see it as the singular most important event of our times.
*See http://www.medjugorjeweible.com/index.htm

If you do not learn to deny yourself, you can make no progress in perfection.
-- St. John of the Cross
 


Mary's Divine Motherhood

  Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.
http://www.worldpriest.com/
Seven Priestly Virtues FROM SOLITUDE TO STORYTELLING By Father William McNamara O.C.D. http://www.worldpriest.com/
THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY TO BE BELIEVED POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI
O Blessed Trinity
We thank You for having graced the Church with Pope John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care,
 the glory of the cross of Christ, and the splendor of the Holy Spirit, to shine through him.
Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.
Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will, the graces we implore, hoping that he will soon be numbered among your saints.  Amen
THURSDAY: The Last Supper
The liturgy of Holy Thursday includes: a) Matins, b) Vespers and, following Vespers, the Liturgy of St Basil the Great. In the Cathedral Churches the special service of the Washing of Feet takes place after the Liturgy; while the deacon reads the Gospel, the Bishop washes the feet of twelve priests, reminding us that Christ's love is the foundation of life in the Church and shapes all relations within it. It is also on Holy Thursday that Holy Chrism is consecrated by the primates of autocephalous Churches, and this also means that the new love of Christ is the gift we receive from the Holy Spirit on the day of our entrance into the Church.

Holy Week: A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week
1st v Pancras of Taormina Antiochene by birth Saint Peter consecrated bishop sent to Sicily BM (RM)
127 Sixtus I, Pope survived as pope for about 10 years before being killed by the Roman authorities
Tauroménii, in Sicília, sancti Pancrátii Epíscopi
 304 St. Agape and her sisters Chionia and Irene, Christians of Thessalonica, Macedonia convicted possessing texts of the Scriptures
304 St. Vulpian Syrian Martyr firmly confessed Jesus as Lord before the judge Urbanus Evagrius and Benignus Martyrs at Tomi on the Black Sea MM (RM)
307 Holy Martyr Theodosia of Tyre suffered for the faith Elpidiphoros, Dios, Bythonios and Galikos
The Holy Martyrs  suffered for their confession of faith in Jesus Christ sancti Nicétæ Abbátis In monastério Medícii, in Bithynia, deposítio, qui ob cultum sanctárum Imáginum, sub Leóne Arméno, multa passus est, ac tandem, juxta Constantinópolim, Conféssor quiévit in pace.
 695 St. Fara Burgundofara (Fara) convent Abbess 37 yrs Many English princess-nuns and nun-saints were trained under her, including Saints Gibitrudis, Sethrida, Ethelburga, Ercongotha, Hildelid, Sisetrudis, Hercantrudis, and others miracles after death:
 800 Saint Attala monk and of a monastery at Taormina abbot , Sicily Benedictine , OSB Abbot (AC) Monk Illyrikos the Wonderworker asceticised on Mount Marsion in the Peloponessus.
 824 St. Nicetas Abbot From Caesarea Bithynia modern Turkey opposed Iconoclast policies of Emperor Leo V the Armenian
1253 St. Richard of Wyche Ph.D. Priest missionary bishop denounced nepotism, insisted on strict clerical discipline, ever generous to poor and needy Many miracles healing recorded during  lifetime more after death. Richard was deep in the hearts of his people, the sort of saint that anyone can recognize by his simplicity, holiness, and endless charity to the poor
1260 Blessed Gandulphus of Binasco Franciscan while Saint Francis was still alive preaching in Sicily hermit OFM
1271 Blessed John of Penna priest founding several Franciscan houses  visions gift of prophecy
won all hearts by his exemplary life as well as by his kindly and courteous manners; aridity and a painful lingering illness; spiritual consolations  assurance that he accomplished his purgatory on earth his cell was illuminated with a celestial light OFM (AC)
1458 Blessed Alexandrina di Letto nun abbess founder Poor Clare initiated a new Franciscan reform (PC)
1492 The Monk Nektarii of Bezhetsk a monastic of the Trinity-Sergiev monastery
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
17th v. Martyred Monastic Fathers of the Davido-Garedzh Lavra 6,000+, accepted martyr's death in Gruzia (Georgia) for confessing the Christian faith
"All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him"


THURSDAY: The Last Supper
The liturgy of Holy Thursday includes: a) Matins, b) Vespers and, following Vespers, the Liturgy of St Basil the Great. In the Cathedral Churches the special service of the Washing of Feet takes place after the Liturgy; while the deacon reads the Gospel, the Bishop washes the feet of twelve priests, reminding us that Christ's love is the foundation of life in the Church and shapes all relations within it. It is also on Holy Thursday that Holy Chrism is consecrated by the primates of autocephalous Churches, and this also means that the new love of Christ is the gift we receive from the Holy Spirit on the day of our entrance into the Church.
Two events shape the liturgy of Great and Holy Thursday: the Last Supper of Christ with His disciples, and the betrayal of Judas. The meaning of both is in love. The Last Supper is the ultimate revelation of God's redeeming love for man, of love as the very essence of salvation. And the betrayal of Judas reveals that sin, death and self-destruction are also due to love, but to deviated and distorted love, love directed at that which does not deserve love. Here is the mystery of this unique day, and its liturgy, where light and darkness, joy and sorrow are so strangely mixed, challenges us with the choice on which depends the eternal destiny of each one of us. "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come... having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end..." (John 13:1). To understand the meaning of the Last Supper we must see it as the very end of the great movement of Divine Love which began with the creation of the world and is now to be consummated in the death and resurrection of Christ.
God is Love (1 John 4:8). And the first gift of Love was life. The meaning, the content of life was communion. To be alive man was to eat and to drink, to partake of the world. The world was thus Divine love made food, made Body of man. And being alive, i.e. partaking of the world, man was to be in communion with God, to have God as the meaning, the content and the end of his life. Communion with the God-given world was indeed communion with God. Man received his food from God and making it his body and his life, he offered the whole world to God, transformed it into life in God and with God. The love of God gave life to man, the love of man for God transformed this life into communion with God. This was paradise. Life in it was, indeed, eucharistic. Through man and his love for God the whole creation was to be sanctified and transformed into one all-embracing sacrament of Divine Presence and man was the priest of this sacrament.
But in sin man lost this eucharistic life. He lost it because he ceased to see the world as a means of Communion with God and his life as eucharist, as adoration and thanksgiving. . . He love himself and the world for their own sake; he made himself the content and the end of his life. He thought that his hunger and thirst, i.e. his dependence of his life on the world - can be satisfied by the world as such, by food as such. But world and food, once they are deprived of their initial sacramental meaning - as means of communion with God, once they are not received for God's sake and filled with hunger and thirst for God, once, in other words, God is no longer, their real "content" can give no life, satisfy no hunger, for they have no life in themselves... And thus by putting his love in them, man deviated his love from the only object of all love, of all hunger, of all desires. And he died. For death is the inescapable "decomposition" of life cut from its only source and content. Man thought to find life in the world and in food, but he found death. His life became communion with death, for instead of transforming the world by faith, love, and adoration into communion with God, he submitted himself entirely to the world, he ceased to be its priest and became its slave. And by his sin the whole world was made a cemetery, where people condemned to death partook of death and "sat in the region and shadow of death" (Matt. 4:16).
But if man betrayed, God remained faithful to man. He did not "turn Himself away forever from His creature whom He had made, neither did He forget the works of His hands, but He visited him in diverse manners, through the tender compassion of His mercy" (Liturgy of St Basil). A new Divine work began, that of redemption and salvation. And it was fulfilled in Christ, the Son of God Who in order to restore man to his pristine beauty and to restore life as communion with God, became Man, took upon Himself our nature, with its thirst and hunger, with its desire for and love of, life. And in Him life was revealed, given, accepted and fulfilled as total and perfect Eucharist, as total and perfect communion with God. He rejected the basic human temptation: to live "by bread alone," He revealed that God and His kingdom are the real food, the real life of man. And this perfect eucharistic Life, filled with God, and, therefore Divine and immortal, He gave to all those who would believe in Him, i,e. find in Him the meaning and the content of their lives. Such is the wonderful meaning of the Last Supper. He offered Himself as the true food of man, because the Life revealed in Him is the true Life. And thus the movement of Divine Love which began in paradise with a Divine "take, eat. .." (for eating is life for man) comes now "unto the end" with the Divine "take, eat, this is My Body..." (for God is life of man). The Last Supper is the restoration of the paradise of bliss, of life as Eucharist and Communion.
But this hour of ultimate love is also that of the ultimate betrayal. Judas leaves the light of the Upper Room and goes into darkness. "And it was night" (John 13:30). Why does he leave? Because he loves, answers the Gospel, and his fateful love is stressed again and again in the hymns of Holy Thursday. It does not matter indeed, that he loves the "silver." Money stands here for all the deviated and distorted love which leads man into betraying God. It is, indeed, love stolen from God and Judas, therefore, is the Thief. When he does not love God and in God, man still loves and desires, for he was created to love and love is his nature, but it is then a dark and self-destroying passion and death is at its end. And each year, as we immerse ourselves into the unfathomable light and depth of Holy Thursday, the same decisive question is addressed to each one of us: do I respond to Christ's love and accept it as my life, do I follow Judas into the darkness of his night?
The liturgy of Holy Thursday includes: a) Matins, b) Vespers and, following Vespers, the Liturgy of St Basil the Great. In the Cathedral Churches the special service of the Washing of Feet takes place after the Liturgy; while the deacon reads the Gospel, the Bishop washes the feet of twelve priests, reminding us that Christ's love is the foundation of life in the Church and shapes all relations within it. It is also on Holy Thursday that Holy Chrism is consecrated by the primates of autocephalous Churches, and this also means that the new love of Christ is the gift we receive from the Holy Spirit on the day of our entrance into the Church.
At Matins the Troparion sets the theme of the day: the opposition between the love of Christ and the "insatiable desire" of Judas.

"When the glorious disciples were illumined by washing at the Supper, Then was the impious Judas darkened with the love of silver And to the unjust judges does he betray Thee, the just Judge. Consider, 0 Lover of money, him who hanged himself because of it. Do not follow the insatiable desire which dared this against the Master, 0 Lord, good to all, glory to Thee."
After the Gospel reading (Luke 12:1-40) we are given the contemplation, the mystical and eternal meaning of the Last Supper in the beautiful canon of St Cosmas. Its last "irmos," (Ninth Ode) invites us to share in the hospitality of the Lord's banquet:
"Come, 0 ye faithful Let us enjoy the hospitality of the Lord and the banquet of immortality In the upper chamber with minds uplifted...."
At Vespers, the stichira on "Lord, I have cried" stress the spiritual anticlimax of Holy Thursday, the betrayal of Judas:

"Judas the slave and Knave, The disciple and traitor, The friend and fiend, Was proved by his deeds, For, as he followed the Master, Within himself he contemplated His betrayal...."
After the Entrance, three lessons from the Old Testament:

1) Exodus 19: 10-19. God's descent from Mount Sinai to His people as the image of God's coming in the Eucharist. 2) Job 38:1-23, 42:1-5, God's conversation with Job and Job's answer: "who will utter to me what I understand not? Things too great and wonderful for me, which I knew not..." - and these "great and wonderful things" are fulfilled in the gift of Christ's Body and Blood. 3) Isaiah 50:4-11. The beginning of the prophecies on the suffering servant of God,
The Epistle reading is from I Corinthians 11:23-32: St Paul's account of the Last Supper and the meaning of communion.
The Gospel reading (the longest of the year is taken from all four Gospels and is the full story of the Last Supper, the betrayal of Judas and Christ's arrest in the garden.
The Cherubic hymn and the hymn of Communion are replaced by the words of the prayer before Communion:

"Of Thy Mystical Supper, 0 Son of God, accept me today as a communicant, For I will not speak of Thy Mystery to Thine enemies, Neither like Judas will I give Thee a kiss; But like the thief will I confess Thee: Remember me, 0 Lord, in Thy Kingdom." 
by The Very Rev. Alexander Schmemann, S.T.D. Professor of Liturgical Theology, St Vladimir's Seminary
Holy Week: A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week

3. MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY: THE END These three days, which the Church calls Great and Holy have within the liturgical development of the Holy Week a very definite purpose. They place all its celebrations in the perspective of End ; they remind us of the eschatological meaning of Pascha. So often Holy Week is considered one of the "beautiful traditions" or "customs," a self-evident "part" of our calendar. We take it for granted and enjoy it as a cherished annual event which we have "observed" since childhood, we admire the beauty of its services, the pageantry of its rites and, last but not least, we like the fuss about the paschal table. And then, when all this is done we resume our normal life. But do we understand that when the world rejected its Savior, when "Jesus began to be sorrowful and very heavy... and his soul was exceedingly sorrowful even unto death," when He died on the Cross, "normal life" came to its end and is no longer possible. For there were "normal" men who shouted "Crucify Him [" who spat at Him and nailed Him to the Cross. And they hated and killed Him precisely because He was troubling their normal life. It was indeed a perfectly "normal" world which preferred darkness and death to light and life.... By the death of Jesus the "normal" world, and "normal" life were irrevocably condemned. Or rather they revealed their true and abnormal inability to receive the Light, the terrible power of evil in them. "Now is the Judgment of this world" (John 12:31). The Pascha of Jesus signified its end to "this world" and it has been at its end since then. This end can last for hundreds of centuries this does not alter the nature of time in which we live as the "last time." "The fashion of this world passeth away..." (I Cor. 7:31).

Pascha means passover, passage. The feast of Passover was for the Jews the annual commemoration of their whole history as salvation, and of salvation as passage from the slavery of Egypt into freedom, from exile into the promised land. It was also the anticipation of the ultimate passage - into the Kingdom of God. And Christ was the fulfillment of Pascha. He performed the ultimate passage: from death into life, from this "old world" into the new world into the new time of the Kingdom. And he opened the possibility of this passage to us. Living in "this world" we can already be "not of this world," i.e. be free from slavery to death and sin, partakers of the "world to come." But for this we must also perform our own passage, we must condemn the old Adam in us, we must put on Christ in the baptismal death and have our true life hidden in God with Christ, in the "world to come...."

And thus Easter is not an annual commemoration, solemn and beautiful, of a past event. It is this Event itself shown, given to us, as always efficient, always revealing our world, our time, our life as being at their end, and announcing the Beginning of the new life.... And the function of the three first days of Holy Week is precisely to challenge us with this ultimate meaning of Pascha and to prepare us to the understanding and acceptance of it.

1. This eschatological (which means ultimate, decisive, final) challenge is revealed, first, in the common troparion of these days:
Troparion - Tone 8
Behold the Bridegroom comes at midnight, And blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching, And again unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, Lest you be given up to death and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom. But rouse yourself crying: Holy, Holy, Holy, are You, O our God! Through the Theotokos have mercy on us!

Midnight is the moment when the old day comes to its end and a new day begins. It is thus the symbol of the time in which we live as Christians. For, on the one hand, the Church is still in this world, sharing in its weaknesses and tragedies. Yet, on the other hand, her true being is not of this world, for she is the Bride of Christ and her mission is to announce and to reveal the coming of the Kingdom and of the new day. Her life is a perpetual watching and expectation, a vigil pointed at the dawn of this new day. But we know how strong is still our attachment to the "old day," to the world with its passions and sins. We know how deeply we still belong to "this world." We have seen the light, 'We know Christ, we have heard about the peace and joy of the new life in Him, and yet the world holds us in its slavery. This weakness, this constant betrayal of Christ, this incapacity to give the totality of our love to the only true object of love are wonderfully expressed in the exapostilarion of these three days:

"Thy Bridal Chamber I see adorned, O my Savior And I have no wedding garment that I may enter, O Giver of life, enlighten the vesture of my soul And save me."

2. The same theme develops further in the Gospel readings of these days. First of all, the entire text of the four Gospels (up to John 13: 31) is read at the Hours (1, 3, 6 and 9th). This recapitulation shows that the Cross is the climax of the whole life and ministry of Jesus, the Key to their proper understanding. Everything in the Gospel leads to this ultimate hour of Jesus and everything is to be understood in its light. Then, each service has its special Gospel lesson

On Tuesday: At Matins: Matthew 22: 15-23, 39. Condemnation of Pharisees, i.e. of the blind and hypocritical religion, of those who think they are the leaders of man and the light of the world, but who in fact "shut up the Kingdom of heaven to men."

At the Presanctified Liturgy: Matthew 24: 36-26, 2. The End again and the parables of the End: the ten wise virgins who had enough oil in their lamps and the ten foolish ones who were not admitted to the bridal banquet; the parable of ten talents ". . . Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh." And, finally the Last Judgment.

