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.
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For the Son of man ... will repay every man for what he has done.

Papa_Benedict_XVI_Joseph_Ratzinger  Happy Birthday


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

  and 5th year anniversary Pope John Paul II who died during 1st vespers

Mary's pain from losing Jesus
Mary's suffering from losing Jesus for three days surpassed not only the power of silence, but also the right of silence. Those days brought Mary's nature to the limits of its capacity to endure suffering (…). They forced her to react in proportion to the violence done to her, and to seek the last refuge given to a creature, by pouring out her heart before the Creator.


The perfection of Our Lord, in his human nature, reached its highest degree in the impact of one phrase.
His silence certainly was an adorable perfection, but the cry that escaped his lips was even more sublime:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
This is where the Christ’s Passion reached the utmost limits of his humanity.

This is how our beloved Mother experienced her passion at the end of Jesus' childhood,
and her compassion during the Passion of Our Lord.
 Frederic William Faber (1814-1863)
www.spiritualite-chretienne.com

 
April 15 – Our Lady of Kiev (Ukraine) 
Your mercy has an even sweeter taste for us sinners
Of your Love, O Mary O Blessed Virgin, did anyone ever invoke you in need and yet fail to receive help?
Only such a person could remain silent about your mercy. As for us, who are your poor servants, we congratulate ourselves for you on account of all your other virtues, but we rejoice in your mercy in a special way for ourselves.
We praise your virginity, and we admire your humility; but your mercy has an even sweeter taste for us sinners…

Who then could measure, O blessed Lady, the length and breadth, height and depth of your mercy?
Its length extends indeed until the last day, so that you may come to the aid of all who invoke it.
Its breadth spans the whole world, so that the whole earth is full of your mercy…

Thanks to you, heaven has been populated, hell has been emptied, the ruins of the heavenly Jerusalem have been rebuilt, and the unfortunate people living in hope have been given back the life they had lost!
 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 -1153)

 
Mary is a Woman Who Loves (I) April 15 - Our Lady of Keiff (Russia, 1010)
             Outstanding among the saints is Mary, Mother of the Lord and mirror of all holiness. In the Gospel of Luke we find her engaged in a service of charity to her cousin Elizabeth, with whom she remained for "about three months" (Lk 1:56) so as to assist her in the final phase of her pregnancy. Magnificat anima mea Dominum, she said on the occasion of that visit, "My soul magnifies the Lord" (Lk 1:46). In these words she expresses her whole program of life: not placing herself at the center, but leaving space for God, who is encountered both in prayer and in service of neighbor--only then does goodness enter the world.
Mary's greatness consists in the fact that she wants to magnify God, not herself.
She is lowly: her only desire is to be the handmaid of the Lord (cf. Lk 1:38, 48).
She knows that she will only contribute to the salvation of the world if, rather than carrying out her own projects, she places herself completely at the disposal of God's initiatives.
Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est #41 (2005)


Charity unites us to God... There is nothing mean in charity, nothing arrogant. Charity knows no schism, does not rebel, does all things in concord. In charity all the elect of God have been made perfect. -- Pope St. Clement I

April 14 – Our Lady of the Lakes (Italy, 1652)    
A Moorish chief surrenders 
 In 778, the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne, tired of the stubborn resistance of the Saracen Lord Mirat who occupied the citadel of Mirambel (today’s citadel of Lourdes in southern France), was preparing to lift the siege when one of his companions, the bishop of Le Puy-en-Velay, a city in region of Auvergne, had a sudden inspiration and obtained permission to go parley with the besieging army.

The bishop asked Mirat to surrender, not to the Frankish sovereign but to the Queen of Heaven.
The idea was acceptable to the Moorish leader, who agreed to lay down his arms at the feet of the Black Virgin of Le Puy, and received baptism. On the day of his baptism, Mirat took the name of Lorus, which was later passed on to the city that was called Lourdes.


The written act of the surrender states that "Mirat recognizes no mortal above him and prefers death to the shame of surrender. Therefore he surrenders to the servant of Our Lady, and is ready to receive baptism, provided that his county will never belong, either for him or his descendants, to any other than her alone."
Charlemagne signed the agreement.

On February 11, 1858, Our Lady appeared to Saint Bernadette and asked to be venerated in Lourdes.
Marquis de la Franquerie
Taken from La Vierge Marie dans l'histoire de France, Editions Résiac

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

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.


      The Departure of the Righteous Joachim, The Lord Christ Grandfather.
      Papa_Benedict_XVI_Joseph_Ratzinger  Happy Birthday
 62 Basilissa & Anastasia converted by preaching of SS. Peter and Paul MM buried their remains
 67 Aristarchus, Pudas and Trophymos from the 70 Disciples whom the Lord Jesus Christ sent before him with the good-news of the Gospel (Lk. 10: 1-24).
 99 Maro, Eutyches & Victorinus exile to Ponza island martyred in Rome MM (RM)
  100 Holy Martyr Sukhios and 16 Gruzian (Georgian) Companions new names: to the eldest -- Sukhios (replacing his old name Bagadras), and  companions Andrew, Anastasias, Talale, Theodorites, Juhirodion, Jordan, Kondrates, Lukian, Mimnenos, Nerangios, Polyeuktos, James, Phoki, Domentian, Victor and Zosima.
       Eutychius of Ferentino martyr in the Roman Campagna M (RM)
  130 Theodore and Pausilipus Martyrs near Byzantium under Hadrian MM (RM) (Benedictines).
      St. Crescens of Myra martyred in Lycia Asia Minor M (RM)
  251 St. Maximus & Olympiades Martyrs of Persia loyalty to the faith
       The Departure of St. Macrobius.
 372  Sabas der Gote Er missionierte unter seinen Landsleuten und wurde deshalb vom Ostgotenkönig Athanarich zweimal verhaftet und ins Exil geschickt
ST. TURIBIUS, BISHOP OF ASTORGA 420
 485 Blessed Laurentinus Sossius five-year-old boy M (AC)
 500 St. Paternus hermit founder bishop preaching charity mortifications
 584 St. Ruadan 1/12 Apostles of Ireland abbot founder produced the masterpiece Stowe Missal
 625 Silvester of Réome, Abbot (AC)
ST. FRUCTUOSUS, ARCHBISHOP OF BRAGA, C.665
 679 St. Hunna devoted herself to the poor of Strasbourg
 829 Blessed Nidger of Augsburg bishop of Augsburg OSB B (AC)
 962 St. Mundus Scottish abbot founded abbeys excellent maxims to fraternal charity meekness value of solitude need be aware of the Divine presence
1104, ST. MANS, OR MAGNUS, B. M.
1186  ST. DRUON, OR DRUGO, RECLUSE, PATRON OF SHEPHERDS.
1305  ST. JOACHIM OF SIENNA, C. OF THE ORDER OF 5ERVITES.
1607 Blessed Caesar de Bus military priest teaching catechism to ordinary people in neglected rural out-of-the-way places
1889 Bl. Damien de Veuster of Hawaii evangelize peoples of Puno Kohala destroyed pagan worship and Hero of Molokai leper colony
"All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him" (Psalm 21:28)


The Departure of the Righteous Joachim, The Lord Christ Grandfather.

