Mary Mother of GOD 
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
RDeo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
August is the month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary;
2023
21,090  Lives Saved Since 2007

CAUSES OF SAINTS

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

Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China

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

The Transfiguration of Jesus an event reported by Synoptic Gospels in which Jesus is transfigured upon a mountain



15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

The Blessed Virgin Protects Karol Wojtyla 
The Transfiguration
The 6th of August 1944, the feast of the Transfiguration, will be remembered at Krakow as Black Sunday: the Gestapo were combing the city, picking up young people to prevent a repeat of the Warsaw uprising.
Archbishop Sapieha immediately summoned the members of the secret seminaries so as to hide them at his residence. (...) When he arrived, Malinski's first question was "Is Karol Wojtyla here?" Yes he was, although during the previous day's raid, the Gestapo had searched the first two floors of #10, Tyniecka. Karol remained behind a locked door in his basement flat, his heart pounding, praying for his deliverance. And the Germans left empty-handed.
George Weigel, John Paul II Witness to Hope (JC Lattès)

Mary's Divine Motherhood

The dogs suddenly stopped and lay down on the snow
One morning around 10 o’clock, in a concentration camp in Ukraine during WWII, 2,000 prisoners were immobilized in the central area of the camp under the surveillance of machine guns. The chief, a man called Naplouef, had ten frail, bare foot and scantily clad nuns brought to the front. "Citizens," he declared, "you must sign this denial of your faith or you will turn into ice blocks in twenty minutes."
"Our conscience does not permit us." - "Well," Naplouef answered, "we have plenty of time."
The nuns went down on their knees in the snow and began reciting the Rosary aloud.
Thirty minutes went by, and the nuns were still praying and kneeling in the snow.
Naplouef, frustrated, cried out: "If you don’t sign in five minutes, we will release the dogs on you."
The nuns, then, started singing the Creed with all their might.
Naplouef released the dogs in the direction of the nuns who continued singing.
However, when the dogs were about two meters away from the nuns, they suddenly stopped and lay down on the snow like sheep. A great clamor rose from the ranks of the prisoners, like a hearty cry of deliverance:
"It’s a miracle! It’s a miracle! Glory to the brave nuns! Shame on their executioners!"

 
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

Aug. 6 - Our Lady of Copacabana (Bolivia)
Nuestra Señora of Copacabana
In Bolivia, the original Shrine of Copacabana does not suggest joyous social life; it spells a wonderful story of faith and love. The tiny cove of Copacabana lies on a peninsula overlooking Lake Titicaca. The name means "one who looks at the precious stone," because in the distance stretches the majestic, ice-capped mountain of the Cordillera of the Andes. This is where devotion to the "Most Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of Copacabana," originated.

The statue of the Virgin Mary stands four feet tall and is made of plaster and fiber from the maguey tree, completely covered with gold leaf, except for the face and hands; the garments reproduce the colors and dress of an Incan princess. Her soft expression-and that of the Child she holds as if he were about to fall - recall the features of the inhabitants of the region. The original shape is permanently hidden by rich robes and cloaks, and the carved hair has been covered by a wig. The image never leaves the basilica; a copy is used for processions.

The statue is the work of Francisco Yupanqui, a descendant of the Inca Huayna Capac, who fervently desired that his town be dedicated to Our Lady. His inexperienced efforts were rejected by his townspeople, who laughed at him in scorn, for Francisco knew nothing about art and his statue proved it. Finally after months of disappointments and perseverance, he produced this image of the Virgin which was humbly enthroned in a poor adobe church on February 21, 1583, making it one of the oldest Marian sanctuaries in the Americas.

Over the centuries devout people showered the shrine with valuable jewels, but the treasures were later looted by presidents, dictators and generals. Francisco entered a monastery where he died a happy, holy death. Many legends grew up around his statue; it is said that if you look at her and think her beautiful, that is a sign that you are in her favor; if not your soul is ugly. Many cures and miracles have been attributed to this Virgin, the greatest, that of the faith of Francisco Yupanqui and the faith of the millions of Indians who came after him.