3.These Gospel lessons are explained and elaborated in the hymnology of these days: the stichiras and the triodia (short canons of three odes each sung at Matins). One warning, one exhortation runs through all of them: the end and the judgment are approaching, let us prepare for them: '"

"Behold, O my soul, the Master has conferred on thee a talent Receive the gift with fear; Lend to him who gave; distribute to the poor And acquire for thyself thy Lord as thy Friend; That when He shall come in glory, Thou mayest stand on His right hand And hear His blessed voice: Enter, my servant, into the joy of thy Lord." (Tuesday Matins)

4. Throughout the whole Lent the two books of the Old Testament read at Vespers were Genesis and Proverbs. With the beginning of Holy Week they are replaced by Exodus and Job. Exodus is the story of Israel's liberation from Egyptian slavery, of their Passover. It prepares us for the understanding of Christ's exodus to His Father, of His fulfillment of the whole history of salvation. Job, the Sufferer, is the Old Testament icon of Christ. This reading announces the great mystery of Christ's sufferings, obedience and sacrifice.

5. The liturgical structure of these three days is still of the Lenten type. It includes, therefore, the prayer of St Ephrem the Syrian with prostrations, the augmented reading of the Psalter, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts and the Lenten liturgical chant. We are still in the time of repentance for repentance alone makes us partakers of the Pascha of Our Lord, opens to us the doors of the Paschal banquet. And then, on Great and Holy Wednesday, as the last Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is about to be completed, after the Holy Gifts have been removed from the altar, the priest reads for the last time the Prayer of St Ephrem. At this moment, the preparation comes to an end. The Lord summons us now to His Last Supper.
by THE VERY REV. ALEXANDER SCHMEMANN
Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God, "Unfading Blossom" ("Neuvyadaemii Tsvet"):

On this icon the MostHoly Mother of God holds Her Divine Son upon Her right arm, and in Her left hand -- is a bouquet of white lilies.

This bouquet symbolically signifies the unfading flower of virginity and immaculateness of the All-Pure Virgin, to Whom thus also Holy Church turns: "Thou art the Root of virginity and the Unfading Blossom of purity".

 Copies of this icon were glorified at Moscow, Voronezh and other locales of the Russian Church.

1st v Pancras of Taormina Antiochene by birth Saint Peter consecrated bishop sent to Sicily BM (RM)
 Tauroménii, in Sicília, sancti Pancrátii Epíscopi, qui Christi Evangélium, quod a sancto Petro Apóstolo illuc missus prædicáverat, martyrii sánguine consignávit.
  At Taormina in Sicily, Bishop St. Pancras, who sealed with a martyr's blood the Gospel of Christ that the apostle St. Peter had sent him there to preach.
(also known as Pancratius) 1st century; also July 8. Saint Pancras is the subject of a bizarre Greek legend. According to the story, he was an Antiochene by birth, whom Saint Peter consecrated bishop and sent to Taormina (Tauromenium) in Sicily, where he was stoned to death by brigands after a career of preaching and miracle-working. Saint Pancras was immensely popular in Sicily, and his cultus spread early to England and Georgia (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Farmer).

90 ST PANCRAS, Bishop OF TAORMINA, MARTYR
WE have no trustworthy records of the life and death of this St Pancras (Pancratius) who, though less well known than his Roman namesake, is greatly honoured in Sicily.
According to his legendary history he was a native of Antioch and was converted and baptized together with his parents by St Peter, who sent him to evangelize Sicily, consecrating him the first bishop of Taormina. There he preached, destroyed the idols, and, by his eloquence and miracles, converted Boniface, the city prefect, who helped him to build a church. After he had baptized a great number, he was stoned to death by brigands who came down from the mountains and captured him by guile.

A panegyric purporting to give biographical details is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. i; but while this information is quite unreliable, there seems to have been an early cultus. This St Pancratius is twice mentioned in the “Hieronymianum”, and even as far off as Georgia we find mention of him as a disciple of St Peter. His proper day seems to have been July 8; see the stone calendar of Nap and the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. ii, part a, p. 359. The Greek text of the panegyric by Theophanes is in Migne, PG., vol. 132, cc. 989 seq.
127 Sixtus I, Pope survived as pope for about 10 years before being killed by the Roman authorities M (RM)
 Romæ natális beáti Xysti Primi, Papæ et Mártyris; qui, tempóribus Hadriáni Imperatóris, summa cum laude rexit Ecclésiam, ac demum, sub Antoníno Pio, ut sibi Christum lucrifáceret, libénter mortem sustínuit temporálem.
      At Rome, the birthday of blessed Pope Sixtus the First, martyr, who ruled the Church with distinction during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, and finally in the reign of Antoninus Pius he gladly accepted temporal death in order to gain Christ for himself. 
(also known as Xystus)

127 ST SIXTUS, or XYSTUS I, Pope AND martyr

ST XYSTUS I succeeded Pope St Alexander I about the end of the reign of Trajan, and governed the Church for some ten years at a period when the papal dignity was the common prelude to martyrdom. In all the old martyrologies he is honoured as a martyr, but we have no particulars about his life or death. He was by birth a Roman, his father’s house in the ancient Via Lata having occupied, it is supposed, the site now covered by the church of St Mary-in-Broad-Street. The Liber Pontificalis credits him with having laid down as ordinances that none but the clergy should touch the sacred vessels, and that the people should join in when the priest had intoned the Sanctus at Mass. The Sixtus mentioned in the canon of the Mass was probably not this pope but St Sixtus II, whose martyrdom was more widely famous.
See the Liber, Pontificalis (ed. Duchesne), vol. i, pp. 56 and 128, and the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. ii, pars posterior, pp. 173 and 177.

Born at Rome; After the death of Pope Alexander I, when the emperor Trajan ruled the Roman Empire, it was virtually certain that anyone who succeeded the pope would suffer martyrdom, for this was an age when Christians were savagely persecuted. Sixtus I took the office c. 117 knowing this, and survived as pope for about 10 years before being killed by the Roman authorities.
As well as displaying great bravery, Sixtus I must have been much concerned with the liturgy of the church as the Liber Pontificalis details three ordinances. It anachronistically says that at the Eucharist when the priests came to the words 'Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might; heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest,' Sixtus decreed that all the people in the church should join in as well. (Unfortunately, this cannot be true because the Sanctus was not added to the liturgy until a much later date: it was not included in the Mass of Hippolytus. Therefore, it is unclear how accurate the balance of the entry is.) It relates that he issued a decree that only the clergy should touch the sacred vessels and that bishops called to Rome should not be received back by their diocese unless they present Apostolic papers.

The Roman Martyrology says that Sixtus I was killed by the pagan Romans in the year 127 under Antonius the Pious, but there are no acta (Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia).

Tauroménii, in Sicília, sancti Pancrátii Epíscopi, qui Christi Evangélium, quod a sancto Petro Apóstolo illuc missus prædicáverat, martyrii sánguine consignávit.
      At Taormina in Sicily, Bishop St. Pancras, who sealed with a martyr's blood the Gospel of Christ that the apostle St. Peter had sent him there to preach.

304 St. Vulpian Syrian Martyr firmly confessed Jesus as Lord before the judge Urbanus
 Tyri, in Phœnícia, sancti Vulpiáni Mártyris, qui, in persecutióne Maximiáni Galérii, cum áspide et cane insútus cúleo, in mare demérsus fuit.
      At Tyre, the martyr St. Vulpian, who was sewn up in a sack with a serpent and a dog and drowned in the sea, during the persecution of Maximian Galerius.

                        ST. ULPIAN, MARTYR FROM LIVES OF SAINTES BY Alban Butler
HE was a young zealous Christian of Tyre, who, being encouraged by the example of St. Apian and other martyrs at Caesarea, boldly confessed Christ before the cruel judge Urbanus.  The enraged governor ordered him to be first severely scourged, and then tortured on the rack his joints being thereby dislocated, his bones broke, and his body so universally sore that the slightest touch occasioned excessive pain. He was sewed up after this in a leather bag with a dog and an aspic, laid on a cart drawn by black bulls, carried to the sea-side, and cast into the waves.   See Eusebius on the Martyrs of Palestine, ch. 5.

he was executed at Tyre, Lebanon, during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian (n 284-305). Custom declares that he was sewn into a leather sack with a snake and a dog and hurled into the sea.

Vulpian of Tyre M (RM) (also known as Ulpian) Saint Vulpian was a Syrian who was martyred in Tyre, Phoenicia. Because he firmly confessed Jesus as Lord before the judge Urbanus, his joints were dislocated on the rack. Thereafter, he was sewn into a leather sack with a dog and a wasp (or serpent), and drowned in the sea, according to Eusebius (De Mart. Palest., ch. 5) (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).

307 Theodosia of Tyre suffered in the year 307 The Holy Martyr
Once, during a persecution against Christians, which had already lasted for five years, the seventeen-year-old St Theodosia visited condemned Christian prisoners in the Praetorium in Caesarea, Palestine. It was the day of Holy Pascha, and the martyrs spoke about the Kingdom of God. St Theodosia asked them to remember her before the Lord, when they should come to stand before Him.

Soldiers seized her and led her before the governor Urban after seeing the maiden bow to the prisoners. The governor advised her to offer sacrifice to the idols but she refused, confessing her faith in Christ. Then they subjected the saint to cruel tortures, raking her body with iron claws until her bones were exposed.

The martyr was silent and endured the sufferings with a happy face, and when the governor told her again to offer sacrifice to the idols she answered, "You fool, I have been granted to join the martyrs!" They threw the maiden with a stone about her neck into the sea, but angels rescued her. Then they threw the martyr to the wild beasts to be eaten by them. Seeing that the beasts would not touch her, they cut off her head.

By night St Theodosia appeared to her parents, who had tried to talk their daughter out of her intention to suffer for Christ. She was in bright garb with a crown upon her head and a luminous gold cross in her hand, and she said, "Behold the great glory of which you wanted to deprive me!"

The Holy Martyr Theodosia of Tyre suffered in the year 307. She is also commemorated on May 29 (the transfer of her relics to Constantinople, and later to Venice).
Evagrius and Benignus Martyrs at Tomi on the Black Sea MM (RM).  
 Tomis, in Scythia, natális sanctórum Mártyrum Evágrii et Benígni.
       At Tomis in Scythia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Evagrius and Benignus.
Date unknown. (Benedictines).
304 St. Agape and her sisters Chionia and Irene, Christians of Thessalonica, Macedonia were convicted of possessing texts of the Scriptures
 Thessalonícæ pássio sanctárum Vírginum Agapis et Chióniæ, Diocletiáno Imperatóre, sub quo et sancta Virgo Iréne, eárum soror, póstmodum passúra erat.  Ambæ vero, cum Christum negáre nollent, primum in cárcere macerátæ sunt, póstea in ignem missæ, sed a flammis intáctæ, ibi, oratióne ad Dóminum fusa, ánimas reddidérunt.
       At Thessalonica, the martyrdom of the holy virgins Agape and Chionia, under Emperor Diocletian.  Because they would not deny Christ, they were first detained in prison, then cast into the fire where, untouched by the flames, they gave up their souls to their Creator while praying.  Their sister Irene had been imprisoned with them, but was to die later.


APRIL III. from Lives of Saints by Alban Butler
SS. AGAPE, CHIONIA, AND IRENE, SISTERS, AND THEIR COMPANIONS. MARTYRS.
From their original acts abridged out of the presidial court registers of Thessalonica, In Surius Ruina
                 p.421!. Tillemont. 5, pp. 240 and 680. Cellier, t. 3, p. 490.
*stationarius was a person appointed to keep ward in any place.  Such officers, when distinguished by certain or particular benefits, conferred upon them for past service, in the army, were also called Beneficiaril.
                                A. D. 304.
These three sisters lived at Thessalonica, and their parents were heathens when they suffered martyrdom.   In the year 303, the emperor Dioclesian published an edict forbidding, under pain of death, any persons to keep the Holy Scriptures.  These saints concealed many volumes of these sacred books, but were not discovered or apprehended till the year following; when, as their acts relate, Dulcetius, the governor, being seated in his tribunal, Artemesius, the secretary, said: "If you please. I will read an information given in by the Stationary,* concerning several persons here present." Dulcetius' said: "Let the information be read."  The solicitor read as follows:  The Pensioner Cassander to Dulcetius, president of Macedonia, greeting. I send to your highness six Christian women, with a man, who have refused to eat meats sacrificed to the gods.  They are called Agape, Chionia, Irene, Casia, Philippa, Eutychia, and the man's name is Agatho; therefore I have caused them to be brought before you." The president, turning to the women, said: "Wretches, what madness is this of yours, that you will not obey the pious commands of the emperors and Caesars?"  He then said to Agatho: "Why will you not eat of the meats offered to the gods, like other subjects of the empire.” He answered: "Because I am a Christian." Dulcetius" Do you still persist in that resolution?" "Certainly," replied Agatho. Dulcetius next addressed himself to Agape, saying: "What are your sentiments?” Agape answered: “I believe in the living God, and will not by an evil action lose all the merit of my past life." Then the president said: "What say you, Chionia?" She answered: “I believe in the living God, and for that reason did not obey your orders." The president, turning to Irene, said: “Why did not you obey the most pious command of our emperors and Caesars?” Irene said: `For fear of offending God.".-" But what say you, Casia?" She said: "I desire to save my soul." PRESIDENT' Will not you partake of the sacred offerings ?"CA5IA.-" By no means." PRESIDENT.-" But you, Philippa, what do you say 1" She answered: "I say the same thing." PRESIDENT. What is that?" Philippa.-" That I had rather die than eat of your sacrifices."  PRESIDENT.-" And you, Eutychia, what do you say ` I say the same thing," said she, “that I had rather die than do what you command." PRESIDENT.--" Are you married?" Eutychia-" My husband has been dead almost these seven months." "By whom are you with child?"  She answered: “him whom God gave me for my husband." PRE5IDENT.-" I advise you, Eutychia, to leave this folly, and resume a reasonable way of thinking what do you say? will you obey the impend edict?" Eutychia" No: for I am a Christian, and serve the Almighty God." PRESIDENT.-" Eutychia being big with child let her be kept in prison." Afterwards Dulcetius added : Agape, what is your resolution will you do as we do, who are obedient and dutiful to the emperors?' AGAPE.-" It is not proper to obey Satan; my soul is not to be overcome by these discourses." PRESIDENT-" And you, Chionia, what is your final answer?" "Nothing can change me," said she. PRESDENT.-" Have you not some books, papers, or other writings, relating to the religion of the impious Christians?" Chionia said:" We have none: the emperors now reigning have taken them all from us." PRESIDENT.-" Who drew you into this persuasion?"  She said, "Almighty God. "PRESDENT.-" Who induced you to embrace this folly?" Chionia repeated again, “Almighty God, and his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ." DULCETIUS.-" You are all bound to obey our most puissant emperors and Caesars. But because you have so long obstinately despised their just commands, and so many edicts, admonitions, and threats, and have had the boldness and rashness to despise our orders, retaining the impious name of Christians; and since to this very Limit you have not obeyed the stationaries and officers who solicited you to renounce Jesus Christ in writing, you shall receive the punishment you deserve."  Then he read their sentence, which was worded as follows: "I condemn Agape and Chionia to be burnt alive, for having out of malice and obstinacy acted in contradiction to the divine edicts of our lords the emperors’ and Caesars, and who at present profess the rash and false religion of Christians, which all pious persons abhor." He added: "As for the other four, let them be confined in close prison during my pleasure."
  After these two had been consumed in the fire, Irene was a third time brought before the president. Dulcetius said to her: "Your madness is plain, since you have kept to this day so many books, parchments, and codicil and papers of the scriptures of the impious Christians. You were forced to acknowledge them when they were produced before you. Though you had before denied you had any. You will not take warning from the punishment of your sisters, neither have you the fear of death before your eyes your punishment therefore is unavoidable.   In the mean time I do not refuse even now to make some condescension in your behalf.  Notwithstanding your crime, you may find pardon and be freed from punishment, if you will yet worship the gods. What say you then? Will you obey the orders of the emperors? Are you ready to sacrifice to the gods, and eat of the victim’s1" IRENE.-' By no means: for those that renounce Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are threatened with eternal fire."  DULCETIU5.-" Who persuaded you to conceal those books and papers so long?"  IRENE-" Almighty God, who has commanded us to love him even unto death on which account we dare not betray him, but rather choose to be burnt alive, or suffer any thing whatsoever than discover such writings." President.  Who knew that those writings were in the house?"  `Nobody," said she, "but the Almighty, from whom nothing is hid: for we concealed them even from our own domestics, lest they should accuse us." President .-" Where did you hide yourselves last year, when the pious edict of our emperors was first published ?" Irene.-" Where it pleased God, in the mountains."  PRESIDENT.-" With whom did you live?"  IRENE.-" We were in the open air, sometimes on one mountain, sometimes on another." President .- Who supplied you with bread?" IRENE.-" God, who gives food to all President -" Was your father privy to it?"  IRENE.-" No he had not the least knowledge of it."   PRESIDENT.-" Which of your neighbors knew it?"  IRENE.-" Inquire in the neighborhood, and make your search." President .-" After you returned from the mountains, as you say, did you read those books to anybody ?" IRENE.-"They were hid at our own house, and we durst not produce them; and we were if, great trouble, because we could not read them night and day, as we had been accustomed to do."   DULCETUS.-" Your sisters have already suffered the punishments to which they were condemned. As for you, Irene, though you were condemned to death before your flight for having hid these writings, I not have you die so suddenly but I order that you be exposed naked brothel, and be allowed one loaf a day, to be sent you from the palace that the guards do not suffer you to stir out of it one moment, under pain of death to them." The infamous sentence was rigorously executed; but God protecting her, no man durst approach her, nor say or do any indecency
           The president caused her to be brought again before him, and said to her “Do you still persist in your rashness?" “Not in rashness," said "but in piety towards God." President. You shall suffer the just punish of your insolence and obstinacy." And having called for paper, wrote this sentence: "Since Irene will not obey the emperor's orders sacrifice to the gods, but, on the contrary, persists still in the religion the Christians, I order her to be immediately burnt alive, as her sisters have been." Dulcetius had no sooner pronounced this sentence but the soldiers seized Irene, and brought her to a rising ground where her sisters had suffered martyrdom, and having lighted a large pile, ordered her to mount thereon.  Irene, singing psalms, and celebrating the glory of God, threw herself on the pile, and was there consumed in the ninth consulship of Dioclesian, and the eighth of Maximian, on the 1st day of April; but Ado, Usuard  and the Roman Martyrology name St. Agape and Chionia on the 3d St. Irene on the 5th of April.