On this day the righteous Joachim (Yonakhir - Zadok) departed. He was the father of St. Mary, the Theotokos, the mother of God incarnate. He was of the seed of David, and of the tribe of Judah, for he was the son of Jotham, the son of Lazarus, the son of Eldad who ascended up in genealogy to Solomon the king, the son of David whom God promised that his seed should reign over the children of Israel for ever.
The wife of this righteous man, Hannah was barren, and both of them prayed and entreated God continually to give them a child. Having accepted their petition He gave them a good and sweet fruit, which satisfied all the men of the world, and removed from them the bitterness of servitude, and He made Joachim worthy to be called the father of the Lord Christ in regard of His marvelous and wondrous Incarnation. After God had pleased him with the birth of our Lady, his heart was rejoiced and he offered his offerings, and the shame had been removed from him, he departed in peace when the Virgin was three years old.  May his prayers be with us. Amen.

62 Basilissa & Anastasia converted by preaching of SS. Peter and Paul; MM buried their remains (RM)
Romæ sanctárum Basilíssæ et Anastásiæ, nobílium feminárum, quæ, cum essent Apostolórum discípulæ et constántes in fidei confessióne persísterent, sub Neróne Imperatóre, lingua pedibúsque præcísis, percússæ gládio, martyrii corónam adéptæ sunt.
    At Rome, the Saints Basilissa and Anastasia, noble women who were disciples of the apostles.  Because they persevered courageously  in the profession of their faith during the time of the Emperor Nero, they had their tongues and feet cut off, were put to the sword, and thus obtained the crown of martyrdom.

The Holy Women Martyrs Basilissa and Anastasia lived in Rome and were enlightened with the light of the Christian faith by the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. They devoted themselves to the service of the Lord. When the emperor Nero (54-68) persecuted Christians and gave them over to torture and execution, Saints Basilissa and Anastasia intrepidly took up the bodies of the holy martyrs and gave them reverent burial. Rumours about this reached Nero. Saints Basilissa and Anastasia were then locked up in prison. They subjected them to cruel tortures: they scourged them with whips, tore at their skin with hooks, and burned at them with fire. But the holy martyresses remained unyielding and bravely confessed their faith in Christ the Saviour. By command of Nero they were beheaded with the sword (+ c. 68).

65? Ss. Basilissa and Anastasia, Martyrs
According to their traditional history, Basilissa and Anastasia were noble Roman matrons who were converted to Christianity by the teaching of St Peter and St Paul. After the martyrdom of the apostles, the two women removed their bodies by night and caused them to be honourably buried. For this action, which became known to the authorities, they were cast into prison. When they were brought before the tribunal of Nero, they fearlessly acknowledged that they were Christians and were condemned by him to be cruelly mutilated and then beheaded.

Although these saints stand first in the Roman Martyrology on this day, it must be confessed that their very existence is extremely doubtful. We know nothing of them except through Greek sources, which offer no guarantee of reliability. The various entries in the Greek Menaia are collected in the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. ii; and see also the Synaxarium Constantinopolitanae, edited by Fr Delehaye in the Acta Sanctorum for November, vol. ii, c. 106, where this commemoration is assigned to April 17.