Presently the image, which the Indians call "La Coyeta," has rich jewels on her neck, hands and ears,
the gifts of her devotees. In her right hand she holds a straw basket and a baton, the gift and souvenir of the visit of the viceroy of Peru in 1669. Today's shrine dates from 1805.
The image was crowned during the reign of Pope Pius XI, and its shrine was elevated to a basilica in 1949.
Adapted from http://www.marypages.com/LadyCopacabana.htm

The Transfiguration of Jesus an event reported by Synoptic Gospels in which Jesus is transfigured upon a mountain
        Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ
 258 Pope St. Sixtus II martyr  a good and peaceful priest (bonus et pacificus sacerdos)
 258 St. Agapitus matyred and five other deacons-Felicissimus, Januarius, Magnus, Stephen, and Vincent
304 Saints Justus and Pastor are venerated as Christian martyrs Alcala and Madrid in Spain share two child patrons
 500  St. James the Syrian recluse in Mesopotamia where he was greatly revered for his penitential practices and miracles.
 514 St. Hormisdas Pope successor to St. Symmachus, ended Acacian Schism which had divided the Eastern and Western Churches since 484
       At Bologna, the birthday of St. Dominic, confessor, founder of the Order of Friars Preachers
 8th century More than two hundred Benedictine monks Martyrs of Cardena
St. Dominic the birthday of Patron of Astronomers b. 1170 d. 1221. 

The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported by the Synoptic Gospels in which Jesus is transfigured upon a mountain  (Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36).
< Mount_of_transfiguration.JPG

Catholic church
In the Catholic church, the Transfiguration was once celebrated locally in various parts of the Catholic world on different days, including August 6, but was not universally recognized. In 1456, the Kingdom of Hungary repulsed an Ottoman invasion of the Balkans by breaking the Siege of Belgrade. News of the victory arrived in Rome on August 6. Given the importance to international politics at that time of such battles between Christian and Muslim nations, in celebration of the victory Pope Callixtus III elevated the Transfiguration to a Feast day to be celebrated in the entire Catholic Church.
In 2002, Pope John Paul II selected the Transfiguration as one of the five Luminous Mysteries of the rosary.

 Jesus becomes radiant, speaks with Moses and Elijah, and is called "Son" by God. Peter, James and John were with Jesus upon the mountain. The transfiguration put Jesus above Moses and Elijah, the two preeminent figures of Judaism. It also supports his identity as the Son of God. In keeping with the Messianic secret, Jesus tells the witnesses (Peter, James, son of Zebedee and John the Apostle) not to tell others what they saw until He has risen on the third day after his death on the cross.

The principal account is that in the Synoptic Gospels; 2 Peter and the Gospel of John may also briefly allude to the event (2 Peter 1:16-18, John 1:14).[citation needed] Peter describes himself as an eyewitness "of his sovereign majesty." None of the accounts identifies the "high mountain" of the scene by name. The earliest identification of the mountain as Mount Tabor is in the 5th century Transitus Beatae Mariae Virginis. RT France notes that Mount Hermon is closest to Caesarea Philippi, mentioned in the previous chapter of Matthew.

In the narrative, after the voice speaks, Elijah and Moses have disappeared, and Jesus and the three Apostles head down the mountain, Jesus telling his Apostles to keep the event a secret until the "Son of Man" had risen from the dead. The Apostles are described as questioning among themselves as to what Jesus meant by "risen from the dead" (Mark 9:9-10) The Apostles are also described as questioning Jesus about Elijah, and He as responding "...Elijah comes first, and restores all things ... but ... Elijah has come indeed ..." (Mark 9:12-13). It was commonly believed that Elijah would reappear before the coming of the Messiah, as predicted in the Book of Malachi (Malachi 4), and the three Apostles are described as interpreting Jesus' statement as a reference to John the Baptist.(Matthew 17:13)

Symbolic readings take Moses and Elijah to represent the Law and the Prophets respectively, and their recognition of and conversation with Jesus symbolize how Jesus fulfils "the law and the prophets" (Matthew 5:17-19, see Expounding of the Law).
In general, the events in Jesus's life that are said to have taken place in secret, such as the transfiguration, are given less weight by scholars of the historical Jesus than public events.
In Catharism transfiguration is meant as personal transformation and evolution as opposed to referring to an actual Jesus. The meaning is esoteric.
Maximus the Confessor said that the senses of the apostles were likewise transfigured to enable them to perceive the true glory of Christ.

THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
OUR divine Redeemer, in order to show that the sufferings of His servants are usually intermingled with spiritual comforts and to give us a sensible demonstration of the truth of His promises of an eternal glory reserved for us in the world to come, was pleased to manifest His majesty in the mystery of the Transfiguration.
Being in Galilee about a year before His passion, He chose to be witnesses of His glory the same three beloved disciples who were afterward to be witnesses of His agony in the garden, namely St Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee, SS. James and John. He took three, that their evidence might be unexceptionable; but He would not publicly show His glory, to teach His followers to love the closest secrecy in all spiritual graces and favours.
Practices contrary to this are suggested by self-love, not by the spirit of God; they are a disguised pride and a dangerous illusion. Every true servant of God loves to be hidden; his motto, even when he most warmly invites all creatures to magnify the Lord with him, is: “My secret to myself, my secret to myself” (Isaias xxiv 16). He fears lest he should be at all considered or thought of in what belongs purely to God alone. Jesus therefore showed this miracle in retirement, and He led these three apostles to a lonely mountain, as He was accustomed to go often to some solitude to pray.

The tradition of the Christians in Palestine, of which St Cyril of Jerusalem, St John Damascene, and other fathers speak, assures us that this was Mount Tabor, which rises, something like a sugar-loaf, in the middle of Galilee. This was the place in which the God-man appeared in His glory. He was transfigured whilst at prayer, because it is usually then that the soul receives the dew of divine consolations, and tastes how infinitely sweet God is to those who sincerely seek Him.
Many Christians indeed are strangers to this effect of prayer because they do not apply themselves to it with perseverance and fervour, or neglect to disengage their affections from creatures by humility, self-denial and mortification of the senses.
Without purity of heart no man shall see God; but a Christian worthily disposed and fitted by the Holy Ghost to receive the spirit of prayer purifies his love more and more, transforms his affections, and renders them ever more spiritual and heavenly. Of this, the transfiguration of our Lord was, among other transcending prerogatives, a most noble and supereminent prototype.
In the East the tendency to commemorate incidents of the gospel history by special feasts is more pronounced than in the Western church, and it is probable that we must look there for the earliest traces of such a celebration as the present. What is certain is that the Transfiguration was widely and solemnly honoured in the Byzantine church on August 6 before the year 1000. See the Synaxarium Constant., edited by Delehaye, p. 897, and Nilles, Kalendarium Manuale, vol. i, pp. 235—238. The feast seems to have been adopted sporadically and on different days by certain local churches in the West, but it did not become of general observance until Pope Callistus III, to commemorate the victory gained over the Turks in 1456 by G. Hunyady and St John of Capistrano, required the Transfiguration to be everywhere honoured on this day. See F. G. Holweck, Calendarium festorum Dei et Dei Matris (1925), pp. 258—259.
In the Syriac Orthodox, Indian Orthodox, New Calendarist Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican churches, the Feast of the Transfiguration is observed on 6 August and is considered a major feast, numbered among the twelve Great Feasts in Orthodoxy. In all three churches, if the feast falls on a Sunday, its liturgy takes the place of the Sunday liturgy. In some liturgical calendars (e.g. the Lutheran) the last Sunday in the Epiphany season (that immediately preceding Ash Wednesday) is also devoted to this event. In the Church of Sweden and the Church of Finland, however, the Feast is celebrated on the Seventh Sunday after Trinity, i e the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost.
transfiguration_theophanes.jpeg
Eastern Orthodox practices
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, grapes are traditionally brought to church to be blessed after the Divine Liturgy on this day If grapes are not available in the area, apples or some other fruit may be brought. This begins the "Blessing of First Fruits" for the year. The Transfiguration falls during the Dormition Fast, but the consumption of fish, wine and oil is allowed on this day in recognition of the feast. The Transfiguration is the second of the "Three Feasts of the Saviour in August", the other two being the Procession of the Cross on August 1 and the Icon of Christ Not Made by Hand on August 16. The Orthodox view the Transfiguration is of a feast not only in honor of Jesus, but a feast of the Holy Trinity, for all three persons were supposedly present: God the Father spoke from heaven; God the Son was the one being transfigured, and God the Holy Spirit was present in the form of a cloud. In this sense, the transfiguration is also considered the "Small Epiphany", (the "Great Epiphany" being that of the Baptism, where the Holy Trinity appears in a similar pattern).

August 6, 2010 Transfiguration of the Lord 
All three Synoptic Gospels tell the story of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-9; Luke 9:28-36). With remarkable agreement, all three place the event shortly after Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus' first prediction of his passion and death. Peter's eagerness to erect tents or booths on the spot suggests it occurred during the Jewish weeklong, fall Feast of Booths.