*they were probably were not then In her custody, at least not known to Chionia, who had denied them: or she only denied herself convicted of the fact in court.

  These saints suffered a glorious martyrdom, rather than to offend God by an action which several Christians at that time on various foolish pretexts excused to themselves. How many continually form to themselves a false conscience to palliate the enormity of gross sins, in spite of the light of reason and the gospel; in which their case is jar more deplorable and desperate than that of the most flagrant sinners.       These are often awakened to sincere repentance: but what hopes can we have of those who, wilfully blinding themselves, imagine all goes right with them, even while they are running headlong into perdition   How many excuse to themselves notorious usuries and a thousand frauds, detractions, slanders, revenge, antipathies, sensual fond nesses, and criminal familiarities, envy, jealousy, hypocrisy, pride, and numberless other crimes!  How often do men canonize the grossest vices under the glorious names of charity, zeal, prudence constancy, and other virtues!  The principal sources of this fatal misfortune of a false conscience are, first, the passions.   These so strangely blind the understanding and pervert the judgment, that men fail not to extenuate the enormity of their crimes, and even to justify to themselves many violations of the divine law, where any passion hath a strong bias. Whatever merit is eagerly bent to commit, they easily find presences to call lawful. Second causes of our practical errors are the example and false maxims of the world.  We flatter ourselves that what everybody does must be lawful, as if the multitude of sinners could authorize any crime, or as if the rule by which Christ will judge us, was the custom or example of others or lastly, as if the world had not framed a false system of morals very opposite to the gospel.  A third source of this dreadful and common evil is an affected ignorance.    Parents, magistrates, priests, and others, are frequently unacquainted with several essential obligations of their state.  How often are Christians ignorant of many practical duties which they owe to God; their neighbors, and themselves!


304 SS. AGAPE, CHIONIA and IRENE, VIRGINS AND MARTYRS
IN the year 303, the Emperor Diocletian issued a decree rendering it an offence punishable by death to possess or retain any portion of the sacred Christian writings. Now there were living at that time at Thessalonica in Macedonia three Christian sisters, Agape, Chionia and Irene, the daughters of pagan parents, who owned several volumes of the Holy Scriptures. These books were kept so carefully concealed that they were not discovered until the following year when the house was searched after the sisters had been arrested upon another charge.
One day, when Dulcitius the governor had taken his seat on the tribune, his secretary Artemesius read the charge-sheet, which had been handed in by the public informer. It ran as follows: “The pensioner Cassander to Dulcitius, President of Macedonia, greeting. I send to your Highness six Christian women and one man who have refused to eat meat sacrificed to the gods. Their names are Agape, Chionia, Irene, Cassia, Philippa and Eutychia, and the man is called Agatho.”
The president said to the women, who had been arrested, “Fools, how can you be so mad as to disobey the commands of the emperors?” Then, turning to the man, he asked, “Why will you not eat of the meat offered to the gods, like other subjects?” “Because I am a Christian,” replied Agatho. “Do you adhere to your determination?” “Certainly I do.” Dulcitius next questioned Agape as to her convictions. “I believe in the living God,” was her answer, “and I will not lose all the merit of my past life by one evil action.” “And you, Chionia, what have you to say for yourself?”“ “That I believe in the living God and therefore I cannot obey the emperor’s orders.” Irene replied when asked why she did not comply, “Because I was afraid of offending God.” “What do you say, Cassia?” inquired the judge. “That I desire to save my soul.” “Then will you not partake of the sacred offerings?” “No, indeed, I will not.” Philippa declared that she would rather die than obey, and so did Eutychia, a young woman recently widowed who was about to become a mother. Because of her condition, she was separated from her companions and taken back to prison, while Dulcitius proceeded to press the others further. “Agape”, he inquired, “what have you decided Will you act as we do, who are obedient and dutiful to the emperor?” “It is not right to obey Satan”, she answered, “I am not to be influenced by anything that you can say.” “And you, Chionia “, persisted the president, “what is your ultimate decision?” “My decision remains unchanged.” “Have you not some books or writings relating to the religion of the impious Christians?” he asked. “We have none: the emperor now on the throne has taken them all from us was the reply. To inquiries as to who had converted them to Christianity Chionia would only say, “Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Then Dulcitius gave sentence: “I condemn Agape and Chionia to be burnt alive for having out of malice and obstinacy acted in contravention of the divine edicts of our lords the Emperors and Caesars, and for continuing to profess the rash and false religion of the Christians, which all pious persons abhor. As for the other four”, he added, “let them be kept in close captivity during my pleasure.”
After the martyrdom of her elder sisters, Irene was again brought before the president, who said to her, “Your folly is patent enough now, for you retained in your possession all those books, parchments, and writings relating to the doctrine of the impious Christians which you were forced to acknowledge when they were produced before you, although you had previously denied that you had any Yet even now, notwithstanding your crimes, you may find pardon if you will worship the gods. . . . Are you prepared to do so?” “No”, replied Irene, “for those who do so are in danger of hell fire.” “Who persuaded you to hide those books and papers for so long?” “Almighty God, who has commanded us to love Him unto death. For that reason we prefer to be burnt alive rather than give up the Holy Scriptures and betray Him.” “Who knew that you had those writings hidden away?” “Nobody”, replied Irene, “except Almighty God; for we concealed them even from our servants lest they should inform against us.” “Where did you hide yourselves last year when the emperors’ edict was first published?” “Where it pleased God: in the mountains.” “With whom did you live?” persisted the judge. “We were in the open air—sometimes on one mountain, sometimes on another.” “Who supplied you with food?” “ God, who gives food to all flesh.” “Was your father privy to it?“ “ No, he had not the least idea of it.” “Which of your neighbours was in the secret?” “Inquire in the neighbourhood and make your search.” “After you returned from the mountains did you read those books to anyone?” “They were hidden in the house, but we dared not produce them: we were in great trouble because we could no longer read them day and night as we had been accustomed to do.”
Irene’s sentence was a more cruel one than that of her sisters. Dulcitius declared that she like them had incurred the death penalty for having concealed the books, but that her sufferings should be more lingering. He therefore ordered that she should be stripped and exposed in a house of ill fame which was kept closely guarded. As, however, she appeared to be miraculously protected from molestation, the governor afterwards caused her to be put to death. The acts say that she suffered at the stake, being compelled to throw herself into the flames. But this is improbable, and some later versions speak of her being shot in the throat with an arrow.
As we read of these noble women who preferred to die rather than yield up their copies of the Sacred Scriptures, and as we consider the loving care lavished by the monks of a later generation upon copying and illuminating the gospels, we may with advantage question ourselves as to the value which we attach to God’s written word. Irene and her sisters were distressed when they could not read the sacred books at all hours. Many of us in these latter ages do not even read them every day although we have every inducement and encouragement to do so. The very facilities which we have for obtaining cheap and well-printed Bibles seem to render us less appreciative and less studious of the word of God—in spite of the exhortations of our pastors. There is a salutary lesson for all in the story of Agape, Chionia and Irene.

The Greek text of the acta of these martyrs was discovered and edited in 1902 by Ho Franchi de’ Cavalieri in part ix of Studi e Testi. It is admitted on all hands that the document was compiled from genuine and official records, but the Latin translation reproduced by Ruinart in his Acta Martyrum Sincera is not altogether satisfactory. An English version of the Greek may be found in A. J. Mason, Historic Martyrs of the Primitive Church (1905), pp. 341—346. The names of Chionia and Agape occur in the old Syriac Martyrologium, or “Breviarium”, of the beginning of the fifth century, entered under April 2. Irene’s name was perhaps omitted because she suffered later and separately. Nothing is recorded of the fate of the other four. See the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. ii, pars posterior (1932). pp. 169—170; and also Delehaye, Les Passions des Martyrs   pp. 141—143.

Despite a decree issued in 303 by Emperor Diocletian naming such possessions a crime punishable by death. When they further refused to sacrifice to pagan gods, the governor, Dulcitius, had Agape and Chionia burned alive. When Irene still refused to recant, Dulcitius ordered her sent to a house of prostitution. There she was unmolested after being exposed naked and chained, she was put to death either by burning or by an arrow through her throat.

Agape, Chionia (Chione) & Irene VV MM (RM)  Died at Thessalonica, Macedonia, April 3, 304. The martyrdom of these three sisters is related in a document that is a somewhat more amplified version of genuine records.  In 303, Emperor Diocletian issued a decree making it an offense punishable by death to possess any portion of sacred Christian writings. Irene and her sisters, Agape and Chionia, daughters of pagan parents living in Salonika, owned several volumes of Holy Scriptures, which they hid. This made the girls very unhappy because they could not read them at all hours as was their wont.

The sisters were arrested on another charge--that of refusing to eat food that had been offered to the gods--and taken before the governor, Dulcetius (Dulcitius). He asked each in turn why they had refused and if they would still refuse. Agape answered: "I believe in the living God, and will not by an evil action lose all the merit of my past life." Some of the transcript follows:

Dulcetius: "Why didn't you obey the most pious command of our emperors and Caesars?"
Irene: "For fear of offending God." Dulcetius: "But what say you, Casia?" Casia: "I desire to save my soul."
Dulcetius: "Will not you partake of the sacred offerings?" Casia: "By no means." Dulcetius: "But you, Philippa, what do you say?" Philippa: "I say the same thing." Dulcetius: "What is that?"
Philippa: "That I had rather die than eat of your sacrifices."
Dulcetius: "And you, Eutychia, what do you say?" Eutychia: "I say the same thing: that I had rather die than do what you command." Dulcetius: "Are you married?" Eutychia: "My husband has been dead almost seven months."
Dulcetius: "By whom are you with child?"
Eutychia: "By him whom God gave me for my husband." Dulcetius: "I advise you, Eutychia, to leave this folly, and resume a reasonable way of thinking; what do you say? will you obey the imperial edict?" Eutychia: "No: for I am a Christian, and serve the Almighty God."
Dulcetius: "Eutychia being big with child, let her be kept in prison. Agape, what is your resolution? will you do as we do, who are obedient and dutiful to the emperors?" Agape: "It is not proper to obey Satan; my soul is not to be overcome by these discourses." Dulcetius: "And you, Chionia, what is your final answer?" Chionia: "Nothing can change me." Dulcetius: "Have you not some books, papers, or other writings, relating to the religion of the impious Christians?" Chionia: "We have none: the emperors now reigning have taken them all from us."
Dulcetius: "Who drew you into this persuasion?" Chionia: "Almighty God."
Dulcetius: "Who induced you to embrace this folly?" Chionia: "Almighty God, and his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ."

Dulcetius: "You are all bound to obey our most puissant emperors and Caesars. But because you have so long obstinately despised their just commands, and so many edicts, admonitions, and threats, and have had the boldness and rashness to despise our orders, retaining the impious name of Christians; and since to this very time you have not obeyed the stationers and officers who solicited you to renounce Jesus Christ in writing, you shall receive the punishment you deserve.
"I condemn Agape and Chionia to be burnt alive. for having out of malice and obstinacy acted in contradiction to the divine edicts of our lords the emperors and Caesars, and who at present profess the rash and false religion of Christians, which all pious persons abhor. As for the other four, let them be confined in close prison during my pleasure."

Thus, Chionia and Agape were condemned to be burned alive, but, because of her youth, Irene was to be imprisoned. After the execution of her older sisters, their house had been searched and the forbidden volumes discovered. Irene was examined again:

Dulcetius: "Your madness is plain, since you have kept to this day so many books, parchments, codicils, and papers of the scriptures of the impious Christians. You were forced to acknowledge them when they were produced before you, though you had before denied you had any. You will not take warning from the punishment of your sisters, neither have you the fear of death before your eyes your punishment therefore is unavoidable. In the mean time I do not refuse even now to make some condescension in your behalf. Notwithstanding your crime, you may find pardon and be freed from punishment, if you will yet worship the gods. What say you then? Will you obey the orders of the emperors? Are you ready to sacrifice to the gods, and eat of the victims?"
Irene: "By no means: for those that renounce Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are threatened with eternal fire."
Dulcetius: "Who persuaded you to conceal those books and papers so long?"
Irene: "Almighty God, who has commanded us to love Him even unto death; on which account we dare not betray Him, but rather choose to be burnt alive, or suffer any thing whatsoever than discover such writings."
Dulcetius: "Who knew that those writings were in the house?"
Irene: "Nobody but the Almighty, from Whom nothing is hid: for we concealed them even from our own domestics, lest they should accuse us."
During the questioning Irene told him that when the emperor's decree against Christians was published, she and others fled to the mountains without her father's knowledge. She avoided implicating those who had helped them, and declared that nobody but themselves know they had the books:
Dulcetius: "Where did you hide yourselves last year, when the pious edict of our emperors was first published?"
Irene: "Where it pleased God, in the mountains." Dulcetius: "With whom did you live?
Irene: "We were in the open air, sometimes on one mountain, sometimes on another."
Dulcetius: "Who supplied you with bread?" Irene: "God, Who gives food to all flesh."
Dulcetius: "Was your father privy to it? Irene: "No; he had not the least knowledge of it."
Dulcetius: "Which of your neighbors knew it?" Irene: "Inquire in the neighborhood, and make your search."
Dulcetius: "After you returned from the mountains, as you say, did you read those books to anybody?"
Irene: "They were hid at our own house, and we dared not produce them; and we were in great trouble, because we could not read them night and day, as we had been accustomed to do."

Dulcetius: "Your sisters have already suffered the punishments to which they were condemned. As for you, Irene, though you were condemned to death before your flight for having hid these writings, I will not have you die so suddenly, but I order that you be exposed naked in a brothel, and be allowed one loaf a day, to be sent you from the palace; and that the guards do not suffer you to stir out of it one moment, under pain of death to them."

Irene was sent to a soldiers' brothel, where she was stripped and chained. There she was miraculously protected from molestation. So, after again refusing a last chance to conform, she was sentenced to death. She died either by being forced to throw herself into flames or, more likely, by being shot in the throat with an arrow. The books, including the Sacred Scripture, were publicly burned.

The one expanded version of the story relates that Irene was taken to a rising ground, where she mounted a large, lighted pile. While signing psalms and celebrating the glory of the Lord, she threw herself on the pile and was consumed.

