180 St. Addal Converted Turkey disciple of Christ sent by St. Thomas to court of King Abgar the Black, 2nd century Osroene ruler
A disciple of Christ sent by St. Thomas to the court of King Abgar the Black, the second century Osroene ruler. Legendary accounts claim Abgar wrote to Christ asking Jesus to cure him of an intolerable and incurable illness. Abgar's court was in Edessa in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Addal cured Abgar and converted the king and his people to the faith. One of these was Addai, who became Addal's successor. Addal is also supposed to have sent another disciple, Man, to various sites along the Tigris River. It is known that Addal did missionary work around Edessa toward the end of the second century. Both Addal and Man have been venerated in the Syrian and Persian churches since that era. Addal is recorded as a martyr for the faith.
SS. ADDAI AND MARI Bishops

There were inhabitants of Mesopotamia present when St Peter and his companions preached at Pentecost, and for all that we know the first East Syrian Christians were made at that time, but the actual date of the introduction of Christianity into those parts, among the Edessene Jews, is unknown. There is evidence of a Christian colony at Edessa in the second century, but it was probably not till the coining of the Sassanid dynasty that the faith began to spread from there over Mesopotamia, Adiabene and Persia. Local ecclesiastical tradition, however, attributes their evangelization to the apostle St Thomas, and more particularly to St Addai, St Aggai and St Man. The story of how they came to Edessa, combined from the narratives of Eusebius and of a Syriac document called The Doctrine of Addai (written C. 400), is as follows.

At the time when our Lord was still incarnate upon earth there reigned in Osroene a king called Abgar the Black, who lived at Edessa. He suffered from some incurable disease and, having heard of the miracles of healing of our Lord, he sent to Him a letter by the hand of his secretary, Hannan. In it he addresses Christ as “the good Physician” and asks Him to come to Edessa and heal him, professing to believe, in consequence of the reported wonders, that, “either thou art God, who hast come down from Heaven, or else the Son of God, who brings all these things to pass”. Hannan found our Lord in the house of Gamaliel, “Chief of the Jews”, and He replied to Abgar that, “Happy art thou who hast believed in me without having seen me, for it is written that they who see me shall not believe and they who see me not shall believe. As for my coming to you, I am about to return to my Father, all for which I was sent into the world being finished. But when I shall have ascended to Him I will send thee one of my disciples, who shall heal thee of thy sickness and bring thee and thine to eternal life.”

According to Eusebius our Lord wrote out this message Himself and it was accordingly greatly reverenced throughout Christendom during the middle ages; it is said to have been used as an amulet in England before the eleventh century. The Syriac document states that Hannan also brought back to Abgar a portrait of our Lord which he had painted (later, “not-made-by-human-hands"), and which as the Holy Mandylion is famous in Christian iconography.

After the Ascension, the apostle Thomas accordingly sent one of the seventy-two disciples, Addai (Thaddeus), to the court of King Abgar. He lodged at the house of a Jew, Tobias, and when he was brought before the king he healed him of his disease, and spoke to him of the faith of Christ. Addai converted Abgar and multitudes of his people, among others the royal jeweller, Aggai, whom he made bishop and his successor, and Palut, whom he ordained priest on his deathbed.

In due course St Aggai was martyred and Palut had to go to Antioch to be consecrated by Serapion, who in his turn had been made bishop by Pope St Zephyrinus at Rome. Quite apart from any other consideration, this last statement throws the whole of the legend into confusion, for it is known that there was a Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, who was at least contemporary with St Zephyrinus, and was, moreover, contemporary with another Abgar, who was a Christian king of Edessa between about 179 and 213, and probably the first; so Serapion could not have consecrated a convert of one of the Seventy-two.

The most, then, that can be said of St Addai is that he was perhaps a missionary in Edessa, before the end of the second century. St Man is an even less satisfactory person, for there are serious doubts of his existence at all. According to his late “acts” he was a disciple of St Addai, who sent him to Nisibis; he preached there and took up the work of Jonas the prophet at Ninive, then he went down the Tigris, until he began “to smell the smell of the apostle Thomas”, and died near Seleucia-Ctesiphon, after consecrating as its bishop Papa bar Aggai, another certainly historical personage, the first katholikos of the East Syrian churches—but at the beginning of the fourth century.

Wherever he went St Man made numerous converts, destroyed temples, built churches and founded monasteries, on a scale familiar in spurious legends but rarely, if ever, found in sober history. Nevertheless, SS. Addai and Man, nebulous as they now are, have from early ages been venerated as the evangelists of the lands around the Tigris and Euphrates, and still are by their successors, the Catholic Chaldeans and the Nestorians of Iraq and Kurdistan; they are referred to as “the Holy Apostles”, and the principal anaphora of the eucharistic liturgy of those Christians bears this name.

The two primary sources are Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, bk i, ch. 13; and the Doctrine of Addai, Syriac text with Eng. trans., edited by G. Phillips (1876). The authenticity of the letters exchanged between Abgar and our Saviour was formerly very warmly defended, e.g. by the Abbé Paulin Martin in the Revue des Sciences Ecclésiastiques for 1888— 1889 (several articles), as against Tixeront, R. Duval, R. Lipsius, and others. On the Armenian version and its bearings on the controversy, consult P. J. Dashian, “Zur Abgar Sage”, three articles in the Vienna Oriental Journal for 1890. Modern opinion tends strongly to regard the whole incident as apocryphal, see e.g. Bardenhewer, Geschichte der altkirchlichen Literatur, vol. i, pp. 569 seq. and p. 443; and Dictionnaire de la Bible, Supplement, cc. 540—542. Cf. however, Casartell in The Dublin Review for April 1889, and H. Thurston in The Month, September 1192, pp. 39—61. See also DCB., s.v., Abgar and Thaddeus, and DHG., s.v., Abgar; and F. C. Burkitt, Early Eastern Christianity (1904), cap. i.

St. Memmius First bishop of Chalons-sur-Marne famous for miracles worked before and after his death Cataláuni, in Gállia, sancti Mémmii, civis Románi, qui, a sancto Petro Apóstolo consecrátus illíus civitátis Epíscopus, pópulum sibi commíssum ad Evangélii veritátem perdúxit.
At Chalons in France, St. Memmius, a Roman citizen, who was consecrated bishop of that city by St. Peter the Apostle, and brought to the truth of the Gospel the people committed to his care.

ST. MEMMIUS, IN FRENCH MENGE, FIRST BISHOP AND APOSTLE OF CHALONS, ON THE MARNE.