The story is told that these two noble Roman women were converted to Christianity by the preaching of SS. Peter and Paul. After each of the apostles was martyred in Rome, Basilissa and Anastasia found their bodies and buried them secretly under the screen of night.
This infuriated the authorities, who discovered who had buried the apostles and cast the two women into jail, eventually bringing them before the tribunal of Nero. Neither Basilissa nor Anastasia would renounce their Christian faith. In consequence, both were sentenced to be savagely mutilated--tongues ripped out and limbs cut off--before they were beheaded. Only the Greeks have recorded their story; many modern hagiographers doubt the existence of these ladies (Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley, Butler, Coulson, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
In art, SS. Basilissa and Anastasia are portrayed with their hands, feet, and heads cut off. They may also be shown burying the bodies of SS. Peter and Paul (Roeder).
67 Aristarchus, Pudas and Trophymos from among the 70 Disciples, whom the Lord Jesus Christ sent before him with the good-news of the Gospel (Lk. 10: 1-24).
The Holy Disciples Aristarchus, Pudas and Trophymos were from among the Seventy Disciples, whom the Lord Jesus Christ had sent before him with the good-news of the Gospel (Lk. 10: 1-24).
The holy Disciple Aristarchus, a co-worker of the holy Apostle Paul, became bishop of the Syrian city of Apameia. His name is repeatedly mentioned in the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles (Acts 19: 29, 20: 4, 27: 2) and in the Epistles of the Apostle Paul (Col. 4: 10, Philemon 1: 24).
The holy Disciple Pudas is mentioned in the 2nd Epistle of the Apostle Paul to Timothy (2 Tim. 4: 21). He occupied high position as a member of the Roman Senate. At his home the saint took in the First-Ranked Apostles Peter and Paul, and believing Christians gathered. His house was converted into a church, receiving the name "Pastorum". In it, according to tradition, the holy Apostle Peter himself served as priest.
The holy Disciple Trophymos hailed from the city of Edessa. His name is mentioned in the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles (Acts 20: 4) and in the 2nd Epistle of the Apostle Paul to Timothy (2 Tim. 4: 20). He was a student and companion of the holy Apostle Paul, sharing with him all the sorrows and persecution.
All these three holy disciples accepted a martyr's death at Rome under the emperor Nero (54-68), concurrent with that of the Apostle Paul ( c. 67).
Aristarchos, Pudens und Trophimus Aristarchos, Zenas und Johannes Markus
Orthodoxe Kirche: 14. April (15. April) - Aristarchos, Pudens und Trophimus Orthodoxe Kirche: 27. September - Aristarchos, Zenas und Markus genannt Johannes
Aristarchos wird mehrmals (Apg. 19: 29; 20, 4; 27, 2; Kol. 4, 10, Philemon 1, 24 ) erwähnt. Er war Mitgefangener des Paulus (Kol. 4, 10) und später Bischof von Apameia (Syrien)
Dorotheus nennt noch einen zweiten Aristarchos, allerdings ohne weitere Angaben.
Pudens wird von Paulus in 2. Tim. 4, 21 genannt. Er war ein Mitglied des römischen Senates und stellte sein Haus den römischen Christen als Kirche zur Verfügung. Auch Petrus soll in seinem Haus, das Pastorum genannt wurde, Gottesdienste gehalten haben.
Trophimus wird Apg. 20, 4 und 2. Tim 4, 20 erwähnt. Er begleitete Paulus auf mehreren Reisen.
Aristarchos, Pudens und Trophimus wurden nach der Überlieferung mit Paulus unter Nero gefangengenommen und geköpft.
Zenas oder Zenon wird in Tit. 3, 13 als Rechtsgelehrter genannt. Er soll später Bischof von Diospolis oder Lydda in Palästina gewesen sein.
Johannes genannt Markus wird mehrmals genannt (Apg. 12, 25; 15, 37 ff.; Kol. 4, 10; Philemon 1, 23). In der Liste wird der Name Markus dreimal genannt, es ist aber unklar, ob es sich tatsächlich um drei Personen handelt. Dorotheus sagt, Johannes Markus war Bischof von Byblos. Weitere Informationen unter Evangelist Markus.
99 Maro, Eutyches & Victorinus exile to Ponza island martyred in Rome MM (RM)
Eódem die sanctórum Mártyrum Marónis, Eutychétis et Victoríni; qui, primo cum beáta Flávia Domitílla apud ínsulam Póntiam in Christi confessióne éxsules, póstmodum, sub Príncipe Nerva, liberáti, tandem, cum plúrimos ad fidem convertíssent, in persecutióne Trajáni, a Valeriáno Júdice váriis pœnis jussi sunt intérfici.
    The same day, the holy martyrs Maro, Eutyches, and Victorinus, who, along with blessed Flavia Domitilla, had been banished to the island of Pontia for the confession of Christ.  Being recalled in the reign of Nerva, and having converted many to the faith, they were put to death in different ways by the judge Valerian, during the persecution of Trajan.
Maro, Eutyches, and Victorinus belonged to the entourage of Saint Flavia Domitilla, whom they accompanied in her exile to the island of Ponza. Eventually they returned to Rome and were martyred under Trajan (98-117). Eutyches was stabbed; Victorinus, hung upside down over a sulphur spring; Maro, beheaded (Benedictines).
St. Maro Martyr with Eutyches and Victorinus followed St. Flavia into exile Ponza island

They were members of the group that followed St. Flavia into exile to the island of Ponza, Italy, and were reportedly martyred after returning to Rome
100 Holy Martyr Sukhios and 16 Gruzian (Georgian) Companions new names: to the eldest -- Sukhios (replacing his old name Bagadras), and  companions Andrew, Anastasias, Talale, Theodorites, Juhirodion, Jordan, Kondrates, Lukian, Mimnenos, Nerangios, Polyeuktos, James, Phoki, Domentian, Victor and Zosima.
They were illustrious dignitaries who served at the court of the Albanian (Hagbanite) ruler (i.e. "Caucasian Albania" -- a realm on the present day territory of Azerbaizhan).

Escorting the Albanian ruler's daughter Satenika, spouse of the Armenian emperor Artaxar (88-123), Saint Sukhios and his 16 Companions arrived in Artashat, the ancient capital of Armenia (the city was later destroyed by the Romans in the year 163).

Preaching there at the time was the Greek Christian named Chrysos, who had been enlightened and ordained by the holy Disciple Thaddeus (+ c. 44, Comm. 21 August).
The dignitaries came to believe in Christ the Saviour, and they firmly resolved to devote all their life to the service of God.
All seventeen of the newly-converted Gruzianians followed Chrysos into Mesopotamia. At the time of their Baptism in the waters of the Euphrates, made over them by Bishop Chrysos, they were vouchsafed to behold the Lord of Glory Jesus Christ.  At the place of their Baptism, the holy martyrs erected a venerable cross and named it the "Cross of the Annunciation". Bishop Chrysos at the Baptism gave all the saints new names: to the eldest -- Sukhios (replacing his old name Bagadras), and to his companions the names -- Andrew, Anastasias, Talale, Theodorites, Juhirodion, Jordan, Kondrates, Lukian, Mimnenos, Nerangios, Polyeuktos, James, Phoki, Domentian, Victor and Zosima.