Three other women (Casia, Philippa, Eutychia) and a man (Agatho) were tried with these martyrs. Eutychia was remanded because she was pregnant. It is not recorded what happened to the others. Agape and Chionia died on April 3; Irene on April 5, which is her actual feast day (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth, White).
In art, this trio is represented generally as three maidens carrying pitchers, though they may be shown being burned at the stake (Roeder). They are venerated in Salonika (Roeder).
The Holy Martyrs Elpidiphoros, Dios, Bythonios and Galikos suffered for their confession of faith in Jesus Christ. They cut off the head of Saint Elpidiphoros with a sword. Saint Dios they stoned. Saint Bythonios was drowned in the sea, and the Martyr Galikos was sent for devouring by wild beasts.
The Holy Martyrs Elpidephorus, Dius, Bithonius, and Galycus suffered for their faith in Jesus Christ. They cut off the head of St Elpidephorus with a sword.
307 Holy Martyr Theodosia of Tyre suffered for the faith
Once, during a persecution against Christians, which had already lasted for five years, the seventeen-year-old St Theodosia visited condemned Christian prisoners in the Praetorium in Caesarea, Palestine. It was the day of Holy Pascha, and the martyrs spoke about the Kingdom of God. St Theodosia asked them to remember her before the Lord, when they should come to stand before Him.

Soldiers seized her and led her before the governor Urban after seeing the maiden bow to the prisoners. The governor advised her to offer sacrifice to the idols but she refused, confessing her faith in Christ. Then they subjected the saint to cruel tortures, raking her body with iron claws until her bones were exposed.

The martyr was silent and endured the sufferings with a happy face, and when the governor told her again to offer sacrifice to the idols she answered, "You fool, I have been granted to join the martyrs!" They threw the maiden with a stone about her neck into the sea, but angels rescued her. Then they threw the martyr to the wild beasts to be eaten by them. Seeing that the beasts would not touch her, they cut off her head.

By night St Theodosia appeared to her parents, who had tried to talk their daughter out of her intention to suffer for Christ. She was in bright garb with a crown upon her head and a luminous gold cross in her hand, and she said, "Behold the great glory of which you wanted to deprive me!"

The Holy Martyr Theodosia of Tyre suffered in the year 307. She is also commemorated on May 29 (the transfer of her relics to Constantinople, and later to Venice).
695 St. Fara Burgundofara (Fara) convent Abbess 37 yrs Many English princess-nuns and nun-saints were trained under her, including Saints Gibitrudis, Sethrida, Ethelburga, Ercongotha, Hildelid, Sisetrudis, Hercantrudis, and others miracles after death:
 Eboríaci, in território Meldénsi, sanctæ Burgundofáræ, étiam Faræ nómine appellátæ, Abbatíssæ et Vírginis.
      At Faremoutiers, in the district of Meaux, St. Burgundofara, also known as St. Fara, abbess and virgin.
restoration of sight to Dame Charlotte le Bret

657 ST BURGUNDOFARA, or FARE, VIRGIN
AMONGST the courtiers of King Theodebert II one of the foremost was Count Agneric, three of whose children were destined to be honoured by the Church. They were St Cagnoald of Laon, St Faro of Meaux, and a daughter called Burgundofara (“Fare” in France) who as a child had received a blessing from St Columban when he was a guest at Agneric’s house. The girl was resolved to lead the religious life, but she had to face opposition and even persecution from her father, who wished to bestow her in marriage. The struggle caused her health to give way and she suffered from a prolonged malady which was cured by St Eustace. Even then the count did not at once surrender; but eventually Burgundofara had her way, and her father became so reconciled to her vocation that he built for her a convent which he richly endowed. Of this house, young as she was, she became abbess—in accordance with the custom of the time—and throughout the thirty-seven years of her rule she proved herself a capable and saintly superior. The convent, which in its early days kept the Rule of St Columban, was known by the name of Evoriacum, but after the death of St Burgundofara it was renamed in her honour and developed into the celebrated Benedictine abbey of Faremoutiers.

There are early materials for the life of this saint, particularly an account of the wonderful works wrought at Faremoutiers, written by Abbot Jonas of Bobbio. It is printed by Mabillon in the Acta Sanctorum O.S.B., and has been more recently edited by B. Krusch in MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. iv. St Fare is also mentioned by Bede, Hist. Eccles., iii, ch. 8. Prob­ably this reference by the great English writer, coupled with some confusion between Eboracum (York) and Evoriacum, led to the extraordinary blunder in earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology which stated that St Burgundofara died in England. An admirable modern account is that of H. M. Delsart, Sainte Fare, sa vie et son culte (1911).
Daughter of Count Agneric, courtier of King Theodebert II. She refused her father's demands that she marry, and became Abbess of a convent she convinced him to build, and ruled for thirty-seven years. Named Evoriacum, the convent was renamed for her after her death, and in time became the famous Benedictine Abbey of Faremoutiers. She is also known as Fare.

Burgundofara, OSB Abbess V (RM) (also known as Fare, Fara) Born near Meaux; died at Faremoutiers in Brie, France, on April 3, c. 655-657. Sister of Saint Cagnoald, Saint Faro, and Saint Agnetrudis, Fare had been blessed by Saint Columbanus in her infancy during his stay with the family on his way into exile from Luxeuil. Some chroniclers say she was 10 or 15 at the time Columbanus consecrated her to God in a particular manner.
She developed a religious vocation early in spite of the fierce opposition of her father, Count Agneric, one of the principal courtiers of King Theodebert II. He arranged an honorable match for his daughter, which so upset her that she became mortally ill. Still Agneric demanded that she marry.

When Saint Eustace was returning to the court with her brother Cagnoald from his embassy to Columbanus, he stayed in the home of Agneric. Fare disclosed to him her vocation. Eustace told her father that Fare was deathly ill because he opposed her pious inclinations. The saintly man prostrated himself for a time in prayer, rose, and made the sign of the cross upon Fare's eyes. Immediately her health was restored.

Eustace asked her mother, Leodegonda, to prepare Fare to receive the veil when he returned to court. As soon as the saint left, Agneric again began to harass his daughter. She sought sanctuary in the church when he threatened to kill her if she did not comply with this wishes. Eustace returned and reconciled father and daughter. He then arranged for Fare to be professed before Bishop Gondoald of Meaux in 614.

A year or two later, Fare convinced her father to build her a double monastery, originally named Brige (Brie, which is Celtic for "bridge") or Evoriacum, now called Faremoutiers (Fare's monastery). The chronicler Jonas, a monk in that abbey, wrote about many of the holy people he knew there, including Saint Cagnoald and Saint Walbert.

Although Fare was still very young, she was appointed its first abbess and governed the monastery under the Rule of Saint Columbanus for 37 years. The rule was severe. The use of wine and milk was forbidden (at least during penitential seasons). The inhabitants confessed three times each day to encourage a habitual watchfulness for the attainment of purity of heart. Masses were said daily in the monastery for 30 days for the soul of those religious who died.

Fare was apparently an excellent directress of souls. Many English princess-nuns and nun-saints were trained under her, including Saints Gibitrudis, Sethrida, Ethelburga, Ercongotha, Hildelid, Sisetrudis, Hercantrudis, and others. Once when her younger brother, Saint Faro, was visiting, he was so moved by her heavenly discourses that he resigned the great offices which he held at court, persuaded his fiancé to become a nun, and took the clerical tonsure. After he succeeded Gondoald as bishop, Faro supported his sister against attempts to mitigate the severity of the Rule.

A reference is made to Fare by Bede led long afterwards to the mistaken idea that she died in England; however, she died at Faremoutiers after a painful, lingering illness. Her will bequeathed some of her lands to her siblings, but the rest to the monastery, includng her lands at Champeaux on which a monastery was later erected.

Fare's relics were enshrined in 695 and many miracles were attributed to her intercession. Among them is the restoration of sight to Dame Charlotte le Bret, daughter to the first president and treasurer-general of finance in the district of Paris. At the age of seven (1602), her left eye was put out. She became a nun at Faremoutiers in 1609 and lost the sight in her remaining eye in 1617 due to an irreversible eye disease. Because she suffered terrible pain in her eyes and the adjacent nerves, remedies were applied to destroy all feeling in the area. In 1622, she kissed one of the exposed bones of Saint Fare and touched it to both eyes. She had feeling again. Upon repeating the action, her sight was restored--instantly and perfectly. Physicians and witnesses testified in writing to her state before and after this miracle, which was certified as such by Bishop John de Vieupont of Meaux on December 9, 1622.

The affidavit of the abbess, Frances de la Chastre, and the community also mentioned two other miraculous cures of palsy and rheumatism. Other miracles wrought at the intercession of Saint Fare are recorded by Carcat and du Plessis (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).

Saint Burgundofara is depicted in art as an abbess with an ear of corn. Sometimes she may be shown in the scene where Saint Columbanus blesses a child (Roeder). She is honored especially in France and Sicily (Husenbeth).

Saint_Illyricus

800 Saint Attala monk and of a monastery at Taormina abbot , Sicily Benedictine , OSB Abbot (AC)
(also known as Attalus) The Saint Attala was monk and abbot of a monastery at Taormina, Sicily (Benedictines).
The Monk Illyrikos the Wonderworker asceticised on Mount Marsion in the Peloponessus
 His date of life and deeds are unknown.

Saint Illyricus the Wonderworker devoted himself to ascetic struggles on Mount Marsion in the Peloponessos.
The dates of his birth and death are unknown.

The Holy Martyrs Elpidephorus, Dius, Bithonius, and Galycus suffered for their faith in Jesus Christ
. They cut off the head of St Elpidephorus with a sword.

824 St. Nicetas Abbot From Caesarea Bithynia modern Turkey opposed the Iconoclast policies of Emperor Leo V the Armenian
 In monastério Medícii, in Bithynia, deposítio sancti Nicétæ Abbátis, qui ob cultum sanctárum Imáginum, sub Leóne Arméno, multa passus est, ac tandem, juxta Constantinópolim, Conféssor quiévit in pace.
 In the monastery of Medicion in Bithynia, Abbot St. Nicetas, who suffered a great deal for the veneration of sacred images in the time of Leo the Armenian, and then died in peace as a confessor near Constantinople.

<Nikitas_Confessor_and_Joseph_Hymnographer.jpg


ST. NICETAS, ABBOT from the Lives of Saintes by Alban Butler
He was a native of Bithynia, and from his infancy was brought up in austere monasteries by the care of his pious father Philaretus, who, after the loss of his wife, had himself embraced a monastic state. Nicetas emulated the most perfect examples of virtue: his mind was wholly occupied in prayer and pious reading, and his body was so extenuated by the severity of his fasts and watching, that it nearly resembled a walking skeleton. But his soul grew the more vigorous and active in proportion as it was more disengaged from the flesh, and by contemplation approached nearer to the angels. St. Nicephorus appointed him his coadjutor, and afterwards recommended him to be his successor in the abbey of Medicion, which he had founded on mount Olympus, under the rule of the Acaemetes. In this calm and amiable retreat the saint, and a hundred holy monks under his direction, led the lives of terrestrial angels, when the devil found means to disturb their tranquility, though in the end his attention it only served to him ii sit their virtue with more distinguished occasions or triumph.  In 813 the emperor Leo the Armenian renewed the war against holy images, and in 814, banished the patriarch St Nicephorus, and intruded into his see one Theodosius an impious officer of the court.  The zeal of Nicetas for the Catholic faith was recompensed by two banishments, a rigid imprisonment, and other severe sufferings.   Theodosius, having pronounced anathema against all who did not honor the image of Jesus Christ, our abbot, regarding him as orthodox, consented, with many other confessors, to receive  the communion from his hands; but was immediately stung with remorse, fearing lest he had been drawn into a conformity which some might interpret to the prejudice of the truth. Hereupon he openly protested that he would never abandon the faith of his ancestors, or obey the false patriarch.   He rejected the offers of preferment at court, and chose rather to suffer a cruel banishment into the island of St. Glycerin, in the extremities of the Propontis, under the guard of Anthimus, a court eunuch, who committed him in a dark dungeon, the key of which he always kept in his own custody.  A little food, merely what seemed necessary to preserve him alive, was carelessly thrown in to him through a little window. In this martyrdom he lingered six years, till the death of Leo the Armenian who was murdered on Christmas day, in 820
 in 820 Michael the Stutterer, who then ascended the throne, released the prisoners. St. Nicetas chose, out of humility, neither to return to his monastery, nor to live at Constantinople, but, shutting himself up in a Sm all hermitage in that city, prepared himself for death, which he met with joy on the 3d of April, 824   Many miracles rendered his name illustrious on earth. See his life, by an intimate acquaintance, in Surius, d'Andilly, Papebroke, Fleury b. 46
b. 46.



824 ST NICETAS, ABBOT
THE parents of St Nicetas were residents of Caesarea in Bithynia, but his mother died when he was a week old, and his father, a very few years later, retired into a monastery. The boy, brought up from infancy in monastic austerity, responded eagerly to the teaching he received, and entered the monastery of Medikion on Mount Olympus in Asia Minor. It had been founded not long before by an eminent abbot named Nicephorus, who was subsequently honoured as a saint. In 790 Nicetas was ordained priest by St Tarasius and rose to be coadjutor to Nicephorus and then his successor.
From the peaceful life of prayer which he led with his monks Nicetas was summoned to Constantinople, together with other important heads of monasteries, by the iconoclastic Emperor Leo the Armenian, who demanded their adherence to the usurper whom he had thrust into the seat of the banished patriarch St Nicephorus. Upon their refusal Nicetas was sent to a fortress in Anatolia, where he was confined in an uncovered enclosure, and had to lie on the earth exposed to the snow and rain. Brought back to Constantinople, he allowed himself to be over-persuaded by his brother abbots and to be imposed upon by imperial guile: they all received communion from the so-called patriarch and were allowed to return to their monasteries.
Nicetas, however, promptly recognized his mistake. He embarked, it is true, on a vessel bound for the island of Proconnesus, but his conscience drove him back to Constantinople, and there publicly to retract his adherence to the usurper and to protest that he would never abandon the tradition of the fathers in the cultus of sacred images. He was in 813 banished to an island, where he languished for six years in a dark dungeon. His only food was a little mouldy bread tossed through the grating, and his drink stagnant water. In this martyrdom he lingered until Michael the Stammerer, upon his accession to the throne, released Nicetas with many other prisoners, and the holy man returned to the neighbourhood of Constantinople. There he shut himself up in a hermitage where he lived until he went to his reward.

See the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. i, where a Greek biography of St Nicetas is printed and translated. It was apparently written shortly after his death by a disciple of his named Theosterictus. The substance of three letters from Theodore Studites addressed to St Nicetas was published by Mai in his Nova Patrum Bibliotheca, vol. viii, letters 176, 195, 196. See also C. Van de Vorst in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxxi, pp. 149—155, and vol. xxxii, pp. 44-45.

       In the monastery of Medicion in Bithynia, Abbot St. Nicetas, who suffered a great deal for the veneration of sacred images in the time of Leo the Armenian, and then died in peace as a confessor near Constantinople.

he was raised in a monastery after his mother died and his father entered the religious life. Eventually becoming a monk in the monastery of Medikion, at the base of Mount Olympus in Bithynia, he received ordination in 790 and was elected abbot. When he and other abbots opposed the Iconoclast policies of Emperor Leo V the Armenian and the appointment of Theodotus as patriarch to replace the deposed St. Nicephorus, Nicetas was exiled to Anatolia where he suffered torments from his captors. Brought to Constantinople, he finally recognized Theodotus as patriarch and was restored to his monastery. However, within a short time he recanted his acceptance, and in 813 was exiled to the island of Glyceria. Upon Leo’s death in 820, Nicetas was returned and lived as a hermit near Constantinople until his death.

Nicetas of Medikion, Abbot (RM) Born in Caesarea, Bithynia; died at Constantinople on April 3, 824.

The father of Saint Nicetas entered a monastery a few years after his mother died when he was just a week old, and he was raised in the monastery. He became a monk at Medikion Monastery at the foot of Mount Olympus, Bithynia, was ordained in 790 by Saint Tarasius, and in time became abbot.
When Nicetas and a group of other abbots refused the demand of the iconoclastic Emperor Leo the Armenian that they recognize the intruded Theodotus as patriarch of Constantinople, who Leo had appointed to replace the exiled Patriarch Nicephorus, Nicetas was exiled to Anatolia (Turkey), where he was subjected to ill treatment.