THE Catalaunian plains, according to Jornandes, one hundred leagues in length, and seventy in breadth, famous for the defeat of Attila, and other great victories, gave name to the whole province of Champagne, and were the theatre of the apostolic labours of St. Memmius the first bishop and apostie of Chalons, in tne decline of the third century. Flodoard is our voucher that he was contemporary with St. Sixtus, bishop of Rheims in 290. He is honoured on the 5th of August, the day of his death. His relics, after several translations, are deposited in a rich shrine of silver gilt together with those of his sister St. Poma, and famous for many miracles. St. Gregory of Tours relates that when he was travelling through Chalons his servant fell dangerously ill of a fever: St. Gregory, prostrate before the tomb of St. Memmius, prayed earnestly for his recovery, and the next morning the youth found himself perfectly well.(l) St. Memmius's two immediate successors, Donutian and Domitian, are also honoured among the saints, and their relics enshrined in the basilic of St. Memmius.
Likewise St. Elasius and his brother and successor Laudomerus, or Lumier, the thirteenth and fourteenth bishops of Chalons from 565 to 590, are honoured, the former on the 19th of August, the latter on the 2nd of October, though he died on the 30th September.
The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints By Alban Butler Published by J. Duffy, 1866 Item notes: v.8 Original from the University of Michigan Digitized Jun 14, 2007

Saint Gregory of Tours relates also called Menge and Meinge. He founded the see after working as a missionary in the district.

Memmius of Châlons-sur-Marne B (RM) (also known as Menge, Meinge) Died September 30. In the province of Champagne, where Attila the Hun was finally defeated, Saint Memmius labored to spread the Good News. Although he was not a disciple of Saint Peter, as is sometimes claimed, he was the apostle and first bishop of Châlons at the end of the 3rd century. Memmius's relics are enshrined in silver gilt in the Basilica of Saint Memmius together with those of his sister, Saint Poma, as well as those of his two immediate successors, Saints Donatian and Domitian, and Saints Elaphius (13th bishop) and Leudomerus (14th bishop).

Memmius was famous for the miracles he worked before and after his death. Saint Gregory of Tours relates that as he was travelling through Châlons, his servant fell dangerously ill. Gregory prostrated himself in prayer on his servant's behalf in front of the tomb of Saint Memmius. The next morning the youth was perfectly recovered (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth) .

235 The Martyr Pontius lived during the III Century, the son of a pagan Roman senator named Marcus and his wife Julia.
While with child, Julia had gone with her husband to the pagan temple of Jupiter. The devil, inhabiting the temple, shouted from the lips of the pagan priest that the boy in Julia's womb would destroy Jupiter and his pagan temple. When the boy was born, his mother wanted to kill him out of fear of the prediction, but his father opposed this and the child was left to live. He was named Pontius, and he grew up sharp of mind and keen for study. On his way to the pagan school Pontius happened to go past an house, where Christians were making the morning Divine-services. Hearing the words of the psalm which the Christians were singing: "pagan idols be silver and gold, the works of the hands of men..." (Ps. 113: 12 [115: 4]). Pontius became very interested in this verse and he paused at the gate. Pope Pontian, who was making the service, invited Pontius and his companion Valerian to come in. After the service, the pope talked for a long while with the youths, revealing to them the Gospel teachings, and after a certain while he baptised them. Saint Pontius in turn likewise converted his father to Christ, whom Pope Pontian also baptised, together with his whole household. And after the death of his father, Saint Pontius, then 20 years old, was appointed by the emperor Alexander Severus (222-235) as a senator, to take the place of his deceased father. In the Senate and the surroundings of the emperor, Saint Pontius enjoyed universal esteem for his good nature, sound sense and fairness. Under the successor to the emperor Alexander Severus -- Maximian (235-238), Pope Saint Pontian finished his life as a martyr (+ 235).

257 SS Pope Antherus (Bishop of Rome in place of Pope Saint Pontian), and successor was Pope Saint Fabian (Fabius), who as a presbyter fearlessly gave burial to the bodies of martyrs.he too soon accepted suffering and death for Christ (+ 236).
Pope Saint Fabian loved Saint Pontius as though he were his own flesh and blood son. Saint Pontius distributed with Saint Fabian all his substance on the needs of the poor. After the perishing of impious Maximian, the new emperor Gordian (238-244) did not persecute Christians, and thereafter in turn the emperor Philip (244-249) together with his co-regent son Philip was persuaded by the conversations and preaching of Saint Pontius to believe in Christ and to accept Baptism from holy Pope Fabian.

With the permission of the emperors, Saints Pontius and Fabian threw down the statue of Jupiter at the pagan temple and on this place built a church. For 4 years the Church of Christ dwelt in peace and tranquility.
But then Decius (249-251) ascended the throne, having organised a rebellion and murdered the emperor Philip and his son. And during this time Sainted Fabian, Pope of Rome (+ 250), accepted death for Christ. But Saint Pontius left Rome for the city of Cimelum (on the border of Italy and Gaul-France) and lived there like a stranger. During the time of the emperor Valerian (253-259), cruel torturers were sent out with full authority to all ends to seek out and kill all Christians. And thus Claudius and Anubius arrived in the city of Cimelum for this purpose. Saint Pontius fearlessly confessed himself a Christian and refused to offer sacrifice to idols. They shackled him in irons and threw him in prison. From the very beginning of the torture the saint calmly admonished the torturers, that the Lord would bring to naught the torture and they would see the power of God. And indeed, as soon as the servants attempted to tie Saint Pontius to the rack, it fell apart to pieces, and the torturers fell to the ground as though dead.

"Be convinced, O man of little faith, in the power of my Lord", -- said Saint Pontius to Claudius, but on the advice of Anubius he gave Saint Pontius over to be devoured by two bears in the circus. The wild beasts, while not touching the saint, fell instead upon their keepers and tore at them.
The spectators began to shout: "God only is the Christian God, in Whom believeth Pontius". By order of the torturers a bon-fire was built, but it burnt out, and the saint remained alive, and even his clothes did not burn.
The crowd shouted all the more strongly: "Great is the God of the Christians!" Saint Pontius then was sentenced to beheading by the sword, and the execution was made out beyond the city in the year 257.

The body of Saint Pontius was given burial at the place of execution by his comrade and friend Valerian.

303 St. Emygdius patron against earthquakes.
Asculi, in Picéno, sancti Emygdii, Epíscopi et Mártyris; qui, a sancto Marcéllo Papa Epíscopus ordinátus et illuc ad prædicándum Evangélium missus, ibídem, in confessióne Christi, sub Diocletiáno Imperatóre, martyrii corónam accépit.
At Ascoli in Piceno, St. Emygdius, bishop and martyr, who was consecrated bishop by Pope St. Marcellus, and sent thither to preach the Gospel. He received the crown of martyrdom for the confession of Christ under Diocletian.