In spite of the texts' agreement, it is difficult to reconstruct the disciples' experience, according to Scripture scholars, because the Gospels draw heavily on Old Testament descriptions of the Sinai encounter with God and prophetic visions of the Son of Man. Certainly Peter, James and John had a glimpse of Jesus' divinity strong enough to strike fear into their hearts. Such an experience defies description, so they drew on familiar religious language to describe it. And certainly Jesus warned them that his glory and his suffering were to be inextricably connected—a theme John highlights throughout his Gospel.

Tradition names Mt. Tabor as the site of the revelation. A church first raised there in the fourth century was dedicated on August 6. A feast in honor of the Transfiguration was celebrated in the Eastern Church from about that time. Western observance began in some localities about the eighth century.

On July 22, 1456, Crusaders defeated the Turks at Belgrade. News of the victory reached Rome on August 6, and Pope Callistus III placed the feast on the Roman calendar the following year.

Comment: One of the Transfiguration accounts is read on the second Sunday of Lent each year, proclaiming Christ's divinity to catechumens and baptized alike. The Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent, by contrast, is the story of the temptation in the desert—affirmation of Jesus' humanity. The two distinct but inseparable natures of the Lord were a subject of much theological argument at the beginning of the Church's history; it remains hard for believers to grasp.
Quote: "At his Transfiguration Christ showed his disciples the splendor of his beauty, to which he will shape and color those who are his: 'He will reform our lowness configured to the body of his glory'" (Philippians 3:21) (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae).
258 Pope St. Sixtus II martyr  a good and peaceful priest (bonus et pacificus sacerdos) (XYSTUS).
Romæ, via Appia, in cœmetério Callísti, natális beáti Xysti Secúndi, Papæ et Mártyris, qui in persecutióne Valeriáni, gládio animadvérsus, martyrii corónam accépit.
    At Rome, on the Appian Way, in the cemetery of Callistus, the birthday of blessed Sixtus II, pope and martyr, who received the crown of martyrdom in the persecution of Valerian by being put to the sword.


Ss. Sixtus II, Felicissimus and Agapitus, With Their Companions, Martyrs
Sixtus succeeded Pope St Stephen I in the year 257. In continuation of the dispute begun under Stephen, St Dionysius of Alexandria consulted him by three  letters on certain difficulties, and recommended him to bear a little while with the Africans and some among the Asiatics with regard to their error concerning the validity of baptism given by heretics. Accordingly this pope was indulgent towards them, contenting himself with strongly recommending the truth; his successors pursued the same conduct till the error that heretical baptisms are invalid was condemned in the plenary council mentioned by St Augustine. St Sixtus is referred to by Pontius, the biographer of St Cyprian, as a “good and peaceable priest”.

The Emperor Valerian published his first decree against the Christians in 257, which was followed by the martyrdom of many. The persecution grew more fierce in the following year, the effect of which St Cyprian notified within a month or two to his fellow bishops in Africa:

“Valerian has sent an order to the senate, importing that bishops, priests and deacons should forthwith die...You are to understand that Sixtus suffered in a cemetery upon the sixth day of August, and with him four deacons. The officers of Rome are very keen upon this persecution; and the persons who are brought before them are sure to suffer, and to forfeit their estates to the exchequer. Pray notify these particulars to my colleagues, that so our brethren may everywhere be prepared for their great conflict: that we may all think rather of immortality than death, and derive more joy than fear from this confession, in which we know that the soldiers of Christ are properly not killed but crowned.”

St Sixtus suffered in a cemetery, for Christians in times of persecution resorted to those subterraneous caverns to celebrate the divine Mysteries. Here they met, though Valerian had forbidden them to hold assemblies, and here they were hunted out. Sixtus was seized while seated in his chair, addressing the assembly, and was either beheaded immediately or hurried off to a court for sentence and then brought back for execution. He was buried in the cemetery of St Callistus on the Appian Way, across the road from the cemetery of Praetextatus in which he was taken, and a hundred years later Pope St Damasus wrote an inscription for his tomb. St Sixtus was the most highly venerated among the popes martyred after St Peter, and he is named in the canon of the Mass.

Four deacons, SS. Januarius, Vincent, Magnus and Stephen, who were seized with St Sixtus, suffered with him; two others, SS. Felicissimus and Agapitus, were martyred probably on the same day. The last two were buried in the cemetery of Praetextatus. The seventh deacon of the City, St Laurence, followed them four days later, as St Sixtus is said to have foretold.