The Monk Nikita (Nicetas) the Confessor, hegumen of the Mydicia monastery, was born in Bithynian Caesarea (northwest Asia Minor) of a pious family. His mother died 8 days after his birth, and his father -- named Philaret, was tonsured into monasticism. The infant remained in the care of his grandmother, who raised him in a true Christian spirit. From his youthful years Saint Nikita attended in church and was an obedient of the hermit Stephanos. With his blessing Saint Nikita set off to the Mydicia monastery, where the hegumen then was Saint Nicephoros (Comm. 13 March).

After seven years of virtuous life at the monastery, famed for its strict ustav (monastic rule), the Monk Nikita was ordained presbyter. And the Monk Nicephoros, knowing the holy life of the young monk, entrusted to him the guidance of the monastery when he himself became grievously ill.

Not wanting power, the Monk Nikita began to concern himself about the enlightening and welfare of the monastery. He guided the brethren by his own personal example of strict monastic life. Soon the fame of the lofty life of its inhabitants of the monastery attracted there many, seeking after salvation. And after several years the number of monks had increased to 100 men.

When the Monk Nicephoros expired to the Lord in his extreme old age, the brethren unanimously chose the Monk Nikita as hegumen.

The Lord vouchsafed Saint Nikita the gift of wonderworking. Through his prayer a deaf-mute lad was restored the gift of speech; two demon-possessed women received healing; he restored reason to one who had lost his mind, and many others of the sick were healed of their infirmities.

During these years under the emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820), the Iconoclast heresy resumed and the oppression over holy icons intensified. Orthodox bishops were deposed and banished. At Constantinople in 815 a council of heretics was convened, at which they dethroned the holy Patriarch Nicephoros (806-815, + 828), and in his place they chose the heretical layman Theodotos. In place of exiled and imprisoned Orthodox bishops they likewise installed heretics. The emperor summoned before him all the heads of the monasteries and tried to draw them over to the Iconoclast heresy. Among those summoned was also the Monk Nikita, who stood firmly for the Orthodox confession. On his example all the hegumens remained faithful to the veneration of holy icons. For this they threw him in prison. The Monk Nikita bravely underwent all the tribulations and encouraged firmness of spirit in the other prisoners.

Then the emperor and the false-patriarch Theodotos to trick with cunning those that persisted. They explained to them, that the emperor would give them all their freedom and permit the veneration to the icons on one condition: if they would take Communion from the pseudo-patriarch Theodotos. For a long time the monk had doubts, whether he should enter into church communion with an heretic, but others of the prisoners besought him to partake together with them. Acceding to their entreaties, the Monk Nikita went into the church, where for the deception of the confessors icons were set out, and he accepted Communion. But when he returned to his monastery and saw, that the persecution against icons was continuing, he then repented of his deed, returned to Constantinople and began fearlessly to denounce the Iconoclast heresy. All threats from the emperor were ignored by him. The Monk Nikita was again locked up in prison, where he spent six years, until the death of the emperor Leo the Armenian. And there, enduring hunger and travail, the Monk Nikita by the power of his prayers worked miracles: through his prayer the Phrygian ruler released two captives without ransom; three men for whom the Monk Nikita prayed, who had suffered shipwreck, were thrown up on shore by the waves. In the year 824 under the new emperor Michael (820-829), the Monk Nikita expired to the Lord. The body of the monk was buried at the monastery with reverence. Afterwards, his relics became a source of healing for those coming to venerate the holy confessor.

Saint Nicetas the Confessor was born in Bithynian Caesarea (northwest Asia Minor) of a pious family. His mother died eight days after his birth, and his father Philaretos became a monk. The child remained in the care of his grandmother, who raised him in a true Christian spirit. From his youth St Nicetas attended church and was a disciple of the hermit Stephanos. With his blessing, St Nicetas set off to the Mydicia monastery, where St Nicephorus (March 13) was the igumen. 
After seven years of virtuous life at the monastery, famed for its strict monastic rule, St Nicetas was ordained presbyter. St Nicephorus, knowing the holy life of the young monk, entrusted to him the guidance of the monastery when he himself became ill.  Not wanting power, St Nicetas devoted himself to the enlightenment and welfare of the monastery. He guided the brethren by his own example. Soon the fame of the lofty life of its inhabitants of the monastery attracted many seeking salvation. After several years, the number of monks had increased to one hundred.
When St Nicephorus departed to the Lord in his old age, the brethren unanimously chose St Nicetas as igumen.

The Lord granted St Nicetas the gift of wonderworking. Through his prayer a deaf-mute child received the gift of speech; two demon-possessed women were healed; he restored reason to one who had lost his mind, and many of the sick were healed of their infirmities.

During these years under the emperor Leo the Armenian (813-820), the Iconoclast heresy resurfaced and oppression increased. Orthodox bishops were deposed and banished. At Constantinople a council of heretics was convened in 815, at which they deposed the holy Patriarch Nicephorus (806-815), and in his place they chose the heretical layman Theodotus. They also installed heretics in place of exiled and imprisoned Orthodox bishops.  The emperor summoned all the heads of the monasteries and tried to bring them over to the Iconoclast heresy. Among those summoned was St Nicetas, who stood firmly for the Orthodox confession. Following his example, all the igumens remained faithful to the veneration of holy icons.
Therefore, they threw him into prison. St Nicetas bravely underwent all the tribulations and encouraged firmness of spirit in the other prisoners.

Then the emperor and the false patriarch Theodotus attempted to trick those who remained faithful to Orthodox teaching. They promised that the emperor would give them their freedom and permit the veneration of the icons on one condition: that they take Communion from the pseudo-patriarch Theodotus.

For a long time the saint had doubts about entering into communion with a heretic, but other prisoners begged him to go along with them. Acceding to their entreaties, St Nicetas went into the church, where icons were put out to deceive the confessors, and he accepted Communion. But when he returned to his monastery and saw that the persecution against icons was continuing, he then repented of his deed, returned to Constantinople and fearlessly denounced the Iconoclast heresy. He ignored all the emperor's threats.

St Nicetas was again locked up in prison for six years until the death of the emperor Leo the Armenian. Enduring hunger and travail, St Nicetas worked miracles by the power of his prayers: through his prayer the Phrygian ruler released two captives without ransom; three shipwrecked men for whom St Nicetas prayed, were thrown up on shore by the waves.

St Nicetas reposed in the Lord in 824. The saint's body was buried at the monastery with reverence. Later, his relics became a source of healing for those coming to venerate the holy confessor.
1253 St. Richard of Wyche Ph.D. Priest a missionary bishop denounced nepotism, insisted on strict clerical discipline, and was ever generous to the poor and the needy Many miracles of healing were recorded during his lifetime, and many more after his death. Richard was deep in the hearts of his people, the sort of saint that anyone can recognize by his simplicity, holiness, and endless charity to the poor
In Anglia sancti Richárdii, Epíscopi Cicestrénsis, sanctitáte et miraculórum glória conspícui.
In England, St. Richard, bishop of Chichester, celebrated for his sanctity and glorious miracles.


Alban Butler LIVES OF SAINTES
The fame of miraculous cures of paralytic and other distempers, and of three persons raised to life at his tomb, moved the pope to appoint commissaries to inquire into the truth of these reports, before which many of these miracles were authentically proved upon the spot; and the saint was solemnly canonized by Urban IV., in 12.62.


                                 ST. RICHARD, B. C.
From his life by Ralph Bocking, sometime his confessarious, in two books, dedicated to Isabel, countess of Arundel extant in the Acta Sanctorum.  The same is abridged in Surius.  See another life of this saint in Capgrave, written also soon after his death; and F. Papebroke, t. 1, April. p. 277.
                                            A. D. 1253
ST. Richard was born at the manor of Wiche, famous for its salt wells, four miles from Worcester, being second son to Richard and Alice do Wiche. In order to keep faithfully his baptismal vows, he from his infancy always manifested the utmost dislike to gay diversions, and ever held in the highest contempt all worldly pomp: instead of winch his attention was wholly employed in establishing for himself a solid foundation of virtue and learning.  Every opportunity of serving others he regarded as his happiness and gain.  The unfortunate situation of his eldest brother's affairs gave him an occasion of exercising his benevolent disposition. Richard condescended to become his brother's servant, undertook the management of his farms, and by his industry and generosity effectually retrieved his brother's before distressed circumstances.  Having completed this good work, he resumed at Paris those studies he had begun at Oxford, leading with two select companions, a life of piety and mortification, generally contenting himself with coarse bread and simple water for his diet; except that on Sundays and on particular festivals he would, in condescendence to some visitors, allow himself a little meat or fish.        Upon his return to England, he proceeded master of arts at Oxford, from whence he went to Bologna, in Italy, where he applied himself to the study of the Canon law, and was appointed public professor of that science. After having taught there a short time, he returned to Oxford, and, on account of his merit, was soon promoted to the dignity of chancellor in that university. St. Edmund, archbishop of Canterbury, having the happiness of gaining him for his diocese, appointed him his chancellor, and entrusted him with the chief direction of his archbishop and Richard was the faithful imitator of his patron's piety and devotions.  The principal use he made of his revenues was not to employ them to charitable purposes, nor would he on any terms be prevailed on to accept the least present in the execution of his office as ecclesiastical judge. He accompanied his holy prelate in his banishment into France, and after his blessed death at Pontigni, retired into a convent of Dominican friars in Orleans.  Having in that solitude employed his time in the improving himself in theological studies, and received the order of priesthood, he returned to England to serve a private curacy, in the diocese of Canterbury. Boniface, who had succeeded St. Edmund in that metropolitan see, compelled him to resume his office of chancellor, with the care of his whole diocese. Ralph Nevil, bishop of Chichester, dying in 1244, King Henry III recommended to that see an unworthy court favorite, called Robert Passelew the archbishop and other prelates declared the person not qualified, and the presentation void: and preferred Richard de Wyche to that dignity. He was    consecrated in 1245.  But the king seized his temporalities, and the saint suffered many hardships and persecutions from him and his officers, during two years, until his majesty granted him a reprieve: upon which he recovered his revenues, but much impaired. And as after having pleaded his cause at   Rome before pope innocent IV against the king’s deputies, and obtained a sentence confirming his election, he had permitted no persecution fatigue, or difficulty to excuse him to himself for the omission of any part of his duty to his flock: so now, the chief obstacles being removed, he redoubled his fervor and attention.  He, in person, visited the sick, buried the dead and sought out and relieved the poor.  When his steward complained that his alms exceeded his income then," said he, `sell my plate and my horse." Having suffered a great loss by fire, instead of being more sparing in his charities, he said, “Perhaps God sent us this loss to punish our covetousness;" and ordered upon the spot more abundant alms to be given than usual.  Such was the ardor of his devotion that he lived as it were in the perpetual contemplation of heavenly things. He preached the word of God to his flock with that unction and success which only an eminent spirit of' prayer could produce. The affronts which he received, he always repaid with favors, and enmity with singular marks of charity. In maintaining discipline he was inflexible, especially in chastising crimes in the clergy no intercession of the king, archbishop, and several other prelates could prevail with him to mitigate the punishment of a priest who had sinned against chastity.  Yet penitent sinners he received with inexpressible tenderness arid charity. While he was employed in preaching a holy war against the Saracens, being commissioned thereto by the pope, he fell sick of a fever, foretold his own death, and prepared himself for it by the most melting ejaculations of divine love amid thanksgiving.
He died in an hospital at Dover, called God's House, on the 3d of April, in year of our Lord 1253, of his episcopal dignity the ninth, of his age the fifty-sixth.  His body was conveyed to Chichester, and interred before the alter which he himself had consecrated at his cathedral to the memory of S. Edmund. It was removed to a more honorable place in 1276, on the 16th of June, on which day our ancestors commemorated his translation.


1253 ST RICHARD OF WYCHE, Bishop of Chichester
RICHARD DE WYCHE, or Richard of Burford, as he is sometimes called, was born 1197 at Wyche, the present Droitwich, then as now famous for its brine-springs. His father was a landed proprietor or small squire, but both he and his wife died when their children were very young, leaving the estate in the charge of a negligent guardian who allowed it to go to rack and ruin. Richard, the younger son, although addicted to study from childhood, was of a much more virile temperament than his brother, and, as soon as he realized the state of affairs he literally put his hand to the plough and worked like a common labourer until by sheer industry and good management he had retrieved the family fortunes. In a fit of gratitude, the elder, Robert, made over to him the title deeds, but when Richard discovered that a wealthy bride was being found for him and also that Robert was repenting of his generosity, he resigned to him both the land and the lady, departing almost penniless to take up a new life in the University of Oxford. Poverty was no drawback, social or educational, in a medieval seat of learning, and Richard was wont in after days to characterize those years at Oxford as the happiest of his life. Little did he reck that he was sometimes hungry, that being unable to afford a fire he had to run about in winter to keep warm, or that he and the companions who shared his room had but one college gown which they took it in turns to wear at lectures. They were athirst for learning, and they had great masters at Oxford in those days. Grosseteste was lecturing in the Franciscan house of studies, and the Dominicans, who arrived in the city in 1221, at once gathered round them a host of brilliant men. We are not told how it happened that, in the short interval between Richard’s arrival and Edmund Rich’s departure for Salisbury, the unknown freshman came into contact with the great university chancellor, but there seems no reason to doubt that the acquaintance was then begun which ripened to a life-long friendship.
From Oxford Richard went to Paris, but returned to his alma mater to take his M.A. degree, and then, some years later, proceeded to Bologna to study canon law in what was regarded as the chief law school of Europe. He made a stay in that city for seven years, receiving the degree of doctor and winning general esteem, but when one of his tutors offered to make him his heir and to give him his daughter in marriage, Richard, who felt himself called to a celibate life, made a courteous excuse and returned to Oxford.
There his career had been watched with interest. Almost immediately he was appointed chancellor of the university, and soon afterwards both St Edmund Rich, now archbishop of Canterbury, and Grosseteste, who had become bishop of Lincoln, invited him to become their chancellor. He accepted Edmund’s offer and henceforth became his close companion and right-hand man, relieving him as much as he could of his heavy burdens. In the words of the Dominican Ralph Bocking, afterwards St Richard’s confessor and biographer, “Each leaned upon the other—the saint upon the saint: the master upon the disciple, the disciple upon the master: the father on the son, and the son on the father.”
St Edmund needed all his chancellor’s help and sympathy in face of his well-nigh overwhelming difficulties, the greatest of which arose from Henry III’s reprehensible and obstinate practice of either keeping benefices vacant that he might enjoy their revenues or else filling them with unworthy favourites of his own. When, after many ineffectual struggles, the archbishop, sick and despairing, retired to the Cistercian monastery of Pontigny, St Richard accompanied him and nursed him until his death. Unwilling to remain on without his master, the ex-chancellor then left Pontigny for the Dominican house of studies in Orleans, where he continued reading and lecturing for two years, and it was in the friars’ church that he was ordained priest in 1243. Although he certainly contemplated eventually joining the Order of Preachers, he returned to England, for some reason unknown, to work as a parish priest at Deal, the prebendal stall of which had probably been conferred upon him by St Edmund, as it was in the gift of the archbishop. A man of his outstanding merits and qualifications could not long remain in obscurity, and he was shortly afterwards recalled to his former chancellorship by the new archbishop of Canterbury, Boniface of Savoy.
In 1244 Ralph Neville, bishop of Chichester, died, and Henry III, by putting pressure on the canons, obtained the election of Robert Passelewe, a worthless man who, according to Matthew Paris, “had obtained the king’s favour in a wonderful degree by an unjust inquisition by which he added some thousands of marks to the royal treasury.” The archbishop refused to confirm the election and called a chapter of his suffragans who declared the previous election invalid, and chose Richard, the primate’s nominee, to fill the vacant see. Upon hearing the news, King Henry was violently enraged: he kept in his own hands all the temporalities and forbade the admission of St Richard to any barony or secular possession attached to his see. In vain did the bishop elect himself approach the monarch on two separate occasions: he could obtain neither the confirmation of his election nor the restoration of the revenues to which he was entitled. At last both he and the king carried the case to Pope Innocent IV, who was presiding over the Council of Lyons, and he decided in favour of St Richard, whom he consecrated himself on March 5, 1245. Landing once more in England the new bishop was met by the news that the king, far from giving up the temporalities, had forbidden anyone to lend St Richard money or even to give him houseroom. At Chichester he found the palace gates closed against him: those who would gladly have helped him feared the sovereign’s anger, and it seemed as though he would have to wander about his diocese a homeless outcast. However, a good priest, Simon of Tarring, opened his house to him, and Richard, as Bocking informs us, “took shelter under this hospitable roof, sharing the meals of a stranger, warming his feet at another man’s hearth”.
From this modest centre St Richard worked for two years like a missionary bishop, visiting fisherfolk and downsmen, travelling about mainly on foot, and succeeding under great difficulties in holding synods—as we learn from the Constitutions of St Richard, a body of statutes drawn up at this period and dealing with the various abuses which had come to his notice.
Only when the pope threatened to excommunicate him would Henry acknowledge the bishop and yield up the temporalities, but even then much of the money which should have been restored to him remained unpaid until after his death. Still, St Richard’s position was now totally changed: he was enthroned and could henceforth dispense some of that general hospitality combined with liberal almsgiving which was expected of a medieval prelate. His own austerity remained unaltered, and, while his guests feasted, he kept to his simple fare from which flesh meat was rigorously excluded. When he saw poultry or young animals being conveyed to his kitchen he would say, half sadly and half humorously, “Poor little innocent creatures, if you were reasoning beings and could speak, how you would curse us! For we are the cause of your death, and what have you done to deserve it?” His dress was as plain as he could make it: lamb’s wool took the place of the usual fur, and next to his skin he wore a hair shirt and a sort of iron cuirass.
In the course of his eight years’ episcopate he won the affection of his people to a remarkable extent, but though fatherly and tender he could be very stern when he discovered avarice, heresy or immorality amongst his clergy. Not even the intercession of the archbishop and of the king could induce him to mitigate the punishment of a priest who had sinned against chastity. His objection to nepotism was so strong that he never would give preferment to any of his relations, always instancing the example given by the Pastor of pastors, who gave the keys, not to His cousin St John, but to St Peter, who was no relation. His charity was boundless. When his steward complained that his alms exceeded his income he bade him sell his gold and silver dishes, adding, “There is my horse too; he is in good condition and should fetch a good price. Sell him also, and bring me the money for the poor.” Of himself and of his own powers he had the lowest opinion, and it has been noticed that of the numerous miracles with which he has been credited the majority were performed at the request or at the suggestion of other people.
To the strenuous duties of his office, the pope added that of preaching a new crusade against the Saracens, and it was upon reaching Dover after conducting a strenuous campaign along the coast that St Richard was seized with a fever which he knew would prove fatal. He died at the house for poor priests and pilgrims called the Maison-Dieu, surrounded on his death-bed by Ralph Bocking, Simon of Tarring, and other devoted friends. He was then in his fifty-fifth year, and he was canonized only nine years later. No vestige of his relics or of his tomb at Chichester has survived. St Richard’s feast is kept in the dioceses of Westminster, Birmingham and Southwark.