Bishop and martyr, also called Emidius. He was a pagan of Trier, Germany, who became a Christian. While visiting Rome, he destroyed a pagan temple. Pope St. Marcellus I or Marcellinus sent him to Ascoli Piceno. There he suffered martyrdom with Eupolus, Germanus, and Valentius. This tradition is untrustworthy. Emygdius’ relics are in Ascoli. He is a patron against earthquakes.

304 St. Afra Martyr and penitent daughter of the king of Cyprus Martyr and penitent
Augústæ Vindelicórum natális sanctæ Afræ Mártyris, quæ, cum esset pagána, per doctrínam sancti Narcíssi Epíscopi ad Christum est convérsa, et, cum ómnibus domus suæ membris, ab eódem Epíscopo baptizáta; póstmodum vero, ob Christi confessiónem igni trádita, martyrium suum, septem diébus ántequam beáta Hilária mater ac tres ancíllæ eódem cruciátus génere coronaréntur, felíciter explévit.
At Augsburg, the birthday of St. Afra, martyr, who being a pagan, was converted to Christ by the teaching of St. Narcissus the bishop, and being baptized with all her household, was given over to the flames for the sake of Christ. Seven days later her mother Hilaria and three handmaids were also crowned by enduring the same kind of torment.
Martyr and penitent, listed in some records as the daughter of the king of Cyprus. Afra was caught up in the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian in Roman Augsburg. She is listed in the Martyrology Hieronymianum. Afra possibly operated a brothel in Augsburg or served as a prostitute in the temple of Venus, living with her mother, Hilaria, and serving women Eunomia, Eutropia, and Digna. When the persecutions started in Augsburg, Bishop Narcissus of Gerona, Spain, arrived in the city and took lodging with Afra and Hilaria, not knowing their profession. His holiness attracted the women, who converted. When officials came looking for the bishop, Afra hid him under a pile of flax. Afra and her household were baptized, and her uncle Dionysius was ordained as a bishop. Arrested, Afra was burned to death, tied to a tree on the small island of Lech. She was buried in Augsburg and her mother erected a chapel for her tomb. Soon after, Hilaria and her serving women were burned alive in their house. Afra's remains were buried in a church named after her. Pilgrims visited her shrine as early as 565. In 1012, the Benedictine monastery of St. Ulrich and St. Afra displayed her sarcophagus. The Acts of Afra give an account of her martyrdom.
304 ST AFRA, MARTYR
THE persecution of Diocletian was carried on with great cruelty by his colleague Maximian in those provinces which fell to his share in the division of the empire. At Augsburg, in Rhaetia, according to her “acts”, the officers apprehended a woman called Afra, known to have formerly been a common prostitute. A later embroidery says she was converted by St Narcissus, bishop of Gerona in Spain, of whom nothing is certainly known.<>
When she was brought to trial the judge, by name Gaius, who knew who she was, said, “Sacrifice to the gods; it is better to live than to die in torments”. Afra replied, “I was a great sinner before I knew God; but I will not add new crimes, or do what you command me.”. “I am informed”, said Gaius, “that you are a prostitute. Sacrifice therefore, as you are a stranger to the God of the Christians and cannot be accepted by Him.” Afra replied, “My Lord Jesus Christ has said that He came down from Heaven to save sinners. The gospel says that a sinful woman washed His feet with her tears and obtained pardon, and that He never rejected the outcasts but welcomed them to eat with him.” When he found that she could not be moved, declaring, “Let the body which has sinned suffer; but I will not ruin my soul by false worship”, the judge passed sentence, and the executioners carried her to an island in the river Lech. There they stripped her and tied her to a stake; and whilst they were heaping vine branches about her and setting fire to them, Afra was heard to say, “I thank thee, Lord Jesus Christ, for thy goodness in receiving me, a burnt offering for thy name’s sake: thou didst offer thyself upon the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world; I offer myself a victim to thee, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost world without end. Amen.” Having spoken these words she gave up her spirit, being suffocated by the smoke.

Three servants of the martyr, Digna, Eunomia and Euprepia, who had lived disorderly lives with their mistress, but were converted and baptized at the same time, watched her triumph. With Hilaria, the martyr’s mother, they came in the night and carried away the body, which they buried in a sepulchre. Whilst Hilaria and her attendants were still within the tomb, Gaius was informed of what they had done. He therefore dispatched soldiers with an order to persuade the whole company to offer sacrifice, and if they refused to burn them alive without any other formality. The soldiers used both mild words and threats; but finding all to no purpose they filled the vault with thorns and branches, shut the door, and having set fire to the wood, left them to be roasted to death.

The existence of a martyr called Afra, who suffered at Augsburg and was venerated there from early times, seems established; but the value of the acta from which the above relation is taken is a matter of dispute. According to some scholars they are worthless; others claim that the part which narrates her trial and martyrdom is an expanded version of an earlier historical narrative, while the separate story of her being a harlot, her conversion, and the execution of her mother and servants is an invention of the Carlovingian era. St Afra is referred to by Venantius Fortunatus, and she is still venerated at Augsburg and elsewhere in Germany.

The two Latin texts of most importance have both been edited by B. Krusch in MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. iii, pp. 55—64 and vol. vii, pp. 192—204. Much discussion has centred round the question whether the original text of the acta is really a Merovingian document as Duchesne contended, or, as Krusch believed, was only elaborated out of the notice in the “Hieronymianum”—“In provincia Retia civitate Augusta Afrae veneriae.” A. Bigelmair, A. Poncelet and 0. Riedner support Krusch, but in CMH., p. 423, an opposite view is taken ; there are fuller bibliographical references in the same notice.

Romæ pássio sanctórum Mártyrum vigínti trium, qui, in persecutióne Diocletiáni, via Salária véteri, cápite obtruncáti sunt, et, ad clivum Cucúmeris, ibídem sepúlti.
At Rome, during the persecution of Diocletian, the martyrdom of twenty-three holy martyrs, who were beheaded on the Salarian Way, and buried at the foot of Cucumer Hill.

346 St. Paris Bishop of Teano, Italy born in Greece

Apud Theánum, in Campánia, sancti Páridis Epíscopi. At Teano in Campania, St. Paris, bishop.

Bishop of Teano, Italy. Biographical accounts about him are quite extravagant, with many legends.
Paris of Teano B (RM). The veneration of Saint Paris in his diocese of Teano near Naples has led to many embellishments to his true vita. He is said to have been born in Greece (Benedictines, Encyclopedia) .