After the martyr's death of Blessed Chrysos, Saint Sukhios became the spiritual leader of the brethren. All soon resettled in a wild locality on Mount Sukaketi, not far from the mountain village of Bagrevandi. Here the former dignitaries led very strict ascetic lives, the scant mountain vegetation sufficed them for food, and for drink -- a cold spring of water.
The new ruler of pagan Albania, Datianos, learned of this, that his former officials had accepted Christianity and had gone off into prayerful solitude. He commissioned his associate Barnapas with a detachment of soldiers to persuade them to return to court and return also to their former faith. Barnapas searched out Saint Sukhios and his companions, but in keeping of their vow of service to God, they refused all the entreaties.
Then by order of Barnapas, Saint Sukhios and his companions in cross-like form were nailed to the ground and consigned to burning. After the burning, their bodies were dismembered and scattered all about Mount Sukaketi, from which the martyrs received also the title the "Mesukevians" (more correctly -- "Sukaketians"). This occurred in the year 123 (by another account -- in the year 130; although an Athos parchment manuscript of the XI Century from the Iveria monastery indicates the year as 100).
The holy remains of the martyrs remained undecayed and unburied until the time of the IV Century, when they were placed in graves and consigned to earth by local Christians (the names of the holy martyrs were found written on a cliff).
The holy PriestMartyr Gregory, Enlightener of Armenia (+ c. 335, Comm. 30 September), built a church on this spot and established a monastery. And afterwards, a curative spring of water was discovered there.( shown a golden base where the cathedral at Vagharshapat (later Etchmiadzin) see map close to Yerevan {Even when Agathangelos describes well-known events, he borrows from the Bible. Diocletian's persecution of the Church is talked about completely in Bible images, with no reference to any actual events. Gregory is nourished in the terrible pit as Elijah was; Drtad's bestial transformation recalls that of Nebuchadnezzar. There are also countless references to liturgical and patristic writings, and it is unfortunate that we modern readers miss so many of these. Agathangelos presumed on the part of his readers an intimate familiarity with the Scriptures, Liturgy, and spiritual writings that most of us today simply do not possess.
Agathangelos had a purpose in mind as he wrote about Gregory. That purpose is reflected in some of the differences in emphasis between Agathangelos' work about the saint and the work of others. For example, Movses Khorenatsi gives us much more detail about Gregory's origins, and tries to tie him to the first enlightener, Thaddeus. In general, he gives more detail about all aspects of Gregory's life than Agathangelos does. But Agathangelos is not interested in establishing an apostolic tie for Gregory, or presenting his life in detail. His purpose is mainly to enhance Gregory's role as the first bishop, first church builder, and first establisher of a hierarchy in the Armenian Church. He wants to show the importance of the hierarchical structure of the Church, and emphasize the authority of the patriarch's position, and this he does by tying both to the great saint so highly venerated in the Church.
Central to this effort is Agathangelos' description of Gregory's vision of the burial place of the martyrs. Gregory is shown a golden base where the cathedral at Vagharshapat (later Etchmiadzin) is to be built. Thus Agathangelos establishes divine foundation for cathedral and for church leaders who reside there ­ so again, he makes a case for the "rightness" of the hierarchs and the hierarchical structure of the Church.}
130 Theodore and Pausilipus Martyrs near Byzantium under Hadrian MM (RM) (Benedictines)
In Thrácia sanctórum Mártyrum Theodóri et Pausilíppi, qui sub Hadriáno Imperatóre passi sunt.
    In Thrace, the holy martyrs Theodorus and Pausilippus, who suffered under Emperor Hadrian.

St. Eutychius of Ferentino martyr in the Roman Campagna M (RM)
Ferentíni, in Hérnicis, sancti Eutychii Mártyris.    At Ferentino in Campania, the martyr St. Eutychius.A martyr of Ferentino in the Roman Campagna (Benedictines).
St. Crescens of Myra martyred in Lycia Asia Minor M (RM)
Myræ, in Lycia, sancti Crescéntis, qui per ignem martyrium consummávit.
    At Myra in Lycia, St. Crescens, who was martyred by fire.
 A martyr in Myra, Lycia, Asia Minor, who perished at the stake (Benedictines).
Crescens von Myra

Orthodoxe Kirche: 13. April (russisch-orthodox) und 15. April (griechisch-orthodox) Katholische Kirche: 15. April
Crescens (Criscentius), Sohn einer angesehenen Familie, lebte in Myra. Als mehrere Einwohner der Stadt zu einem Fest zum heidnischen Tempel zogen, verkündete Crescens ihnen das Evangelium. Er wurde deshalb vor den Gouverneur gebracht, der ihn um seiner Familie willen bat, doch nur äußerlich die heidnischen Götzen zu verehren, innerlich könne er Christ bleiben. Aber Crescens erklärte, der Körper könne nur tun, was die Seele denke und deshalb könne er die Götzen nicht verehren. Crescens wurde daraufhin gefoltert und auf dem Scheiterhaufen verbrannt.

251 St. Maximus & Olympiades Martyrs of Persia loyalty to the faith
In Pérside sanctórum Mártyrum Máximi et Olympíadis, qui, sub Décio Imperatóre, fústibus et plumbátis cæsi sunt; et ad últimum cápita eórum sunt fústibus tunsa, donec ambo emítterent spíritum.
    In Persia, in the reign of Emperor Decius, the holy martyrs Maximus and Olympias, who were beaten with rods and whips, and struck on their heads with clubs until they breathed no more.
They were noblemen who were beaten to death with metal rods because of their loyalty to the faith.
Maximus and Olympiades MM (RM) These Persian noblemen were martyred by being beaten to death with crowbars under Decius (Benedictines).
372  Sabas der GoteEr missionierte unter seinen Landsleuten und wurde deshalb vom Ostgotenkönig Athanarich zweimal verhaftet und ins Exil geschickt
Orthodoxe Kirche: 15. April Katholische Kirche: 12. April
Sabas wurde 334 geboren. Er lebte im ostgotischen Reich und wurde schon in jungen Jahren Christ. Er missionierte unter seinen Landsleuten und wurde deshalb vom Ostgotenkönig Athanarich zweimal verhaftet und ins Exil geschickt. 372 wurde er von Soldaten des Königssohns Atharich gefangengenommen, gefoltert und am 12.4.372 im Fluß Musaeus (Rumänien) ertränkt. Sein Leichnam wurde nach Caesarea in Kappadokien übertragen.


ST. TURIBIUS, BISHOP OF ASTORGA 420
From Lives of Saintes by Alban Butler

A zealous maintainer of ecclesiastical discipline, and defender of the faith against the Priscillianist heresy in Spain in which his endeavors were seconded by St. Leo the Great, as appears by his fist letter to St. Turibius. His predecessor, Dictinius had the misfortune to fall into the heresy of the Priscillianists but was never deposed, as Quesnel mistakes.    His death happened about the year 420, as is clear from St. Austin.    St. Turibius died about the year 460, and is named in the Roman Martyrology on this day.   See Baronius, Gerves, and Caciari, Exercitat.  in Op. S. Leon. Diss. 2, de Haeresi Priscill. e. 13, 14, p. 250, &c.



The Departure of St. Macrobius.

On this day also the saint Anba Macrobius, the son of the governor of the city of Kaw, departed in peace. When Anba Severus, Archbishop of Antioch, was wondering around the cities of Upper Egypt, he came to the city of Kaw and Macrobius ministered unto him. He accompanied Anba Severus in his visit to the monastery of Anba Moses, where he saw from the holiness of the monks, their asceticism and devoutness, made him ask Anba Moses to accept him as a monk. Anba Moses indicated to him the hardship of the monastic life and its difficulties especially he was raised in luxury and family wealth, and the one that slept on silk, could not take the rough life.

When Anba Moses saw the insistence of Macrobius on the monastic life he asked him first to resign his job that he took after his father, and to relinquish all his money and possessions. He went to his city Kaw, appointed his brother in his place, returned and put on the monastic garb. When his brothers Paul, Ilias, and Joseph saw what their brother had done, they came to him and became monks by the hands of Anba Moses.