Two lives of St Richard are printed in the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. i, that by Ralph Bocking, and another which is found in Capgrave’s Nova Legenda Angliae. This last seems to be a copy of an early biography written before the canonization. There is an excellent account of St Richard in J. H. Newman’s “Lives of the English Saints”, the authorship of which has been assigned sometimes to Father Dalgairns, sometimes to R. Ornsby. The fullest modern biography is that of M. R. Capes, Richard of Wyche (1913). Further useful bibliographical references are given in DNB and in the Dictionary of English Church History.

Richard of Wyche, also known as Richard of Chichester, was born at Wyche (Droitwich), Worcestershire, England. He was orphaned when he was quite young. He retrieved the fortunes of the mismanaged estate he inherited when he took it over, and then turned it over to his brother Robert. Richard refused marriage and went to Oxford, where he studied under Grosseteste and met and began a lifelong friendship with Saint Edmund Rich.


Richard von Chichester Katholische Kirche: 3. April und 16. Juni  Anglikanische Kirche: 16. Juni
Richard wurde 1197 oder 1198 bei Worchester in England geboren. Er studierte in Oxford, Paris und Bologna Rechtswissenschaften und Geisteswissenschaften. 1236 wurde er Kanzler der Universität Oxford und Kanzler des Erzischofs Edmund von Abingdon. Nach dem Tod seines Bischofs studierte Richard Theologie und wurde nach seiner Priesterweihe 1244 Bischof von Chichester. Er wirkte vor allem als Kreuzzusprediger. Richard starb am 3.4.1253 in Dover.

Richard pursued his studies at Paris, received his M.A. from Oxford, and then continued his studies at Bologna, where he received his doctorate in Canon Law.
After seven years at Bologna, he returned to Oxford, was appointed chancellor of the university in 1235, and then became chancellor to Edmund Rich, now archbishop of Canterbury, whom he accompanied to the Cistercian monastery at Pontigny when the archbishop retired there. After Rich died at Pontigny, Richard taught at the Dominican House of Studies at Orleans and was ordained there in 1243.

After a time as a parish priest at Deal, he became chancellor of Boniface of Savoy, the new archbishop of Canterbury, and when King Henry III named Ralph Neville bishop of Chichester in 1244, Boniface declared his selection invalid and named Richard to the See. Eventually, the matter was brought to Rome and in 1245, Pope Innocent IV declared in Richard's favor and consecrated him. When he returned to England, he was still opposed by Henry and was refused admittance to the bishop's palace; eventually Henry gave in when threatened with excommunication by the Pope. The remaining eight years of Richard's life were spend in ministering to his flock.

He denounced nepotism, insisted on strict clerical discipline, and was ever generous to the poor and the needy. He died at a house for poor priests in Dover, England, while preaching a crusade, and was canonized in 1262.

Richard Backedine B (RM) (also known as Richard of Wyche, of Droitwich, of Chichester, of Burford)
Born at Droitwich (formerly called Wyche), Worchestershire, England, in 1197; died at Dover, England, 1253; canonized 1262.

"Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ For all the benefits Thou hast given me, For all the pains and insults Which Thou has borne for me.  O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, May I know Thee more clearly, Love Thee more dearly, Follow Thee more nearly, Day by day. Amen."
--Saint Richard of Chichester.

Richard's surname was Backedine, but he is better known as Richard Wyche or 'of Wich.' He was born into a family who held property and were counted among the minor nobility. Even as a toddler Richard haunted holy Mass. At five, standing on a chair, he was already preaching sermons: "Be good; if you are good, God will love you; if you are not good, God will not love you." A little simplistic but what do you expect of a five-year old? His knowledge of Latin amazed the pastor and the fervor of his prayers confounded his mother. His parents decided that the fruits of the earth would go to the eldest son, but those of heaven would go to the youngest--he would belong to the Church.

Richard's parents died while he was still small, and the heavily mortgaged family estate was left to his elder brother, who had no gift for management. The brother allowed the land to fall into ruin. When Richard was old enough, he served his brother out of kindness as a laborer to help rebuild the estate. He actually tilled the land for a time, and directed the replanting of the ruined gardens.

In time his management paid off, and the property was restored to its former value. His brother wanted to give it to Richard, but Richard only wanted to spend time with his books. Abandoning the estates and the possibility of a marriage to a wealthy bride, Richard went off to the newly opened Oxford University to finish his studies. At Oxford he became acquainted with the Dominicans who had arrived in 1221, Franciscans such as Grosseteste, and Saint Edmund Rich, who was then chancellor of the university and became one of Richard's lifelong friends.

Later, he went to Paris as a student of theology, and was so poor that he shared a room with two others. They lived on bread and porridge, and having only one good coat between them, they could only go one at a time to lectures, wearing it in turn, while the others remained at home. After taking his degree in Paris and finishing his master's degree at Oxford, he studied Roman and canon law at Bologna for seven years. There he received his doctorate and the esteem of many.

When one of his tutors offered to make Richard his heir and give him his daughter in marriage, Richard, who felt called to a celibate life, made a courteous excuse and returned to Oxford at age 38. In 1235, he was appointed chancellor of the university and then of the diocese of Oxford by Saint Edmund, who had become archbishop of Canterbury.

Richard remained in close contact with Saint Edmund during the long years of Edmund's conflict with the English king and, in fact, followed him into exile in France and nursed him until Edmund's death in 1240 at the Cistercian monastery of Pontigny. After Edmund died, he taught at the Dominican house of studies in Orléans for two years, where he was ordained a priest in 1242 and lived in the Dominican community until his return to England in 1243. At which time he served briefly as a parish priest at Charing and at Deal.

Those were the days when Henry III created great difficulties for the Church by encroaching on her liberties, seizing her revenues, and appointing to ecclesiastical vacancies his own relatives and followers. Crowned at the age of nine, when the barons had made an impetuous attack on his power, the Church had come to the aid of the frail child because God establishes all authority. Henry had acknowledged this service until he reached manhood. Then the king forgot his debt to the Church. He surrounded himself with favorites from the Continent: Bretons, Provençals, Savoyards, and natives of Poitou to "protect himself from the felony of his own subjects."

In 1244, Ralph Neville, bishop of Chichester died. Thus it came about that the king nominated a courtier, Robert Passelewe, to the bishopric of Chichester and pressured the canons to elect him. However, the new archbishop, Blessed Boniface of Savoy, refused to confirm appointment and called a chapter of his suffragans, who declared the election invalid. Instead they chose Richard Backedine, who had been chancellor to archbishops Edmund Rich and Boniface of Savoy and who was the primate's nominee, to fill the vacant see.

This roused the anger of the king, who retaliated by confiscating the cathedral revenues. It was a case in which retreat would be pure cowardice, so Richard accepted the unwelcome office and set about doing his best with it. At first he was almost starved out of office because the king, who already had the church revenues, forbade anyone to give Richard food or shelter. No bishop dared to consecrate him and, after a year of mendicant existence, he went to receive episcopal consecration from Pope Innocent IV, who was presiding over the Council of Lyons, on March 5, 1245.

But Richard, receiving the powerful support of the pope, though deprived of the use both of the cathedral and the bishop's palace, took up his residence at Chichester, and on a borrowed horse travelled through his diocese. He was given shelter in a country rectory by Father Simon of Tarring, and from this modest center Bishop Richard worked for two years like a missionary bishop, visiting fisherfolk and peasants, and cultivating figs in his spare time.

He called many synods during his travels, and drew up what are known as the Constitutions of Saint Richard, statutes that address the various abuses that he noticed in his travels. The sacraments were to be administered without payment, Mass celebrated with dignity, and the clergy to remain celibate, practice residence, and wear clerical garb. The laity were obliged to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days and to memorize the Hail Mary, Our Father, and Creed. With great charity and humility he carried on his work until the king reluctantly yielded to a peremptory order of the pope to restore the revenues of the bishopric.

With his temporalities restored, Richard had the means to become a great alms-giver. "It will never do," he said, "to eat out of gold and silver plates and bowls, while Christ is suffering in the person of His poor," and he ate and drank always out of common crockery. His early poverty and recent experiences made him eschew riches. Whenever he heard of any fire or damage to his property, Saint Richard would say to his stewards, "Do not grieve. This is a lesson to us. God is teaching us that we do not give enough away to the poor. Let us increase our almsgiving."

Nor would he allow any quarrels over money or privilege to stand in the way of fellowship and charity. When an enemy came to see him, he received him in the friendliest manner and invited him to his table, but in matters of scandal and corruption he was stern and unyielding. "Never," he said of one of his priests who was immoral, "shall a ribald exercise any cure of souls in my diocese of Chichester."

And always he rose early, long before his clergy were awake, passing through their dormitory to say his morning office by himself. He encouraged the Dominicans and Franciscans in his diocese, who aided him in reforming it.

His final task was a commission from the pope to undertake a preaching mission for the Crusade throughout the kingdom. He saw this as a call to a new life, which would also reopen the Holy Land to pilgrims, not as a political expedition. He began preaching the Crusade in his own church at Chichester and proceeded as far as Dover, where, after he had dedicated a church to his friend Saint Edmund and sung matins, he was taken ill, and died at the Maison- Dieu, a house of poor priests and pilgrims, in his 56th year. Among his last words, as he turned his face, lit up with peace, to an old friend, were: "I was glad when they said to me, We will go into the house of the Lord."

If Richard was a thorn in the side of an avaricious king, he was a saint to his flock, whose affection he won during his eight-year episcopate. Many miracles of healing were recorded during his lifetime, and many more after his death. Richard was deep in the hearts of his people, the sort of saint that anyone can recognize by his simplicity, holiness, and endless charity to the poor.

Richard built a magnificent tomb for his friend, Saint Edmund, and was himself buried there after his death. In 1276, his body was translated to a separate tomb that erected for him behind the high altar of Chichester cathedral, which became one of the most popular pilgrimage places in England. It was utterly destroyed in 1538 by the Reformers, and his body was buried secretly.

Legend says that Richard Backedine was a third order Dominican, though there is no positive proof. One tradition says that he was actually on his way to join the Dominican house in Orléans, when the letters came appointing him bishop. In the early days of the Order of Preachers, the name of Saint Richard was inserted as a saint to be commemorated among their feasts, a fact that offers strong evidence that Richard himself was a member of the order. His biography was written by one of his clergy, Ralph Bocking (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley, Capes, Delaney, Dorcy, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Gill, Walsh).

In art, Saint Richard is portrayed as a bishop blessing his people with a chalice by him, because he once dropped the chalice during a Mass, which remained unspilt. He may be shown (1) with the chalice at his feet; (2) kneeling with the chalice before him; (3) ploughing his brother's fields; or (4) blessing (Roeder). Unexpectedly, he is the patron of the coachmen's guild in Milan, Italy, presumably because he drove carts on his family farm (Farmer). His feast is observed in the dioceses of Southwark, Westminster, and Birmingham (Attwater2).
1260 Blessed Gandulphus of Binasco Franciscan  his discourses and miracles made a profound impression while Saint Francis was still alive preaching in Sicily hermit OFM
(also known as Gandulf) Born in Binasco (near Milan), Lombardy, Italy; Gandulphus became a member of the Franciscan Order while Saint Francis was still alive and spent his life praying and preaching in Sicily. Later in life, he left the friary at Palermo to become a hermit. He is highly venerated in Sicily (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
1260 BD GANDULF OF BINASCO his discourses and miracles made a profound impression
THE Sicilians have a great veneration for this Gandulf, a Franciscan who, though born at Binasco near Milan, lived and died upon their island. He was one of those who entered the order while the Seraphic Father was still alive, and the life he led was one of great self-abnegation. Alarm at hearing himself commended induced him to embrace the solitary life, lest he should be tempted to vainglory. With one companion, Brother Pascal, he left the friary at Palermo and set out for the wild district in which he had determined to settle. Afterwards from time to time he would emerge from his retreat to evangelize the people of the neighbouring districts, upon whom his discourses and miracles made a profound impression. Once while he was preaching at Polizzi, the sparrows chattered so loudly that the congregation could not hear the sermon. Bd Gandulf appealed to the birds to be quiet, and we are told that they kept silence until the conclusion of the service. On that occasion the holy man told the people that he was addressing them for the last time; and in fact, immediately upon his return to the hospital of St Nicholas where he was staying he was seized with fever, and died on Holy Saturday as he had foretold, in 1260.
Afterwards, when his body was enshrined, the watchers declared that during the night there had flown into the church a number of swallows who had parted into groups and had sung, in alternating choirs, a Te Deum of their own.

Some account of this beato will be found in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. v. See also Léon, Auréole Séraphique  (Eng. trans.), vol. iii, pp. 201—205, and Mazara, Leggendario Francescano (1679), vol. ii, pp. 472—476.
1271 Blessed John of Penna priest founding several Franciscan houses  visions gift of prophecy won all hearts by his exemplary life as well as by his kindly and courteous manners; aridity and a painful lingering illness; spiritual consolations  assurance that he accomplished his purgatory on earth his cell was illuminated with a celestial light OFM (AC)
Born at Penna San Giovanni (near Fermo), Ancona, Italy, c. 1193; died at Recanati, Italy, April 3, 1271; cultus approved 1806 by Pope Pius VII. Blessed John joined the Franciscans at Recanati about 1213, was ordained a priest, and was sent to France, where he worked for about 25 years in Provence, founding several Franciscan houses. About 1242, he returned to Italy, where he spent his last 30 years mainly in retirement, although he did serve as guardian several times. He experienced visions and had the gift of prophecy, but was also afflicted with extended periods of spiritual aridity. His life is described in chapter 45 of The Little Flowers of Saint Francis (Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney).