350 St. Cassian of Autun Egyptian Famed for miracles

Augustodúni beáti Cassiáni Epíscopi. At Autun, blessed Cassian, bishop.

Successor of St. Reticius as bishop of Autun, France. He served from 314 until his death. Famed for miracles, Cassian was identified by a biographer as being an Egyptian.

362 Eusignius of Antioch old soldier (110) in the army of Constantius Chlorus refusal to sacrifice to the gods M (RM)
Antiochíæ sancti Eusígnii mílitis, qui, annum agens centésimum décimum, cum Constantíni Magni fidem, sub quo militáverat, Juliáno Apóstatæ exprobráret, eúmque ut pátriæ pietátis desertórem redargúeret, ab eódem jussus est cápite cædi.
At Antioch, St. Eusignius, a soldier, who, at the age of one hundred and ten years, because he reproached Julian the Apostate for forsaking the faith of Constantine the Great, under whom he had served, and for having degenerated from his ancestor's piety, was beheaded at his command.
Saint Eusignius was a old soldier in the army of Constantius Chlorus. At the age of 110, he was commanded to sacrifice to the gods by Julian the Apostate. Upon his refusal, he was scourged and beheaded in Antioch, Syria (Benedictines).

374 Nonna of Nazianzen, Matron 3 children became saints Saint Gregory Nazianzen Caesarius of Nazianzen and Gorgonia(RM)
Eódem die sanctæ Nonnæ, quæ fuit mater beatórum Gregórii Nazianzéni, Cæsárii et Gorgoniæ.
On the same day, St. Nonna, mother of Saints Gregory Nazianzen, Caesarius, and Gorgonia.
A Christian, Saint Nonna married Gregory, a magistrate of Nazianzus, Cappadocia, who was a member of the Hypsistarians, a Jewish-pagan group, and converted him to Christianity. He became a priest and then bishop and is Saint Gregory Nazianzen the Elder. Their three children all became saints: Saint Gregory Nazianzen, Caesarius of Nazianzen, and Gorgonia. But each followed a different path to sanctity because she was a good mother who realized that God's plan was different for each of them and encouraged them to follow His calling. Caesarius was a court physician, Gregory a monk and bishop, and Gorgonia a wife and mother.
Nonna is the model of a perfect Christian mother who is dissatisfied with simply bringing her children into the world and preparing them to live in it. She desired that they all be brought to heaven. Her son Gregory wrote: "My father was in truth a second Abraham and was a man of the highest virtue...My mother was a worthy companion for such a man and her qualities were as great as his. She came from a pious family, but was even more pious than they. Through in her body she was but a woman, in her spirit she was above all men...Her mouth knew nothing but the truth, but in her modesty she was silent about those deeds which brought her glory. She was guided by the fear of God..." (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
St. Nouna Wife of St. Gregory of Nazianzus
Wife of St. Gregory of Nazianzus. A Christian, she was responsible for converting Gregory to the Christian faith. He was originally a member of the Hypsistorians, a Jewish pagan group. All of their children became saints: Gregory Nazianzus the Younger, Caesarius of Nazianzus, and Gorgonius.
374 ST NONNA, MATRON
NONNA was born towards the end of the third century and, although she was brought up a Christian, married Gregory, the magistrate of Nazianzus in Cappadocia, who was a member of a Judaic-pagan sect called the Hypsistarians. However, this was a case of a “ mixed marriage” turning out for the very best, and the resulting family was one of the most famous and brilliant saintly families of Christian history. By her shining example St Nonna converted her husband, and he became a priest, and then a bishop: in those days the now universal law that a bishop must be single or a widower was not yet everywhere in force; he is moreover venerated as a saint and is known as St Gregory Nazianzen the Elder. They had three children, all of them saints, and the eldest, St Gregory Nazianzen the Divine, became one of the greatest of the doctors of the Church; in his writing he often refers to the devoted and virtuous life of his mother Nonna. The next child was a girl, St Gorgonia, who married and had three children. The third was St Caesarius, a physician by profession. St Nonna outlived two of her children: Gorgonia died in her arms, and she heard the funeral sermons preached for her and Caesarius by Gregory the Younger which have continued to be the admiration of succeeding ages. She survived her husband only a few months and died at a considerable age in 374: a valiant woman, whose children rose up and called her blessed, whose husband praised her.

A sufficient account of St Nonna is given in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. ii, and in DCB., vol. iv, p. 50.

435 Dedication of St. Mary Major first church in Rome dedicated to Mary the Mother of God
Romæ, in Exquíliis, Dedicátio Basílicæ sanctæ Maríæ ad Nives.
At Rome, on the Esquiline, the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Snows.
There are three basilicas in Rome in which the holy father celebrates Mass on different feasts: Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter's on Vatican Hill, and Saint Mary Major, which was the first church in Rome dedicated to Mary the Mother of God. It was founded by Pope Liberius in the 4th century, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin by Pope Saint Sixtus III about 435. The church is sometimes called, Saint Mary ad Nives (of the Snow), because a miraculous snow fell upon the area in summer about the time a patrician named John had a vision of the Virgin requesting the building of the church. He donated the money for its building.
In the church the Holy Manger of Bethlehem with a silver image of the baby Jesus is on display in a large subterranean chapel. Touching this presumed relic excited the religious fervor of such saints as Jerome and Paula when it was still at Bethlehem (Husenbeth).
THE DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF ST MARY MAJOR “OUR LADY OF THE SNOW”

THIS feast celebrates the dedication of the third of the patriarchal basilicas within the walls of Rome, to which at first the name of “Liberian Basilica” was given, because it was founded in the time of Pope Liberius, in the middle of the fourth century it was restored and consecrated under the title of the Virgin Mary by Sixtus III, about the year 435, and is now generally known as St Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore Great St Mary’s), because it is in both age and dignity the first church of the City among those dedicated to God in honour of our Lady. In the liturgical books it is called St Mary ad Nives, or “of the Snow”, from a popular tradition that the Mother of God chose this place for a church under her invocation by a miraculous fall of snow upon this spot in summer and by a vision in which she appeared to a patrician named John, who munificently founded and endowed this church in the pontificate of Liberius at the site thus indicated on the Esquiline Hill. No mention is found of this miracle until some hundreds of years later, and it is now everywhere recognized as a myth. A commission for the reform of the Breviary recommended to Pope Benedict XIV in 1742 that its old name of “Dedication of St Mary” should be restored to the feast; this has not been done yet, except in the Benedictine calendar (1915). This basilica has sometimes also been known by the name of St Mary ad Praesepe, from the alleged relic of the crib or manger of Bethlehem, in which Christ was laid at His birth.