Anba Macrobius built many monasteries and many monks, about a thousand gathered around him, and he also built convents for about a thousand nuns. He used his money to build many places for those that did not desire the monastic life, and he supported those who sought his help. Then he sent to Anba Moses asking to send him brethren to prepare those gathered around him for the monastic life, they came and put on them the monastic garb.

Christians from the cities of Assuit, Shatb, and neighboring cities came and gave him many gifts and much money to help him in building the churches and monasteries. He accepted it from them and blessed them. Anba Macrobius increased in virtues, asceticism and giving alms to the weak, needy, widows, orphans and the lonely, beside caring for his monasteries. His alms were from his own money not from that was offered. God granted St. Macrobius the gift of healing, they brought him the sick and he healed them with the power of God and the strength of their faith.

The father the Patriarch Anba Theodosius, heard about him and he wrote to him praising and encouraging him to be steadfast in virtue, asceticism and loving the strangers and asked him to come for the people of Alexandria to be blessed by him. When he came to the Patriarch, he rejoiced with him and called the people of Alexandria to receive the blessing from him, and he ordained him a priest. Macrobius returned to his monastery, the people of Assuit and Shatb received him with songs and hymns until they came to the monastery. Many miracles were performed through his hands, and when he finished his good strife, he departed in peace. Multitudes gathered from Assuit, Shatb, Abu-Sergah, Kaw and the neighboring cities, and his brother Anba Yousab, who was appointed as his successor in running the monasteries in the fear of God, prayed and buried him.

The appearance of his body was on the seventh day of the blessed month of Tubah, seven hundred thirty three years after his departure by the hands of the deacon Los El-Talawy the servant of his monastery's church, during the days of Anba Yousab, bishop of Akhmeem and the notable Isaac the scribe of the prince Eiz-Eldeen El-Hamawy. Anba Yousab, bishop of Akhmeem, took the body out of its tomb in the mountain, down to the church of the monastery, where they buried him with hymns and praises.  May his prayers be with us. Amen.
485 Blessed Laurentinus Sossius five-year-old boy M (AC)
cultus approved in 1867. Laurentinus was a five-year-old boy presumed to have been killed by the Jews on Good Friday. Laurentinus died at Valrovina (diocese of Vicenza), Italy (Benedictines).
500 St. Paternus hermit founder bishop preaching charity mortifications.
5th - 6th V. St Padarn, or Patern, Bishop in Ceredigion
The existing life of Padarn, a saint formerly much honoured in Wales, was written at Llanbadarn Fawr, probably about the year 1120 ; it is a fusion of earlier legends of two separate people, St Paternus, an abbot-bishop in Wales, and another St Paternus, a fifth-century bishop at Vannes in Brittany. This document is a collection of untrustworthy tales and traditions. According to it Padarn was born in Letavia (Brittany; or possibly south-east Wales), the son of Petran and Gwen his father afterwards went off to Ireland to live as a hermit, leaving his wife to bring up their little boy in his native land. As soon as he had attained manhood, Padarn announced his intention of following his father’s example. With some companions he sailed away to Wales, where they decided to settle, and he founded a monastery at a place in Cardiganshire which became known as Llanbadarn Fawr, i.e. the great church of Paternus. Not only was he abbot but he is said to have been the first bishop of the region, ruling over it for twenty-one years. It is related of him that he went about the country like a true missionary, preaching the gospel to all sorts and conditions of men, “without pay or reward”, and that he was famous for his charity and mortifications. The monastery of Llanbadarn, near Aberyst­wyth, certainly became very influential, and Rhygyfarch’s Life of St David and the Book of Llandaff both witness to its importance. It did not finally disappear until between 1188 and 1247.

The story that St Padarn accompanied St David and St Teilo on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he received from the patriarch a staff and a “tunic” (which was subsequently coveted by “a certain tyrannus named Arthur”), is unquestion­ably a fable, but it appears in the Lives of St David and of St Teilo. According to this confused story St Padarn, after founding other monasteries and churches in Wales, returned in his old age to Brittany where, before he died, he became bishop of Vannes, but through jealousy was forced to take refuge among the Franks. Another tradition says he was buried on Ynys Enili, that is, Bardsey.

The Vita Paterni has been printed by Rees in his Lives of the Cambro-British Saints, critically supplemented by Kuno Meyer in Y Cymmrodor, vol. xiii (1900), pp. 88 seq. the text, with a translation, is also in A. W. Wade-Evans, Vitae Sanctorum Britanniae (1944). Canon Doble’s excellent examination of the problem, St Patern (1940), modifies some of the views of F. Duine in his Memento des sources hagiographiques de . . . Bretagne (1918), and cf. Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxvii (1948) pp. 388 seq. See also LBS., vol. iv, pp. 39—51 and F. R. Lewis, Short History of the Church of Llanbadarn Fawr (1937). There is an account of Llanbadarn in 1188 in the Welsh Itinerary of Giraldus, bk ii, cap. 4.

St. Paternus.The first 5th century saint. He followed his father's path by becoming a hermit in Wales. He founded the monastery at the great church of Paternus, and became a bishop of that region. He was known for his preaching, charity and mortifications. Scholars believe his story is an amalgam.

Padarn of Vannes B (AC) (also known as Patern(us), Pern) Born in Brittany; First, I have to admit that there is a confusion of saints named Paternus, who all lived about the same period. This one appears to have been consecrated bishop of Vannes, Brittany, c. 465. One source says: "Following his father's example he became a monk, founded convents, churches; he went on pilgrimages and was appointed bishop of Vannes from which post he retired to die in peace (565)." However, the date is different and appears to refer to a saint honored tomorrow (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
584 St. Ruadan 1/12 Apostles of Ireland abbot founder produced the masterpiece Stowe Missal

584 St Ruadan of Lothra, Abbot
St Ruadan, who was born in the western part of Leinster, was one of the chief disciples of St Finian of Clonard. In the district now known as County Tipperary he founded the monastery of Lothra, into which he gathered one hundred and fifty monks who divided their time between prayer and manual work. In virtue of his office as abbot he enjoyed episcopal honour and is reckoned as one of the twelve apostles of Ireland.