1271 BD JOHN OF PENNA won all hearts by his exemplary life as well as by his kindly and courteous manners; aridity and a painful lingering illness; spiritual consolations  assurance that he accomplished his purgatory on earth his cell was illuminated with a celestial light

PENNA in the March of Ancona was the birthplace of this holy Minorite. Im­pressed by the teaching of one of the early followers of St Francis of Assisi, he sought admission into his order and received the habit in the convent of Recanati. From Italy he was afterwards sent to Provence. In France, where he laboured for twenty-five years, he founded several houses of the order, and won all hearts by his exemplary life as well as by his kindly and courteous manners. Recalled to Italy he gave himself up, as far as he could, to prayer and retirement. The good friar’s later years were tried by aridity and by a lingering illness which was of a very painful kind, but which he bore with perfect resignation. Ultimately he was rewarded by spiritual consolations and by the assurance that he had accomplished his purgatory on earth. As the hour of death drew near, his cell was illuminated with a celestial light, and he passed to glory with uplifted hands and with words of thanksgiving upon his lips. His cultus was approved by Pope Pius VII.
The story of Bd John of Penna fills a long chapter (45) in the Fioretti. See also Léon, Auréole Séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. iii, pp. 276—278, and Mazara, Leggendario Francescano (1679), vol. i, pp. 474—476.
1458 Blessed Alexandrina di Letto nun abbess founder Poor Clare initiated a new Franciscan reform (PC)
Born at Sulmona, Italy in 1385; At age 15, Alexandrina joined the Poor Clares. After 23 years as a nun she founded a convent of her order at Foligno of which she became its first abbess. Here she initiated a new Franciscan reform, which was blessed and encouraged by Pope Martin V (Benedictines).

1492 The Monk Nektarii of Bezhetsk a monastic of the Trinity-Sergiev monastery
In the mid XV Century he settled in a dense forest in the upper part of the Bezhetsk region, where he built himself a cell. The deeds and the spiritual wisdom of the monk attracted to him many, that wanted to live under his guidance. In a short while the monks built a church in honour of the Vvedenie-Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Mother of God, and they enclosed it about with a fence. The new monastery was one of the poorest, and which in the expression of the chronicler, was built "with tears, fasting and vigil".
By common accord of all the brethren of the monastery, its founder the Monk Nektarii was chosen as hegumen. The Monk Nektarii died 3 April 1492.
Martyred Monastic Fathers of the Davido-Garedzh Lavra 6,000+, accepted martyr's death in Gruzia (Georgia) for confessing the Christian faith
The Martyred Monastic Fathers of the Davido-Garedzh Lavra, numbering more than 6,000, accepted a martyr's death in Gruzia (Georgia) for confessing the Christian faith at the beginning of the XVII Century, during the time of shah Abbas I.
The saints were buried in the temple of the Davido-Garedzh monastery by the emperor Archil II (Comm. 21 June).

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.


St. Benedict of San Philadelphio (Or BENEDICT THE MOOR)
Born at San Philadelphio or San Fradello, a village of the Diocese of Messina in Sicily, in 1526; d. 4 April, 1589. The parents of St. Benedict were slaves from Ethiopia who were, nevertheless, pious Christians. On account of their faithfulness their master freed Benedict, the first-born child. From his earliest years Benedict was very religious and while still very young he joined a newly formed association of hermits. When Pope Pius IV dissolved the association, Benedict, called from his origin Æthiops or Niger, entered the Reformed Recollects of the Franciscan Order. Owing to his virtues he was made superior of the monastery of Santa Maria de Jesus at Palermo three years after his entrance, although he was only a lay brother. He reformed the monastery and ruled it with great success until his death. He was pronounced Blessed in 1743 and was canonized in 1807. His feast is celebrated 3 April.

1589 ST BENEDICT THE BLACK His face when he was in chapel often shone with an unearthly light, and food seemed to multiply miraculously under his hands; reputation for sanctity and miracles;
BENEDICT was born in a village near Messina in Sicily. His parents were good Christians, but African slaves of a rich landowner whose name (Manasseri) they bore, according to the prevalent custom. Christopher’s master had made him foreman over his other servants and had promised that his eldest son, Benedict, should be free. The baby grew up such a sweet-tempered, devout child that when he was only ten years old he was called “The Holy Black” (Ii moro santo), a nickname which clung to him all his life. One day, when he was about twenty-one, he was grossly insulted by some neighbours, who taunted him with his colour and the status of his parents. There happened to be passing at the time a young man called Lanzi, who had retired from the world with a few companions to live the life of a hermit in imitation of St Francis of Assisi. He was greatly impressed by the gentleness of Benedict’s replies and, addressing the mockers, he said, “You make fun of this poor black man now; but I can tell you that ere long you will hear great things of him”. Soon afterwards, at Lanzi’s invitation, Benedict sold his few possessions and went to join the solitaries.
Several times in the ensuing years the hermits were obliged to shift their quarters, and at last they settled on Montepellegrino near Palermo, already hallowed by having sheltered St Rosalia. Here Lanai died, and the community chose Benedict as their superior, very much against his will. But when he was about thirty-eight, Pope Pius IV decreed that the hermits must either disperse or join some order. Benedict chose to join the Friars Minor of the Observance, and found a welcome as a lay-brother in the convent of St Mary near Palermo. At first he was employed as cook, a post which suited his retiring nature and which gave him opportunities for little deeds of kindness, but his extraordinary goodness could not long escape notice. His face when he was in chapel often shone with an unearthly light, and food seemed to multiply miraculously under his hands.
In 1578, when the Friars Minor of the Observance held their chapter at Palermo, it was decided to convert the house of St Mary into a convent of the reform. This necessitated the appointment of a very wise guardian, and the choice of the chapter fell upon Benedict, a lay-brother who could neither read nor write. He himself was greatly perturbed at the appointment, but was obliged under obedience to accept. The choice was abundantly justified. Benedict proved to be an ideal superior, for his judgement was sound and his admonitions were so tactfully and wisely given that while never resented they were always taken to heart. His reputation for sanctity and miracles quickly spread over Sicily, and when he went to attend the provincial chapter at Girgenti clergy and people turned out to meet him, men and women struggling to kiss his hand or to obtain a fragment of his habit as a relic.
Relieved of the office of guardian, St Benedict was made vicar of the convent and novice-master. To this post also he proved himself fully equal. An infused sacred science enabled him to expound the Holy Scriptures to the edification of priests and novices alike, and his intuitive grasp of deep theological truths often astonished learned inquirers. It was known that he could read men’s thoughts, and this power, coupled with great sympathy, made him a successful director of novices. Nevertheless he was glad when he was released and allowed to return to the kitchen, although his position was scarcely that of the obscure cook of earlier years. Now, all day long, he was beset by visitors of all conditions—the poor demanding alms, the sick seeking to be healed, and distinguished persons requesting his advice or his prayers. Though he never refused to see those who asked for him, he shrank from marks of respect, and when travelling would cover his face with his hood and if possible choose the night that he might not be recognized. Throughout his life he continued the austerities of his hermit days. In the matter of food, however, he was wont to say that the best form of mortification was not to deprive oneself of it, but to desist after eating a little, adding that it was right to partake of food given in alms, as a token of gratitude and to give pleasure to the donors.
Benedict “The Holy Black” died in 1589 at the age of sixty-three after a short illness. He was chosen as patron by the Negroes of North America and as protector by the town of Palermo, having been canonized in 1807.
See the life (Vita di San Benedetto di San Fradello) by F Giovanni da Capistrano, published in 1808; that by Father B. Nicolosi (1907); and Léon, Auréole Séraphique (Eng. trans.), ii, pp. 14—31.

      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

April 3, 2010 St. Benedict the African  (1526-1589) 
Benedict held important posts in the Franciscan Order and gracefully adjusted to other work when his terms of office were up.

His parents were slaves brought from Africa to Messina, Sicily. Freed at 18, Benedict did farm work for a wage and soon saved enough to buy a pair of oxen. He was very proud of those animals. In time he joined a group of hermits around Palermo and was eventually recognized as their leader. Because these hermits followed the Rule of St. Francis, Pope Pius IV ordered them to join the First Order.

Benedict was eventually novice master and then guardian of the friars in Palermo— positions rarely held in those days by a brother. In fact, Benedict was forced to accept his election as guardian. And when his term ended he happily returned to his work in the friary kitchen.

Benedict corrected the friars with humility and charity. Once he corrected a novice and assigned him a penance only to learn that the novice was not the guilty party. Bened ict immediately knelt down before the novice and asked his pardon.

In later life Benedict was not possessive of the few things he used. He never referred to them as "mine" but always called them "ours." His gifts for prayer and the guidance of souls earned him throughout Sicily a reputation for holiness. Following the example of St. Francis, Benedict kept seven 40-day fasts throughout the year; he also slept only a few hours each night.

After Benedict’s death, King Philip III of Spain paid for a special tomb for this holy friar. Canonized in 1807, he is honored as a patron saint by African-Americans.

Comment:  Among Franciscans a position of leadership is limited in time. When the time expires, former leaders sometimes have trouble adjusting to their new position. The Church needs men and women ready to put their best energies into leadership— but men and women who are gracefully willing to go on to other work when their time of leadership is over.

Quote:  "I did not come to be served but to serve (see Matthew 20:28), says the Lord. Those who are placed over others should glory in such an office only as much as they would were they assigned the task of washing the feet of the brothers. And the more they are upset about their office being taken from them than they would be over the loss of the office of [washing] feet, so much the more do they store up treasures to the peril of their souls (see John 12:6)" (Francis of Assisi, Admonition IV).
APRIL 01 2019

          St Mary of EgypSt Zosimas monk at a certain Palestinian monastery on the outskirts of Caesarea
120 -132 St. Theodora Roman martyr sister of  Saint Hermes aid and care to her brother in prison
180 St. Melito Bishop of Sardis in Lydia, Asia Minor powerful gift of prophecy as attested by Saint Jerome and Eusebius
180 St. Philip of Gortyna authorship of a now lost treatise against the Gnostics
255 St. Venantius Bishop martyr prelate serving Dalmatia, Croatia
Sts. Victor and Stephen Two martyrs executed in Egypt probably Alexandria
3rd v. The Martyrs Gerontius and Basilides suffered martyrdom for Christ
     St. Quintian and Irenaeus 2 Armenian martyrs whose Acts are no longer extant
         
Constantinópoli sancti Macárii Confessóris, qui, sub Leóne Imperatóre, pro assertióne sanctárum Imáginum
5thv  to 6th v Saint Tewdric prince of Glamorgan is discussed in the Book of Llan Dav, written much later, Hermit
622 St. (Valery) Walericus Benedictine founder missionary abbot under St. Columbanus His time was entirely occupied with preaching, prayer, reading, and manual labor
644 Berhard B  Berhard saintly bishop who had a great affection for Saint Valéry
666 Saint  Leuconus 18th bishop of Troyes, who founded Notre-Dame-des-Nonnains
7th v.  St. Dodolinus bishop of Vienne, in Dauphine, France
7th v. St. Caidoc & Fricor Irish missionaries in northern France  convert  was Saint  Ricarius
9th v. St. Cellach abbot of lona, Scotland  archbishop of Armagh, Ireland
         
Ardpatrícii, in Momónia Hibérniæ província, sancti Celsi Epíscopi, qui beátum Malachíam in Episcopátu præcéssit.
     St.
Marcella  A little shepherdess of the Auvergne
830 St. Macarius the Wonder-Worker monk known for miracles
1053 VENERABLE PROCOPIUS, THE CZECH establishing the Monastery of St. John the Forerunner by Sazava river
1129 St. Cellach Last hereditary archbishop of Armagh, Ireland named St. Malachy
1132 St. Hugh of Grenoble Benedictine bishop amazing modesty took upon himself all sins of others the cross he carried was heavy laden holy and redemptive great reputation for miracles
Apud Ambiánum, in Gállia, sancti Waleríci Abbátis, cujus sepúlcrum crebris miráculis illustrátur.
1194 Hugh of Bonnevaux possessed singular powers of discernment and exorcism OSB Cistercian, Abbot (AC)
1220 Jacqueline V Hermit recluse in Sicily reprimanded Pope Innocent III
1220 Blessed Nicholas of Neti Cistercian monk of the community of Santa Maria dell'Arcu near Neti, Sicily, OSB Cist.
1245 ST GILBERT, BISHOP OF CAITHNESS “Three maxims which I have always tried to observe I now commend to you: first, never to hurt anyone and, if injured, never to seek revenge secondly, to bear patiently whatever suffering God may inflict, remembering that He chastises every son whom He receives; and finally to obey those in authority so as not to be a stumbling-block to others.”
1229 The Holy Martyr Abraham the Bulgar, Vladimir Wonderworker convert from Islam martyred for his faith
XII (XIII) Century The Monk John Shauteli -- was a distinguished Gruzinian (Georgian) poet, philosopher and rhetorician
1367 Blessed Gerard of Sassoferrato received the Camaldolese habit OSB Cam. (AC)
euthymius_dormition
1404 Saint Euthymius of Suzdal tonsure Nizhegorod Caves under St Dionysius:  founded Savior-Euthymius monastery strict ascetic great man of prayer incorrupt relics 100 yrs
1574 Catherine Tomás strange phenomena mystical experiences both consoling /alarming, including gift of prophecy  last years of life continually in ecstasy
1849 BD LUDOVIC PAVONI, FOUNDER OF THE SONS OF MARY IMMACULATE OF BRESCIA
1913 Saint Barsanuphius of Optina (Paul I. Plikhanov) a colonel, to be a general, but became a priest gifts of clairvoyance healing read souls
St Barsanuphius loved spiritual books, especially the Lives of the Saints. He often told people that those who read these Lives with faith benefit greatly from doing so. The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints, he said. They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties, how to stand firm in our faith, and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious



APRIL 02

Holy Week: A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week
1st v Tryphenna and Tryphosa 2 converts of Saint Paul from Iconium in Lycaonia Romans (16:12) (RM)
 175 Probus of Ravenna the sixth bishop of Ravenna B (RM)
 251 Tryphon, Respicius and Nympha MM (RM) Patron of gardeners (Roeder)
 303 Saint Polycarp of Alexandria Martyr of Egypt
 303 Tiberius (of Agde), Modestus, and Florence MM (RM)
 305 St. Amphianus reproached chief proponent of the Diocletian persecutions for his crime of idolatry Martyred; sea was not able to endure corpse of the martyr and threw it up before the gates of the city all the inhabitants went out to see this prodigy, and gave glory to the God of the Christians, confessing aloud the name of Jesus Christ
 308 St. Theodosia Virgin martyred for her extreme faith
       Cápuæ sancti Victóris Epíscopi, eruditióne et sanctitáte conspícui. At Capua, Bishop St. Victor, well known for his sanctity and learning.
 390 St. Urban of Langres Bishop of Langres patron saint of vine dressers
 430 St. Mary of Egypt penitent sent to desert east of Palestine by the Blessed Virgin as a hermitess in absolute solitude for forty-seven years
 469 St. Abundius Greek priest bishop noted theologian obvious intellect and holiness attended Councils of Chalcedon and Milan
 490 Monitor of Orlèans Twelfth bishop of Orlèans B (RM) (Benedictines)
 573 St. Nicetius bishop of Lyons extensive revival of ecclesiastical chant Humility assiduous prayer Great miracles confirmed the opinion of his sanctity
6th v. St. Musa Virgin child of Rome; a great mystic, visions and ecstasies, reported by St. Gregory I the Great
        St. Bronach  The "Virgin of Glen Seichis," Irish mystic listed in martyrologies of Tallaght /Donegal
653 & 638 St. Longis & Agnofleda Confessors of Christ
       Spes martyred during the persecutions at Les Andelys (Eure)
       Natalene Martyr of Pamiers M (RM) (also known as Lene)
9th v. Saint Titus the Wonderworker displayed zeal for the monastic life from his youth
 952 Anba Macarius, the Fifty-Ninth Pope of Alexandria;
The Departure of .
10th v Theoctista A nun of  Lesbos a hermitess on the Isle of Paros simili to Saint Mary of Egypt V (RM)
XII v. Sainted Savva, Archbishop of Surozh (now the city of Sudak), lived in the Crimea (early XII v.)
1507 St. Francis of Paola hermit foundation of the Minimi fratres ('least brothers') penance, charity, humility many miracles  gifts of prophesy insight into men's hearts uncorrupt 25 years but burned by Hugenots
1815 BD LEOPOLD OF GAICHE founded house for missioners and preachers could retire for their annual retreat other brethren and friends of the order could come for spiritual refreshment; numerous miracles reported at grave 1839 St. Dominic Tuoc 3rd order Dominican martyr Vietnam  native 
1968 The Apparition of the Pure Lady the Virgin in the church of Zeiton.