See H. Grisar, Analecta Romana (1900), p. 70, and the same writer’s Geschicte Roms und der Päpste (1901), p. 153, n. 1; as well as Duchesne, Liber Pontificalis, vol. i, pp. 232, 235, and CMH., p. 418. Stress is rightly laid upon the fact that no mention is made of any miraculous fall of snow in Sixtus III’s inscription for the dedication of the basilica. Though the original has now perished, its text is well known, and has been reprinted, for example, from De Rossi’s Inscriptiones Christianae, vol. ii, pp. 75, 98, 139, in Duchesne’s footnote; see under St Sixtus III herein, on August 19.

August 5, 2008 Dedication of St. Mary Major Basilica
First raised at the order of Pope Liberius in the mid-fourth century, the Liberian Basilica was rebuilt by Pope Sixtus III shortly after the Council of Ephesus affirmed Mary’s title as Mother of God in 431. Rededicated at that time to the Mother of God, St. Mary Major is the largest church in the world honoring God through Mary. Standing atop one of Rome’s seven hills, the Esquiline, it has survived many restorations without losing its character as an early Roman basilica. Its interior retains three naves divided by colonnades in the style of Constantine’s era. Fifth-century mosaics on its walls testify to its antiquity.

St. Mary Major is one of the four Roman basilicas known as patriarchal cathedrals in memory of the first centers of the Church. St. John Lateran represents Rome, the See of Peter; St. Paul Outside the Walls, the See of Alexandria, allegedly the see presided over by Mark; St. Peter’s, the See of Constantinople; and St. Mary’s, the See of Antioch, where Mary is supposed to have spent most of her life.

One legend, unreported before the year 1000, gives another name to this feast: Our Lady of the Snows. According to that story, a wealthy Roman couple pledged their fortune to the Mother of God. In affirmation, she produced a miraculous summer snowfall and told them to build a church on the site. The legend was long celebrated by releasing a shower of white rose petals from the basilica’s dome every August 5.

Comment: Theological debate over Christ’s nature as God and man reached fever pitch in Constantinople in the early fifth century. A chaplain to Bishop Nestorius began preaching against the title Theotokos, “Mother of God,” insisting that the Virgin was mother only of the human Jesus. Nestorius agreed, decreeing that Mary would henceforth be named “Mother of Christ” in his see. The people of Constantinople virtually revolted against their bishop’s refutation of a cherished belief. When the Council of Ephesus refuted Nestorius, believers took to the streets, enthusiastically chanting, “Theotokos! Theotokos!” Quote: “From the earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honored under the title of Mother of God, in whose protection the faithful take refuge together in prayer in all their perils and needs. Accordingly, following the Council of Ephesus, there was a remarkable growth in the cult of the People of God towards Mary, in veneration and love, in invocation and imitation...” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 66).

544 St. Venantius Bishop of Viviers, France
He was the subject of a dubious biography, written in the twelfth century.
Venantius of Viviers B (AC). Saint Venantius is one of the most celebrated ancient bishops of Viviers, France. He life was not recorded until the 12th century and is worthless as a historical document (Benedictines).

642 St. Oswald King and martyr son of Ethelfrid, Ggrandson of Ida, Kingdom of Northumbria in 547 founder set up a cross of wood as his standard -- the first Christian symbol ever raised in Bernicia; limbs incorrupt in 12th century: see also August 09th

In Anglia sancti Oswáldi Regis, cujus gesta sanctus Beda Venerábilis commémorat.
In England, St. Oswald, king, whose life is related by St. Venerable Bede.

b., probably, 605; the second of seven brothers, sons of Ethelfrid, who was grandson of Ida, founder of the Kingdom of Northumbria in 547. Oswald's mother was Acha, daughter of Ella or Alla, who, after Ida's death, had seized Deira and thus separated it from the Northern Bernicia.
642 St Oswald Of Northumbria, Martyr
   After death of King St Edwin in the year 633 in battle against Penda and Cadwailon, Oswald, nephew of Edwin, prepared to regain possession of both parts of Northumbria; he had received Christianity with his whole heart and, far from forsaking Christ as his unhappy brothers had done to court the favour of his subjects, he wished to bring them to the spiritual kingdom of divine grace.
While Cadwallon ravaged the Northumbrian provinces, Oswald assembled what troops he was able, and marched confidently, though with a small force, against his enemy. In 634 battle was joined some three miles south of Hexham, near Rowley Burn. The evening before the engagement, the king caused a great wooden cross to be made, and he held it up whilst the hole dug in the earth to plant it in was filled up round the foot. When it was fixed, St Oswald cried out to his army (in which only a handful of individuals were Christians), "Let us now kneel down, and together pray to the almighty and only true God that He will mercifully defend us from our enemy; for He knows that we fight in defence of our lives and country".
   All the soldiers did as he commanded, and that same night Oswald had a vision wherein St Columba of Jona appeared to stretch his cloak over his sleeping troops and to promise them victory on the morrow.
And so it fell out. God blessed Oswald's faith and the superior forces of Cadwallon were muted and himself killed in the battle. It was a happy omen, says St Bede, that the place where this cross was set up was called in English Hefenfelth, that is. "Heaven field" (though doubtless in fact it was given that name later), because there was erected the first heavenly trophy of faith: before that time no church or altar was known to have been raised in the kingdom of the Bernicians. This cross of St Oswald was afterwards very famous.
In St Bede's time little chips of it were steeped in water, and drunk by sick persons, or sprinkled upon them, and many recovered their health. After death of King Oswald, the monks of Hexham used to come to the place on the day before the anniversary of his death, there to sing the night-office and to celebrate Mass the next morning. A church was built on the spot some time before Bede wrote.
St Oswald immediately set himself to restore good order throughout his dominions, and plant in them the faith of Christ. Naturally enough he looked not to Canterbury but to Scotland, where he had received the faith himself, for help in this task, and asked for a bishop and assistants by whose preaching the people whom he governed might be grounded in the Christian religion and receive baptism.
   St Aidan, a native of Ireland and a monk of Iona, was chosen for the arduous undertaking, and he by his mildness repaired the mischief done by another monk, sent before him, whose harshness had alienated many from the gospel which he professed to preach. The king bestowed on Aidan the isle of Lindisfarne for his episcopal see, and, before the bishop could sufficiently speak the English language, he would himself be his interpreter and explain his sermons and instructions to the people.
"From that time many of the Scots [Irish] came daily into Britain and preached the word with great devotion to those provinces of the English over which King Oswald reigned...Churches were built in a number of places; the people gladly gathered to hear the gospel; money and land were given by the king to build monasteries; and the English, high and low, were instructed by their Scottish teachers in the rules and observance of regular discipline, for most of them that came to preach were monks" (Bede).