His Latin life, written centuries after his death, is wholly unreliable from the point of view of the historian. Unless the researches of scholars discover some new evidence, we must rest content with the eulogy contained in the Félire of St Oengus: “An excellent flame that waneth not; that vanquisheth urgent desires: fair was the precious stone, Ruadan, lamp of Lothra”. In reference to one incident in the extravagant stories handed down to us, Father John Ryan in his Irish Monasticism observes that “this saint has secured an unenviable notoriety in Irish hagiographical literature because of the leading part ascribed to him in a fantastic encounter with the civil authorities at Tara”. It is, however, satisfactory to note that this preposterous contest in vituperation has been shown to be his­torically impossible.

There is a Latin life preserved in the Codex Salmanticensis and other MSS. and also a life in Irish. Both have been edited by C. Plummer—the former in VSH., vol. ii, pp. 240—252; the latter in his Bethada Nâem n-Érenn, vol. i, pp. 356—329, with a translation in vol. ii. See also the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. ii, and MacNeill, Phases, p. 234.

One of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, an abbot founder. He was born in Leinster, Ireland, and was a disciple of St. Finian of Clonard. Ruadan was the founder of the monastery of Lothra, in Tipperary, which had 150 monks.

Ruadan of Lothra (Lorrha), Abbot (AC) (also known as Ruadhan, Rodan) Born in Leinster, Ireland; Saint Ruadan, born of royal Munster stock, became a disciple of Saint Finian of Clonard. Because he was the founding abbot of Lothra Monastery in Tipperary, where he directed 150 fervent monks, who produced the masterpiece Stowe Missal, Ruadan is considered one of the 12 apostles of Ireland.

He divided his time between prayer and manual labor sanctified by prayer. One legend of Ruadan involves the Cursing of Tara, wherein the saintly abbot invoked a solemn curse against the High King of Tara for violating the sanctuary of the monastery to capture the king of Connaught. It is said that the curse was so efficacious that Tara was ruined and deserted. His hand was preserved in a silver shrine at Lothra until the Reformation. The parish church of Lothra was built on to an ancient oratory, which may have been that of Ruadan (Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Husenbeth, Montague).
625 Silvester of Réome, Abbot (AC)
Saint Silvester was the second abbot of Moutier- Saint-Jean at Réome in the diocese of Dijon, France (Benedictines).

ST. FRUCTUOSUS, ARCHBISHOP OF BRAGA, C.665
From Lives of Saintes by Alban butler

He was a prince of the royal blood of the Visigoth kings in Spain; but, from his youth, desired to consecrate his life to the divine service in a holy retreat beyond the reach of that whirlpool of business, faction, pleasure, and sin, called the world.  After the death of his parents, he found himself at large, and at full liberty to dispose of himself according to his desire. He therefore procured himself to be instructed in the sacred sciences, in the great school which the bishop of Palencia had established for the education of his clergy.   He sold the greatest part of his estate, and bestowed the whole price upon the poor, and with the rest founded several monasteries, especially a great one on his estate upon the mountains near Vierzo, under the title of SS. Justin and Pastor, martyrs of Complutum, or Alcala; whence he called this abbey Complutum.  He put on the monastic habit, and governed this house as abbot till he saw it settled in good order.  He then appointed another abbot, and retired into a wilderness, where he led a most austere life clothed with the skins of beasts, in imitation of the ancient hermits.   He afterwards founded several other monasteries, and a great nunnery called None, because nine miles from the sea.   We have two monastic rules compiled by him, the one called Of Complutum, the other the common rule.    He was consecrated bishop of Duma, near Braga, and, in 656, archbishop of Braga.   His innocence and virtue were no security from the shafts of envy; but he overcame injuries by meekness and patience: and died laid on ashes before the altar, as he desired, on the 16th of April, 665.   His body now rests at Compostella. See his life written by a contemporary author in Mabillon, saec. 2 ; Ben. Bulteau, Hist.
de l'Ordre de St. Benoit. t. I, and Henschenius, Apr. t. 2, p.430.



679 St. Hunna noblewoman devoted herself to the poor of Strasbourg.  
Called “the Holy Washerwoman,” a noblewoman who devoted herself to the poor of Strasbourg, France. The daughter of a duke and wife of Huno of Hunnaweyer, she even washed the poor's clothes, hence her name. She was canonized in 1520 by Pope Leo X.

679 St Hunna, Matron
St Hunna, or Huva, came of the reigning ducal family of Alsace and was married to a nobleman, Huno of Hunnaweyer, a village in the diocese of Strasbourg. Because she undertook to do the washing for her needy neighbours, she was nick­named by her contemporaries “The Holy Washerwoman”.
Her family seems to have been influenced by St Deodatus (Dié), Bishop of Nevers, for St Hunna’s son, who was his namesake, was baptized by him and subsequently entered the monastery which he founded at Ebersheim. St Hunna died in 679 and was canonized in 1520 by Leo X at the instance of Duke Ulric of Würtemberg.
It is difficult to find satisfactory authority for what is recounted above. There is mention of Hunus and of “his holy wife” in the eleventh-century Life of St Deodatus of Nevers, and Henschenius in his note on the passage quotes a French work of John Ruyms upon the saints of the Vosges. See the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. iv (3rd ed), p. 731 and Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxvi, pp. 343-345. There seems, however, to be a local cultus of St Hunna, and the Abbé Hunckler in his Saints d’Alsace writes on the subject at some length. Hunna of Alsace, Matron (AC) also known as Huva); canonized by Pope Leo X in 1520 at the urging of Duke Ulric of Würtemberg. The daughter of an Alsatian duke and widow of the nobleman Huno of Hunnaweyer, Saint Hunna devoted herself to the poor of Strasbourg. Hunna earned the title of "holy washerwoman" because she would lend a hand with any job--even to doing the laundry for the poor.
Her family appears to have been influenced by Bishop Saint Deodatus of Nevers, because Hunna's son was named for and baptized by him. When he was of age, he entered the monastery founded by Deodatus, Ebersheimmünster near Strasbourg. A local cult developed after her death (Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Walsh).
Saint Hunna is represented as a noblewoman with linen near her; sometimes she is washing it for the poor and sick. She is venerated in Alsace. Patroness of laundresses (Roeder).
829 Blessed Nidger of Augsburg bishop of Augsburg OSB B (AC)
(also known as Nidgar, Nitgar) Nidger is said to have been abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Ottobeuren in Bavaria.
He became bishop of Augsburg, Germany, in 822 (Benedictines).
962 St. Mundus Scottish abbot founded abbeys excellent maxims to fraternal charity meekness value of solitude need be aware of the Divine presence
sometimes called Mund, Munde, or Mond. He founded abbeys in Argyle, Scotland.