APRIL 03

Holy Week: A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week
1st v Pancras of Taormina Antiochene by birth Saint Peter consecrated bishop sent to Sicily BM (RM)
127 Sixtus I, Pope survived as pope for about 10 years before being killed by the Roman authorities
Tauroménii, in Sicília, sancti Pancrátii Epíscopi
 304 St. Agape and her sisters Chionia and Irene, Christians of Thessalonica, Macedonia convicted possessing texts of the Scriptures
304 St. Vulpian Syrian Martyr firmly confessed Jesus as Lord before the judge Urbanus Evagrius and Benignus Martyrs at Tomi on the Black Sea MM (RM)
307 Holy Martyr Theodosia of Tyre suffered for the faith Elpidiphoros, Dios, Bythonios and Galikos
The Holy Martyrs  suffered for their confession of faith in Jesus Christ sancti Nicétæ Abbátis In monastério Medícii, in Bithynia, deposítio, qui ob cultum sanctárum Imáginum, sub Leóne Arméno, multa passus est, ac tandem, juxta Constantinópolim, Conféssor quiévit in pace.
 695 St. Fara Burgundofara (Fara) convent Abbess 37 yrs Many English princess-nuns and nun-saints were trained under her, including Saints Gibitrudis, Sethrida, Ethelburga, Ercongotha, Hildelid, Sisetrudis, Hercantrudis, and others miracles after death:
 800 Saint Attala monk and of a monastery at Taormina abbot , Sicily Benedictine , OSB Abbot (AC) Monk Illyrikos the Wonderworker asceticised on Mount Marsion in the Peloponessus.
 824 St. Nicetas Abbot From Caesarea Bithynia modern Turkey opposed Iconoclast policies of Emperor Leo V the Armenian
1253 St. Richard of Wyche Ph.D. Priest missionary bishop denounced nepotism, insisted on strict clerical discipline, ever generous to poor and needy Many miracles healing recorded during  lifetime more after death. Richard was deep in the hearts of his people, the sort of saint that anyone can recognize by his simplicity, holiness, and endless charity to the poor
1260 Blessed Gandulphus of Binasco Franciscan while Saint Francis was still alive preaching in Sicily hermit OFM
1271 Blessed John of Penna priest founding several Franciscan houses  visions gift of prophecy
won all hearts by his exemplary life as well as by his kindly and courteous manners; aridity and a painful lingering illness; spiritual consolations  assurance that he accomplished his purgatory on earth his cell was illuminated with a celestial light OFM (AC)
1458 Blessed Alexandrina di Letto nun abbess founder Poor Clare initiated a new Franciscan reform (PC)
1492 The Monk Nektarii of Bezhetsk a monastic of the Trinity-Sergiev monastery
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
17th v. Martyred Monastic Fathers of the Davido-Garedzh Lavra 6,000+, accepted martyr's death in Gruzia (Georgia) for confessing the Christian faith


APRIL 04







THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 303

In the going forth of my soul from this world: meet it, O Lady, and receive it.

Console it with thy holy countenance: let not the sight of the demons terrify it.

Be to it a ladder to Heaven: and a straight way to the Paradise of God.

Obtain for it from the Father the pardon of peace: and a throne of light among the servants of God.

Uphold the devout before the tribunal of Christ: take their cause into thy hands.


Let every spirit praise Our Lady

Rejoice, ye Heavens, and be glad, O Earth: because Mary will console her servants and will have mercy on her poor.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning and will always be.

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea.  As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences.  Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.  Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.   God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heavenonly saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
There are over 10,000 named saints beati  from history
 and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources

Patron_Saints.html  Widowed_Saints htmIndulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines  
India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes 1858  China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine  Loreto, Italy  Marian Apparitions (over 2000Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
 
Links to Related MarianWebsites  Angels and Archangels  Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell

Widowed Saints  html
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Of_The_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  UniateChalcedon

Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BLay Saints  Miraculous_IconMiraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
Miracles by Century 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800  1900 2000
Miracles 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000  
 
1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800   1900 Lay Saints

The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him
For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.
Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here} 2000 years of the Catholic Church in China
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos  Practical Guide to Holiness
1. Go to Mass with deepest devotion. 2. Spend a half hour to reflect upon your main failing & make resolutions to avoid it.
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible.  4. Say the rosary every day.
5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament; toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour, 6.  Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day.
7.  Every month make a review of the month in confession.
8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue.
9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion. 10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
   These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.

Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.

O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)
1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.
Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).
In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian.
 
In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides.  Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicæa (325). The “Peregrinatio Silviæ” (or Etheriæ) (ed. Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq.) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.
Although Hebrew had been the language of the ancient Israelite kingdom, after their return from Exile the Jews turned more and more to Aramaic, using it for parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel in the Bible. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the main language of Palestine, and quite a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are also written in Aramaic.
Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.
After Arab conquests of the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language of those who converted to Islam, although in out of the way places, Aramaic continued as a vernacular language of Muslims.
Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen); to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.  Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine.  The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches.  The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice."  According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates.  Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor.  Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.
Meeting of the Saints  walis (saints of Allah)
Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.
So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life.  But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA)
1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.
801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions.  Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq.  She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186).  Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186).  She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching.  As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director.  She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222).  A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid.  The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind.  She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca:  "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God.  She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker.  Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219).  During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?'  I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them.  I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me?  Is it not God Who wills it?  When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will?  It is not  well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic.  It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187).  She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world.  A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill.  Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?"  (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold.  She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him.  And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance.  She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did.  For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself.  The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other.  When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from.  "From that other world," she said.  "And where are you going?" she was asked.  "To that other world," she replied (219).  She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end.  Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love.  In this quest, logic and reason were powerless.  Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition.  Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved.  Through this communion, she could discover His will for her.  Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul."  [224]

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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey  Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about
The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 14 years Lover of the poor; A very Holy Man of God.
Monsignor Reardon Protonotarius Apostolicus
 
Pastor 42 years BASILICA OF SAINT MARY Minneapolis MN
America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World
August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation
by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908
James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932
James M. Reardon Publication  History of the Basilica of Saint Mary 1955 {update}

Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America
Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement
1362-1950 (1952);

The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;
  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and Indulgence Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary
spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the
life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon
Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.

The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}.
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 
It Makes No Sense
Not To Believe In GOD
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

Today we have a similar spiritual battle in progress—a battle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, life and death. If we do not soon stop the genocide of abortion in the United States, we shall run the course of all those that prove by their actions that they are enemies of God—total collapse, economic, social, and national. The moral demise of a nation results in the ultimate demise of a nation. God is not a disinterested spectator to the affairs of man. Life begins at conception. This is an unalterable formal teaching of the Catholic Church. If you do not accept this you are a heretic in plain English. A single abortion is homicide. The more than 48,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in the United States constitute genocide by definition. The group singled out for death—unwanted, unborn children.

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.

As we watch the spectacle of the world seeming to self-destruct before our eyes, we can’t help but be saddened and even frightened by so much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia, North Korea—It is all a disaster of epic proportions displayed in living color on our television screens.  These are not ordinary times and this is not business as usual. We are at a crossroads in human history and the time for Catholics and all Christians to act is now. All evil can ultimately be traced to its origin, which is moral evil. All of the political action, peace talks, international peacekeeping forces, etc. will avail nothing if the underlying sickness is not addressed. This is sin. One person at a time hearts and minds must be moved from evil to good, from lies to truth, from violence to peace.
Islam, an Arabic word that has often been defined as “to make peace,” seems like a living contradiction today. Islam is a religion of peace.  As we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady, I am proposing that each one of us pray the Rosary for peace. Prayer is what must precede all other activity if that activity is to have any chance of success. Pray for peace, pray the Rosary every day without fail.  There is a great love for Mary among Muslim people. It is not a coincidence that a little village named Fatima is where God chose to have His Mother appear in the twentieth century. Our Lady’s name appears no less than thirty times in the Koran. No other woman’s name is mentioned, not even that of Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima. In the Koran Our Lady is described as “Virgin, ever Virgin.”

Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophetically spoke of the resurgence of Islam in our day. He said it would be through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Islam would be converted. We must pray for this to happen quickly if we are to avert a horrible time of suffering for this poor, sinful world. Turn to our Mother in this time of great peril. Pray the Rosary every day. Then, and only then will there be peace, when the hearts and minds of men are changed from the inside.
Talk is weak. Prayer is strong. Pray!  God bless you, Father John Corapi

Father Corapi's Biography

Father John Corapi is what has commonly been called a late vocation. In other words, he came to the priesthood other than a young man. He was 44 years old when he was ordained. From small town boy to the Vietnam era US Army, from successful businessman in Las Vegas and Hollywood to drug addicted and homeless, to religious life and ordination to the priesthood by Pope John Paul II, to a life as a preacher of the Gospel who has reached millions with the simple message that God's Name is Mercy!

Father Corapi's academic credentials are quite extensive. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Pace University in the seventies. Then as an older man returned to the university classrooms in preparation for his life as a priest and preacher. He received all of his academic credentials for the Church with honors: a Masters degree in Sacred Scripture from Holy Apostles Seminary and Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctorate degrees in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre in Spain.

Father John Corapi goes to the heart of the contemporary world's many woes and wars, whether the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, or the Congo, or the natural disasters that seem to be increasing every year, the moral and spiritual war is at the basis of everything. “Our battle is not against human forces,” St. Paul asserts, “but against principalities and powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness...” (Ephesians 6:12). 
The “War to end all wars” is the moral and spiritual combat that rages in the hearts and minds of human beings. The outcome of that  unseen fight largely determines how the battle in the realm of the seen unfolds.  The title talk, “With the Moon Under Her Feet,” is taken from the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and deals with the current threat to the world from radical Islam, and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the ultimate victory that will result in the conversion of Islam. Few Catholics are aware of the connection between Islam, Fatima, and Guadalupe. Presented in Father Corapi's straight-forward style, you will be both inspired and educated by him.

About Father John Corapi.
Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .
The pillars of father's preaching are basically:
Love for and a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary 
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ
Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church


God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican
Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified
Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification.

Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest
Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization.

Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood
Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint.

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.
 
Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs
Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century.

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.
 
Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”
 
Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December
Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8.

Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes
Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer.

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.
 
Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.
 
Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.
 
Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.
 
Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican
Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified
Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification.

Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest
Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization.

Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood
Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint.

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.
 
Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs
Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century.

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.
 
Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”
 
Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December
Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8.

Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes
Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer.

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.
 
Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.
 
Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.
 
Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.
 
Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

8 Martyrs Move Closer to Sainthood 8 July, 2016
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 8 July, 2016

The angel appears to Saint Monica
This morning, Pope Francis received Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato. During the audience, he authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes:

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MIRACLES:
Miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Luis Antonio Rosa Ormières, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Guardian Angel; born July 4, 1809 and died on Jan. 16, 1890
MARTYRDOM:
Servants of God Antonio Arribas Hortigüela and 6 Companions, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart; killed in hatred of the Faith, Sept. 29, 1936
Servant of God Josef Mayr-Nusser, a layman; killed in hatred of the Faith, Feb. 24, 1945
HEROIC VIRTUE:

Servant of God Alfonse Gallegos of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Titular Bishop of Sasabe, auxiliary of Sacramento; born Feb. 20, 1931 and died Oct. 6, 1991
Servant of God Rafael Sánchez García, diocesan priest; born June 14, 1911 and died on Aug. 8, 1973
Servant of God Andrés García Acosta, professed layman of the Order of Friars Minor; born Jan. 10, 1800 and died Jan. 14, 1853
Servant of God Joseph Marchetti, professed priest of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles; born Oct. 3, 1869 and died Dec. 14, 1896
Servant of God Giacomo Viale, professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, pastor of Bordighera; born Feb. 28, 1830 and died April 16, 1912
Servant of God Maria Pia of the Cross (née Maddalena Notari), foundress of the Congregation of Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist; born Dec. 2, 1847 and died on July 1, 1919
Sunday, November 23 2014 Six to Be Canonized on Feast of Christ the King.

On the List Are Lay Founder of a Hospital and Eastern Catholic Religious
VATICAN CITY, June 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Today, the Vatican announced that during the celebration of the feast of Christ the King on Sunday, November 23, an ordinary public consistory will be held for the canonization of the following six blesseds, who include a lay founder of a hospital for the poor, founders of religious orders, and two members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See:
-Giovanni Antonio Farina (1803-1888), an Italian bishop who founded the Institute of the Sisters Teachers of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts
-Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871), a Syro-Malabar priest in India who founded the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate
-Ludovico of Casoria (1814-1885), an Italian Franciscan priest who founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth
-Nicola Saggio (Nicola da Longobardi, 1650-1709), an Italian oblate of the Order of Minims
-Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877-1952), an Indian Carmelite of the Syro-Malabar Church
-Amato Ronconi (1238-1304), an Italian, Third Order Franciscan who founded a hospital for poor pilgrims

CAUSES OF SAINTS July 2015.
Pope Recognizes Heroic Virtues of Ukrainian Archbishop
Recognition Brings Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky Closer to Beatification
By Junno Arocho Esteves Rome, July 17, 2015 (ZENIT.org)
Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky. According to a communique released by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father met this morning with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The Pope also recognized the heroic virtues of several religious/lay men and women from Italy, Spain, France & Mexico.
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is considered to be one of the most influential 20th century figures in the history of the Ukrainian Church.
Enthroned as Metropolitan of Lviv in 1901, Archbishop Sheptytsky was arrested shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 by the Russians. After his imprisonment in several prisons in Russia and the Ukraine, the Archbishop was released in 1918.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate was also an ardent supporter of the Jewish community in Ukraine, going so far as to learn Hebrew to better communicate with them. He also was a vocal protestor against atrocities committed by the Nazis, evidenced in his pastoral letter, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." He was also known to harbor thousands of Jews in his residence and in Greek Catholic monasteries.
Following his death in 1944, his cause for canonization was opened in 1958.
* * *
The Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees regarding the heroic virtues of:
- Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky, O.S.B.M., major archbishop of Leopolis of the Ukrainians, metropolitan of Halyc (1865-1944);
- Servant of God Giuseppe Carraro, Bishop of Verona, Italy (1899-1980);
- Servant of God Agustin Ramirez Barba, Mexican diocesan priest and founder of the Servants of the Lord of Mercy (1881-1967);
- Servant of God Simpliciano della Nativita (ne Aniello Francesco Saverio Maresca), Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (1827-1898);
- Servant of God Maria del Refugio Aguilar y Torres del Cancino, Mexican founder of the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1866-1937);
- Servant of God Marie-Charlotte Dupouy Bordes (Marie-Teresa), French professed religious of the Society of the Religious of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1873-1953);
- Servant of God Elisa Miceli, Italian founder of the Rural Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1904-1976);
- Servant of God Isabel Mendez Herrero (Isabel of Mary Immaculate), Spanish professed nun of the Servants of St. Joseph (1924-1953)
October 01, 2015 Vatican City, Pope Authorizes following Decrees
(ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter
Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God
Pope Authorizes Decrees
Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees:

MARTYRDOM
- Servant of God Valentin Palencia Marquina, Spanish diocesan priest, killed in hatred of the faith in Suances, Spain in 1937;

HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963);
- Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987);
- Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991);
- Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996);
- Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917);
- Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913);
- Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973).
March 06 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
MIRACLES

– Blessed Manuel González García, bishop of Palencia, Spain, founder of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth (1877-1940);
– Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity (née Elisabeth Catez), French professed religious of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (1880-1906);
– Venerable Servant of God Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus (né Henri Grialou), French professed priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, founder of the Secular Institute “Notre-Dame de Vie” (1894-1967);
– Venerable Servant of God María Antonia of St. Joseph (née María Antonio de Paz y Figueroa), Argentine founder of the Beaterio of the Spiritual Exercise of Buenos Aires (1730-1799);
HEROIC VIRTUE

– Servant of God Stefano Ferrando, Italian professed priest of the Salesians, bishop of Shillong, India, founder of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (1895-1978);
– Servant of God Enrico Battista Stanislao Verjus, Italian professed priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, coadjutor of the apostolic vicariate of New Guinea (1860-1892);
– Servant of God Giovanni Battista Quilici, Italian diocesan priest, founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Crucified (1791-1844);
– Servant of God Bernardo Mattio, Italian diocesan priest (1845-1914);
– Servant of God Quirico Pignalberi, Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1891-1982);
– Servant of God Teodora Campostrini, Italian founder of the Minim Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Sorrows (1788-1860);
– Servant of God Bianca Piccolomini Clementini, Italian founder of the Company of St. Angela Merici di Siena (1875-1959);
– Servant of God María Nieves of the Holy Family (née María Nieves Sánchez y Fernández), Spanish professed religious of the Daughters of Mary of the Pious Schools (1900-1978).

April 26 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Here is the full list of decrees approved by the Pope:

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Pasqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).
LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000)  India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858 
China
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May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798  
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