Oswald, whilst he was governing his temporal kingdom, was intent to labour and pray also for an eternal crown; and by reason of his praying and giving thanks at all times, it is said that whenever he was sitting he would have his hands on his knees turned upwards, toward Heaven. The kingdom of Northumberland then extended as far as the Firth of Forth, and so great was his power that the other kings of England recognized in him some sort of nominal overlordship (bretwalda), so that St Adamnan, in his life of St Columba, styles him" Emperor of all Britain". Bede gives the following example of the charity of this great king amidst his prosperity.

One Easter day, whilst he was sitting down to dinner, an officer came in and told him there was a multitude of poor people at his gate, asking alms. The king sent them a large silver dish full of meat, and ordered the dish to be broken into small pieces and distributed among them. Upon this, St Aidan, who happened to be at table, taking him by the right hand, said, "May this hand never perish." After St Oswald's death his right arm was cut off and remained incorrupt at least till the time of Simeon of Durham (d.c. 1135), when it was kept at the minster of Peterborough.

St Oswald married Cyneburga, daughter of Cynegils, the first Christian king of Wessex; he stood sponsor for him at his baptism. They had one child, a son, Ethelwald, who became king of Deira and was little credit to his father.
When St Oswald had reigned some years war broke out with the pagan Penda of Mercia. Penda again allied himself with the Welsh and the struggle lasted until a decisive battle was fought at Maserfield (probably Oswestry in Shropshire). St Oswald met him with an inferior force, and was killed in the battle. When he saw himself surrounded with his enemies, he offered his last prayer for the souls of his soldiers, and it became a proverb: "O God, be merciful to their souls, as said Oswald when he fell."

He was slain in the thirty-eighth year of his age, on August 5, 642.

His relics were eventually distributed to various places and St Bede chronicles some of the many miracles of which they were the occasion; nor is it to be wondered at that the sick should be healed by him when dead, for while he lived he never ceased to provide for the poor and infirm.
St Oswald was formerly remembered as one of the great national heroes of England, and his veneration extended to Scotland, Ireland, Portugal, northern Italy, Bohemia, southern Germany and Switzerland, where he is patron of Zug. His memory is now somewhat dim but his feast is observed in several English dioceses and in Argyll (with a proper Mass) on August 9; and at Meissen and Trier. He is named in the Roman Martyrology on the 5th.

We know little of St Oswald beyond what has been recorded in Bede's Ecclesiastical History, bk iii, but C. Plummer gives (vol. ii, p. 161) a list of subsequent lives of the holy king. That by Drogo (eleventh century) is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, August,vol. ii; that by Reginald of Durham may be found in Arnold's edition of Simeon of Durham (Rolls Series). Plummer points out in detail (pp. 159-160) how widespread was the cultus of St Oswald in central Europe. Plummer's notes upon Bede's text are also valuable, as well as those in the edition of Mayor and Lumby (1881). For the Swiss cultus, see E. P. Baker`s article in Archaeologia, vol. xciii (1949), pp. 103-123, and for northern Italy, the same writer in Archaeologia, vol. xciv (1951), pp. 167-194.

The years of Oswald's youth were spent at home, as long as his father reigned, but when, in 617, Ethelfrid was slain in battle by Redwald, King of the East Angles, Oswald with his brothers fled for protection from Edwin, their uncle, Acha's brother, to the land of the Scots and were cared for at Columba's Monastery at Hii, or Iona. There they remained until Edwin's death in the battle of Heathfield (633). Eanfrid, his elder brother, then retuurned to accept the Kingdom of Deira, whilst Osric, cousin of Edwin, received Bernicia. The kingdom was thus again divided and both parts relapsed into paganism. In the following year Osric was slain in battle, and Eanfrid treacherously murdered by the British king, Cadwalla. Oswald thereupon came down from the North, and in 635 a small but resolute band gathered round him near the Roman Wall at a spot seven miles north of Hexham, afterwards known as Hevenfelt, or Heaven's Field. Here, encouraged by a vision and promise of victory from St. Columba, who shrouded with his mantle all his camp, Oswald set up a cross of wood as his standard -- the first Christian symbol ever raised in Bernicia -- and gave battle to the Britons, who were led, probably, by Cadwalla. The Britons were completely routed, and thenceforth could only act on the defensive.

Oswald's victory reunited the Northumbrian Kingdom not only because he delivered it from the humiliating yoke of the Mercians and Britons, but also because on his father's side he was a descendant of Ida of Bernicia and on his mother's of the royal house of Ella of Deira. Thus united, Northumbria could not fail to become the chief power in a confederation against Penda of Mercia and the Britons of Wales.
Oswald was thoroughly grounded in the principles of the Christian religion, and, though but twelve nobles with whom he returned from exile were Christians, far from abandoning his faith, his first care was to spread it among the Bernicians, thus confirming the political union effected by Edwin with a religious union unknown before. Edwin, it is true, had himself received the Faith in 627, through the influence of his wife Ethelburga, sister of the Kentish King, who had brought St. Paulinus to the North, but his example was followed only by the people of Deira.
Oswald, brought up in Columba's monastery at Iona, naturally looked to the North for missionaries. The first preacher who set forth soon returned, having found the Northumbrian people too barbarous and stubborn. Then Aidan was sent, "a man of singular meekness, piety and moderation", established his episcopal see at Lindisfarne, in 635. Oswald's zealous co-operation with the monk-bishop soon filled the land with churches and monasteries, and the church at York, begun by Edwin, was completed. Moreover, his wonderful humility in the midst of success, his charity, and his piety soon had their effect in turning his subjects from Woden to Christ. We are told that the king in his Court acted as the interpreter of the Irish missionaries who knew not the language of his thanes.