Mundus of Argyle, Abbot (AC) (also known as Munde, Mund, Mond) Saint Mundus was a Scottish abbot of a large abbey, who made several monastic foundations at Argyle, where he was once venerated as patron. His other heritage included excellent maxims relating to fraternal charity, meekness, the value of solitude, and the need to be aware of the Divine presence. The details of his career are obscure and he is often confused with Saint Fintan Munnu, but he was previously honored as the primary patron of Scotland (Attwater2, Benedictines, Husenbeth).


1186  ST. DRUON, OR DRUGO, RECLUSE, PATRON OF SHEPHERDS.
He was nobly born, at Epinoy in Flanders, but his father died before his birth, and his mother in childbed.   
St. Leo, ep 15, ad Turibium Asturicensem, p. 69, t, 2, ad. Rom  and a letter of St. Turibius ila p 73
St. Aug,1  Contra Mediacom ad - Consentium, c.3, t. 6. See Frasoisci Gervesil Diss, de Priscillianists P. 65  Cacciare Exercitat. in S. Leonem, Diss. 2, de Priscila. c. 8, pp. 234, 235.

From his infancy, be was remarkable for poetry and devotion, and at twenty years of age distributed his money and goods among the poor, and renounced his estates in favor of the next heirs, that he might he at liberty to serve Christ iii poverty and penance. Being thus disengaged from the world, clad in a ragged, poor garment, over a hair-shirt, he set out, like Abraham, leaving his friends and country, and, after having visited several holy places, hired himself shepherd to a virtuous lady, named Elizabeth de la Haire, at Sebourg, two leagues from Valenciannes.   The retirement and abjection of this state were most agreeable to him, on account of the opportunities with which they furnished him of perpetual poverty, and the exercises of penance and humility.   Happy would servants be, did they consider and make use of the great advantage to virtue which Providence puts into their hands, by daily opportunities of most heroic acts of obedience, self-denial, humility, patience, meekness, penance, and all other virtues.  The saints thought they purchased such opportunities cheap at any rate yet many lose them, nay, by sloth, impatience, avarice, or other vices, pervert them into occasions of sin. Six years Druon kept sheep in great obscurity, and as the last among the menial servants but his humility, modesty, meekness, charity, and eminent spirit of devotion and prayer, in spite of his disguise, gained him the esteem and affection of everybody, particular- of his mistress   Many made him presents but these he bestowed on the poor, with whatever he could privately retrench from himself.  To fly the danger of applause, at length he left his place, aid visited Rome nine times, and often many other places of devotion making those pilgrimages not journeys of sloth, curiosity, and dissipation, hut exercises of uninterrupted prayer and penance.  He returned from time to time to Seaborg; where, when a rupture put an end to his pilgrimages, he at length pitched his tent for the remainder of his life.  He built himself a narrow cell against the wall of the church, that he might at all times adore God as it were at the foot of his altars.  Here he lived a recluse for the space of forty-live years, his food being barley-bread made with a lie of ashes, and his drink warm water.
     To disguise this part of his mortifications, he called this diet a medicine for his distemper.  In this voluntary prison he lived in assiduous prayer and manual labor to the eighty-fourth year of his age, dying in 1186, on the 16th of April, on which day his name occurs in the Roman Martyrology.  His relies remain in the church of St. Martin at Seaborg.  See his life in Papebroke, p. 441Mireus, &c.



1104, ST. MANS, OR MAGNUS, B. M.
In the reign of Duncan, king of Scotland, an army of savage pagan Norwegians, under Hacon, ravaged the isles of Orkney.  To stop the butchery of the inhabitants, Mans, the zealous bishop, met the barbarians, and when they threatened him with death, boldly replied  "1 am ready to die a thousand times over for the cause of God and his flock  but in his name I command you to spare his people." Commending his soul to his Redeemer, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, St. Palladius, and St. Servanus, patron of that diocese, he presented his head to be struck of by the executioner.   He suffered in the year 1104, in the isle of Eglis, one of the Orcades, and was buried in the same. His tomb became famous for the reputation of miracles, and the devotion of pilgrims.   See Hunter, de viris lllustr. Scot.   p. 40; King; the ancient hymn in his honor, &c,




1305 ST. JOACHIM OF SIENNA, C. OF THE ORDER OF 5ERVITES.

He was a native of Sienna, of the noble family of Pelacani. No sooner had he attained to the use of reason, than he discovered a happy inclination to piety. He seemed to have sucked in with his mother's milk a singular devotion to the Blessed Virgin and it was his greatest pleasure in his childhood to pray before her image or altar, and to repeat often, and in all places, the angelical salutation, Ave Maria.   His charity for the poor was not less extraordinary than his devotion.  He stripped himself to clothe and relieve them whatever was given him for his pocket he bestowed in alms.   Moreover, he never ceased to solicit his parents in favor of the distressed.  His father one day checked him, and told him that prudence ought to set bounds to Ins liberality, or he would reduce his whole family to poverty.   The compassionate youth modestly replied: "You have taught me that alms are given to Jesus Christ; in the persons of the poor    can we refuse him anything?     And what is the advantage of riches, but that they be employed in purchasing treasures in heaven?"   The father wept for joy to hear such generous sentiments of virtue from one of so tender an age, and so dear to him. He sometimes caught his little son at his devotions at midnight, for which he secretly rose from his bed while others slept.  The saint, at fourteen years of age, received the religious habit from the hands of St. Philip Beniti, in 1272 and, out of devotion to the mother of God, took the name of Joachim.  Such was his fervor, from the first day he entered the convent that the most advanced looked upon him as a perfect model.   All virtues were in him most conspicuous but none more admirable than the spirit of prayer, and an extraordinary humility and love of abjection. He strenuously resisted the utmost endeavors that could he used to promote him to the priesthood which dignity he always looked upon with trembling. To serve at mass was the height of his ambition and he often assisted at that adorable sacrifice in raptures of devotion. The meanest and most painful offices and drudgery of the house were his great delight for true humility is never more pleased than in humiliations and obscurity, as pride finds its pleasure in public and great actions, which attract the eyes of others.    The whole life of this saint seemed a continual study to conceal him from men and to be hid from the world but the more he fled the esteem of others, the more it followed him.  Seeing himself too much respected and honored at Sienna, he earnestly entreated his general to remove him to some remote house of the order, where he hoped to remain unknown. Arezzo was allotted him but as soon as his departure was known, the whole city of Sienna was in a tumult, till, to appease the people, he was recalled into his own country, of which he continued to his death the glory, and, by his prayers and example, the support and comfort.   God honored him with miracles both before and after his death, which happened on the 16th of April, in the year 1305, of his age the forty-seventh.  The popes Paul V and Urban VIII granted to his order the license of celebrating his festival with an office.  See his life written by Attavanti, a priest of the same order at Florence   also Giani's Annals, &c.