It was Oswald's work to add to the warlike glory of his father Ethelfrid and the wise administration of his uncle Edwin the moral power of Christianity, and to build up a great kingdom. Edwin had gathered the whole English race into one political body and was overlord of every English kingdom save that of Kent. The Venerable Bede (III, 6) says that Oswald had a greater dominion than any of his ancestors, and that "he brought under his sway all the nations and provinces of Britain, which are divided into four languages, namely the Britons, the Picts, the Scots, and the English". He had great power in the North-West, as far south as Chester and Lancashire, and was probably owned as overlord by the Welsh Kingdom of Strath Clyde, as well as by the Picts and Scots of Dalriada. In the East he was supreme in Lindsey, and the words of Bede seem to imply that he was overlord of Mercia, which was still ruled by Penda; but this could have been scarcely more than nominal. The West Saxons in the South, influenced by the fear of Penda, readily acknowledged Oswald, their allegiance being strengthened, in 635, by the conversion of King Cynegils, of Wessex, at whose baptism Oswald stood sponsor, and whose daughter he married. Both sovereigns then established Bishop Birinus at Dorchester.

This vast supremacy, extending from north to south, and broken only by Penda's kingdom in Mid-Britain and that of the East Angles, led Adamnan of Hii to call Oswald "The Emperor of the whole of Britain". Christianity seemed to be forming a network round the pagan Penda of Mercia. The kingdom of the East Angles, which was still Christian, but acknowledged Penda as overlord, was necessary to Oswald to maintain the connection between his dominions in the north and the south. War was therefore inevitable. At the battle of Maserfeld, said to be seven miles from Shrewsbury, "on the border of Wales, near Offa's dyke", Oswald was slain on 5 Aug., 642, and thus perished "the most powerful and most Christian King" in the eighth year of his reign and in the flower of his age. His last words were for the spiritual welfare of his soldiers, whence the proverb: "God have mercy on their souls, as said Oswald when he fell." His body was mutilated by Penda, and his limbs set up on stakes, where they remained a full year, until they were taken away by Oswy and given to the monks at Bardney in Lindsey. In the tenth century some of the bones were carried off by Ethelred and Ethelfleda of Mercia to St. Peter's, Gloucester. His head was taken from the battlefield to the church of St. Peter in the royal fortress at Bamborough, and was afterwards translated to Lindisfarne, where, for fear of the Danes, it was placed in 875 in the coffin of St. Cuthbert, which found its resting place at Durham in 998. It was in the coffin at the translation of St. Cuthbert in 1104, and was thought to be there when the tomb was opened in 1828. His arm and hand (or hands) were taken to Bamborough and perhaps afterwards removed to Peterborough, and were still incorrupt in the time of Symeon of Durham, early in the twelfth century. Reginald gives an account of his personal appearance: arms of great length and power, eyes bright blue, hair yellow, face long and beard thin, and his small lips wearing a kindly smile.

751 St. Abel Irish Archbishop and Benedictine abbot noted churchman, accompanying St. Boniface on his missions to the European Continent
Abel was probably born in Ireland, and was a noted churchman, accompanying St. Boniface on his missions to the European Continent. He was chosen as archbishop of Remis by Pope St. Zachary, a nomination ratified by the Council of Soissons in 744. However, a usurper named Milo occupied the see and would not relinquish it. Abel retired to a monastery at Lobbes, and was installed as abbot. He died there in the "odor of sanctity ."

St. Cantidius Martyr of Egypt with Cantidian and Sobel.
Item sanctórum Mártyrum Ægyptiórum Cantídii, Cantidiáni et Sobélis.
Also the holy martyrs Cantidius, Cantidian, and Sobel, Egyptians.

863 St. Theodoric Fr Bishop Bishop of Cambrai-Arras, France, from about 830.
Theodoric of Cambrai B (AC). Bishop of Cambrai-Arras from about 830 to 863 (Benedictines) .

1016 St. Gormcal Irish abbot of the monastery of Ardoilen in Galway
An Irish abbot of Ardoilen Abbey, in Galway, Ireland. He participated the monastic renaissance of that era. Gormgal (Gormcal) of Ardoilen, Abbot (AC) Died 1016. An Irish abbot of the monastery of Ardoilen in Galway (Benedictines).

1123 Sainted Theoktist, Bishop of Chernigov, prior to entering upon the cathedra-chair, pursued an ascetic life at the Kievo-Pechersk monastery.
He was among the number of the great startsi-elders, healing by prayer the Monk Nikita, afterwards Sainted Bishop of Novgorod (Comm. 31 January). In the year 1103 Saint Theoktist was made hegumen of the Kievo-Pechersk monastery. In the year 1108 he built on the means of pious prince Gleb Vseslavich a stone refectory. Saint Theoktist particularly insisted, that the name of the Monk Theodosii (Feodosii, Comm. 3 May), be included in the synodikon of the saints of all Russia. In the year 1110, on 11 February, there was an heavenly apparition at the Pechersk monastery: a pillar of fire from the ground to the sky appeared and lightning lighted up all the earth, and at the 1st hour of the night there was the crash of thunder; the fiery pillar stood over the stone refectory so that its cross was not visible; afterwards it proceeded to the church and settled over the grave of the Monk Theodosii, and then, turning to the East, it disappeared. "This was not a pillar of fire, but rather an angelic face, -- wrote the Monk Nestor the Chronicler, -- because an angel appears thus, when there is a pillar of fire, a flaming, as says the Prophet David: Who maketh His angels spirits and His servants flames of fire" (Ps. 103 [104]: 4). In the year 1113 Saint Theoktist was ordained Bishop of Chernigov. The PriestMartyr Monk Kuksha (Comm. 27 August), enlightening at this time the Vyatichi, belonging to the Chernigov diocese. On 2 May 1115 Saint Theoktist participated in the transfer of the relics of holy Princes Boris and Gleb to Vyshgorod, and later in Chernigov near his cathedral he consecrated a church in the name of the holy Princes Boris and Gleb, erected in the year 1120 by prince David of Chernigov. And to the noble Prince Passion-Bearers Boris and Gleb the saint made a sermon on the day of their memory. On 6 august 1123, the feast of the Transfiguration, Saint Theoktist died, and because of the feastday, his memory is made on 5 August. On one of the lists of the Saints it is said, that he was buried at the Pechersk monastery. For the memory of Saint Theoktist believers resort also to 28 September, when he is remembered in the 9th ode of the Canon of the Sobor-Assemblage of the Monastic Fathers of the Nearer Caves.

1628 The Monk Job of Ushel'sk was a monk of the Solovetsk monastery a saint of God began soon after his death, because of numerous miracles (in the XVII Century about 50 such were known of)
His father was named Patrikii Mazovsky.
On 10 November 1608 he was ordained to the dignity of priestmonk by the Novgorod metropolitan Isidor. In 1614 the Monk Job was sent to the Mezensk frontier, where at the confluence into the River Mezen' of the Rivers Ezeg and Vazhka he set up a chapel in honour of the Nativity of Christ. The first monks gathering to him lived at the homes of their own lay-kinsmen, so poor was the monastery. After tsar Mikhail Feodorovich (1613-1645) conferred lands with fishing rights, the monk built a church and monastic cells. On 5 August 1628, when all the brethren were off making hay, robbers attacked the monastery. After terrible tortures in their demands for him to open the monastery treasury, the robbers beheaded the Monk Job. Finding nothing at all, they fled. The brethren upon returning buried the body of the monkmartyr with honour. Local reverence of the Monk Job as a saint of God began soon after his death, because of numerous miracles (in the XVII Century about 50 such were known of). The first icon was written in 1658, and his vita-life in the 1660's. And about this time a chapel was built over the relics of the monk, and rebuilt afterwards by blessing of the Kholmogorsk archbishop Athanasii as a church in honour of the same-name saint Righteous Job the Much-Suffering (Comm. 6 May; and on this day the Church has established to also remember the Monk Job of Ushel'sk). On 3 November 1739 the relics of the Monk Job were witnessed to by archbishop Varsonophii, with in evidence the singing of a molieben to the saint. Thus there was made his glorification. The image of the Monk Job is written thus: "Similarly greyed, a beard like Alexander of Svirsk, in the garb of the monastic schemamonk, and in his hands a scroll upon which is written: "Fear not those murdering of the body, the soul they cannot kill"".

1960 Saint John the Chozebite; lived in Bethlehem near St Sava's Monastery10 yrs; lived in Bethlehem near St Sava's Monastery; On August 8, 1980 his relics were found incorrupt and fragrant.
The son of Maxim and Catherine Jacob, was born July 23, 1913 in the Horodistea district of Moldavia. He was named for the holy prophet Elias (July 20). In 1914, his father died in the war, and his mother succumbed to a disease, leaving Elias as an orphan. His grandmother Maria raised him until he was eleven. She was a nun, so she was able to educate him in spiritual matters. She died in 1924, so young Elias went to live with other relatives. He had a great love for Christ and His Church, and longed for the monastic life.

He entered Neamts Monastery on August 15, 1933 when he was twenty years old. Here his soul was nourished by the beauty of the services, the experienced spiritual instructors, and the silence of the mountains. The young monk loved prayer, vigils, spiritual reading, and solitude, and soon he surpassed many experienced monks in obedience, humility, and patience. Seeing his great love for spiritual books, the igumen made him the monastery's librarian. Elias gave comfort to many of the brethren by recommending specific books for each one to read. Then he would advise them to read the book carefully, make their confession, and not miss the services if they wanted to find peace.

His spiritual efforts attracted the notice of Archimandrite Valerie Moglan, who recommended that Elias be permitted to receive monastic tonsure. He was tonsured on April 8, 1936 and received the name John. From that time, the young monk intensified his spiritual efforts, conquering the temptations of the demons, and progressing on the path of salvation.

St John made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with two other monks in 1936, and they decided to remain there. The monk Damascene fell ill, however, and had to be taken back to Romania by the monk Claudius after eight months.

At first, St John lived in Bethlehem near St Sava's Monastery. Romanian monks had lived at St Sava's since the sixteenth century, and John struggled there for almost ten years. He was made librarian of the monastery, and he fulfilled this obedience for about seven years.

In 1945 St John longed for the peace and solitude of the desert, and so he went to live as a hermit. He was ordained as a priest in 1947, and Pilgrims often came to him for Confession, Communion, and consolation. In his free time he composed religious poems and hymns.

After five years, he and his disciple went into the desert of Chozeba near Jehrico. Here they lived in asceticism for eight years in the cave where, according to Tradition, St Anna had prayed.

St John Jacob died on August 5, 1960 at the age of forty-seven and was buried in his cave. On August 8, 1980 his relics were found incorrupt and fragrant. They now rest in the St George the Chozebite Monastery.

In 1968 and 1970, St John's book SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT was published in two volumes, with the blessing of Patriarch Benedict of Jerusalem. St John Jacob was glorified by the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1992.

To Save A Life is Earthly; To Save A Soul is Eternal

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 26

Incline thine ear, O Lady, and hear me: turn thy face to me, and have mercy on me.

May the inflowing of thy sweetness delight the souls of the saints:
and the infusion of thy charity be sweet above the sweetest honey.

The resplendence of thy glory enlightens the mind: and the light of thy mercies leads to salvation.

The fountain of thy goodness inebriates the thirsty: and the aspect of thy countenance draws men away from sin.

To know thee and to learn thee is the root of immortality: and to declare thy virtues is the way of salvation.

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 heaven: only 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 html Indulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East Lourdes 1858 China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine Loreto, Italy Marian Apparitions (over 2000) Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related MarianWebsites Angels and Archangels Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell
Widowed Saints html
Doctors_of_the_Church Acts_Of_The_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates Chalcedon

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

The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him” For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.

Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here} 2000 years of the Catholic Church in China
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos Practical Guide to Holiness

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

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not

O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I beg the conversion of poor sinners, Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace

The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.

THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.

These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.

As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.
Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.

Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.

The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means. 5. The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven. 11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12. I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14. All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.

Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac

The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.

Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).

In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).

In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian.

In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides. Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicæa (325). The “Peregrinatio Silviæ” (or Etheriæ) (ed. Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq.) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.

Although Hebrew had been the language of the ancient Israelite kingdom, after their return from Exile the Jews turned more and more to Aramaic, using it for parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel in the Bible. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the main language of Palestine, and quite a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are also written in Aramaic.

Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.

After Arab conquests of the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language of those who converted to Islam, although in out of the way places, Aramaic continued as a vernacular language of Muslims.

Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen); to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints. Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine. The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches. The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice." According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates. Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor. Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.

Meeting of the Saints walis (saints of Allah)

Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.

So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life. But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddi n 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

Index to Part I and Part II 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 Indulgences 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}.

Saints Simon (saw), Bartholomew (knife), James the Lesser (book), John (eagle), Andrew (transverse cross), Peter keys), Paul (sword), James the Greater (staff), Thomas (carpenter's square), Philip (serpent), Matthew (book), and Jude sword

Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.

By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.

By Father John Corapi

Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

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

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

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

Talk is weak. Prayer is strong. Pray! God bless you, Father John Corapi

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

About Father John Corapi.

Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .

The pillars of father's preaching are basically:

Love for and a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ
Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.

Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

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

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.

Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”

Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

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

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.

Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.

Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.

Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.

Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

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

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

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

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

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.

Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

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

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.

Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”

Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

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

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.

Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.

Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.

Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.

Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

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

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

***
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 Paqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).

LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000) India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858
China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related Marian Websites Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates, PSALTER BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 26 2023