1607 Blessed Caesar de Bus military priest teaching catechism to ordinary people in neglected rural out-of-the-way places
b. 1544 Like so many of us, Caesar de Bus struggled with the decision about what to do with his life. After completing his Jesuit education he had difficulty settling between a military and a literary career. He wrote some plays but ultimately settled for life in the army and at court.
For a time life was going rather smoothly for the engaging, well-to-do young Frenchman. He was confident he had made the right choice. That was until he saw firsthand the realities of battle, including the St. Bartholomew's Day massacres of French Protestants in 1572.

He fell seriously ill and found himself reviewing his priorities, including his spiritual life. By the time he had recovered Caesar had resolved to become a priest. Following his ordination in 1582, he undertook special pastoral work: teaching the catechism to ordinary people living in neglected, rural, out-of-the-way places. His efforts were badly needed and well received.

Working with his cousin, Caesar developed a program of family catechesis. The goal—to ward off heresy among the people—met the approval of local bishops. Out of these efforts grew a new religious congregation: the Fathers of Christian Doctrine.

One of Caesar's works, Instructions for the Family on the Four Parts of the Roman Catechism, was published 60 years after his death. He was beatified in 1975.
Comment: “Family catechesis” is a familiar term in parish life today. Grounded in the certainty that children learn their faith first from their parents, programs that deepen parental involvement in religious education multiply everywhere. There were no such programs in Caesar’s day until he saw a need and created them. Other needs abound in our parishes, and it’s up to us to respond by finding ways to fill them or by joining in already established efforts.
1889 Bl. Damien de Veuster of Hawaii evangelize peoples of Puno Kohala destroyed pagan worship and Hero of Molokai leper colony
Born in Tremelo, Belgium, on January 3, 1840, he joined the Sacred Hearts Fathers in 1860. He was bom Joseph and received the name Damien in religious life. In 1864, he was sent to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he Was ordained. For the next nine years he worked in missions on the big island, Hawaii. In 1873, he went to the leper colony on Molokai, after volunteering for the assignment. Damien cared for lepers of all ages, but was particularly concerned about the children segregated in the colony. He announced he was a leper in 1885 and continued to build hospitals, clinics, and churches, and some six hundred coffins.
He died on April 15 , on Molokai. Slandered by a Protestant minister, Mr. Hyde, Damien was defended by Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote an impassioned defense of Damien in 1905.
He was declared venerable in 1977. Pope John Paul II declared him beatified on June 4, 1995.


Joseph de Veuster (RM) (also known as Father Damien)
Image courtesy of Éditions Magnificat 

Born January 3, 1840 at Tremeloo, Belgium; died April 15, 1889; declared venerable by Pope Paul VI in 1977; canonized by Pope John Paul II on June 3, 1995.
Joseph de Veuster studied at the College of Braine-le-Comte, and in 1860 joined the Fathers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (the Picpus Fathers), taking the name Damien.
While still a novice in a Parisien monastery, volunteered for missionary work in the southern seas, and was refused because he was not yet ordained, but when one who should have gone was prevented through illness, Damien was allowed to go in his stead. His superiors need not have feared, for of the ten monks who sailed for Hawaii in 1864, Damien's name and work to outlive them all.
 
Damien was ordained in Honolulu two months after his arrival and was given a remote parish covering an area as large as his native Belgium, in a barren and volcanic land, where with no white colleague and no church building he began his work. He worked for nine years to evangelize the peoples of Puno and Kohala.
First he labored with his own hands under a blazing sun to build a chapel, then visited his parish from end to end, journeying past the craters and lakes of fire and through the sulphurous fumes or the mud which followed torrential rains.
Often he took his life in his hands, as when once at midnight he burst into a secret burial cave where 30 natives were engaged in a ghoulish ritual. Without hesitation he interrupted the ceremony, spilling their vessels of animal blood and with angry scorn tearing to shreds their pagan symbols.

He is remembered most for his work among the lepers of Molokai, where the authorities had established a self-supporting leper settlement to which all who had contracted the high-contagious disease were compulsorily deported and where under appalling conditions they were left to their fate.
When the call came in 1873 for a priest for Molokai, with the proviso that under new government regulations he must remain there for life, though whoever volunteered to go was almost certain to contract and die of the disease, Damien pleaded for the post. Within an hour he was on his way. At Honolulu he transferred to a ship carrying 50 lepers, and at Molokai he was greeted by his new parishioners, who lined the beach in the last stages of disease and despair. He found only one hopeful sign among the squalor of his new surroundings--a rude wooden chapel, where his first act was to kneel in prayer. He spent that night in cleaning it, and was disturbed by the drunken laughter of the dissolute--for it was a lawless community, by the cries of the dying, and by the howling of the wild dogs that devoured the dead.

There follows the epic of his transformation of this living hell. In 1885, at the age of 49 he himself caught the disease, but crippled and deformed, he carried on, refusing to be transhipped for treatment. Before he died, four other priests and a band of nurses had joined him, and under his influence the island of death became a civilized welfare community.

Though he was often slandered during his lifetime, his holiness and dedication were quickly recognized after his death. (Robert Louis Stevenson wrote an impassioned defense of his character in 1905, which was used to support the canonization.) His body was brought home, and this man who was born a peasant and had spent his life, and sacrificed it, among the banished lepers of Molokai, was buried like a prince in Antwerp Cathedral (Delaney, Gill).


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 325

I have hated the unjust: and I have loved thy way, O gracious Lady.

Help me, O Lady of the world, and I shall be saved: and I shall meditate the honor of thy commandments.

Make me always stand in thy fear: and deliver me not up, O Virgin, to those who calumniate me.

I am of thy own tongue: I am the least in thy family.

Keep me, O Lady, from those who neglect the judgments of thy justice.

Thou despisest all who depart from thy service: because their thought is unjust.

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
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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
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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.

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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
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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.

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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.
 
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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.

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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.

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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:

***
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).
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