The body of evidence which attests the fact that St Sixtus suffered on August 6 and was buried in the catacomb of Callistus is remarkably early and conclusive. In CMH. (pp. 420—421) this evidence has been most effectively summarized. A misunderstood phrase in one of Damasus’s inscriptions apparently led Prudentius into the erroneous belief that Sixtus was crucified; but he was put to death by the sword. Further, the Liber Pontificalis is wrong in stating that the “four deacons as well as Felicissimus and Agapitus were buried in Praetextatus; see Duchesne’s notes (vol. i, pp. 155—156), and P. Franchi de’ Cavalieri in Studi e Testi, vol. vi, pp. 147—178. On the other hand, the supposed Passio S. Sixiti, in all its recensions, is a historically worthless document. See also Analecta Bollandiana, vol. Ii (1933), pp. 43—49.

Elected 31 Aug., 257, martyred at Rome, 6 Aug., 258. His origin is unknown. The "Liber Pontificalis" says that he was a Greek by birth, but this is probably a mistake, originating from the false assumption that he was identical with a Greek philosopher of the same name, who was the author of the so-called "Sentences" of Xystus. During the pontificate of his predecessor, St. Stephen, a sharp dispute had arisen between Rome and the African and Asiatic Churches, concerning the rebaptism of heretics, which had threatened to end in a complete rupture between Rome and the Churches of Africa and Asia Minor (see SAINT CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE). Sixtus II, whom Pontius (Vita Cyprian, cap. xiv) styles a good and peaceful priest (bonus et pacificus sacerdos), was more conciliatory than St. Stephen and restored friendly relations with these Churches, though, like his predecessor, he upheld the Roman usage of not rebaptizing heretics.

Shortly before the pontificate of Sixtus II the Emperor Valerian issued his first edict of persecution, which made it binding upon the Christians to participate in the national cult of the pagan gods and forbade them to assemble in the cemeteries, threatening with exile or death whomsoever was found to disobey the order. In some way or other, Sixtus II managed to perform his functions as chief pastor of the Christians without being molested by those who were charged with the execution of the imperial edict. But during the first days of August, 258, the emperor issued a new and far more cruel edict against the Christians, the import of which has been preserved in a letter of St. Cyprian to Successus, the Bishop of Abbir Germaniciana (Ep. lxxx). It ordered bishops, priests, and deacons to be summarily put to death ("episcopi et presbyteri et diacones incontinenti animadvertantur"). Sixtus II was one of the first to fall a victim to this imperial enactment ("Xistum in cimiterio animadversum sciatis VIII. id. Augusti et cum eo diacones quattuor"—Cyprian, Ep. lxxx). In order to escape the vigilance of the imperial officers he assembled his flock on 6 August at one of the less-known cemeteries, that of Prætextatus, on the left side of the Appian Way, nearly opposite the cemetery of St. Callistus. While seated on his chair in the act of addressing his flock he was suddenly apprehended by a band of soldiers. There is some doubt whether he was beheaded forthwith, or was first brought before a tribunal to receive his sentence and then led back to the cemetery for execution. The latter opinion seems to be the more probable.

The inscription which Pope Damasus (366-84) placed on his tomb in the cemetery of St. Callistus may be interpreted in either sense. The entire inscription is to be found in the works of St. Damasus (P.L., XIII, 383-4, where it is wrongly supposed to be an epitaph for Pope Stephen I), and a few fragments of it were discovered at the tomb itself by de Rossi (Inscr. Christ., II, 108). The "Liber Pontificalis" mentions that he was led away to offer sacrifice to the gods ("ductus ut sacrificaret demoniis"—I, 155). St. Cyprian states in the above-named letter, which was written at the latest one month after the martyrdom of Sixtus, that "the prefects of the City were daily urging the persecution in order that, if any were brought before them, they might be punished and their property confiscated". The pathetic meeting between St. Sixtus II and St. Lawrence, as the former was being led to execution, of which mention is made in the unauthentic "Acts of St. Lawrence" as well as by St. Ambrose (Officiorum, lib. I, c. xli, and lib. II, c. xxviii) and the poet Prudentius (Peristephanon, II), is probably a mere legend. Entirely contrary to truth is the statement of Prudentius (ibid., lines 23-26) that Sixtus II suffered martyrdom on the cross, unless by an unnatural trope the poet uses the specific word cross ("Jam Xystus adfixus cruci") for martyrdom in general, as Duchesne and Allard (see below) suggest. Four deacons, Januarius, Vincentius, Magnus, and Stephanus, were apprehended with Sixtus and beheaded with him at the same cemetery. Two other deacons, Felicissimus and Agapitus, suffered martyrdom on the same day. The feast of St. Sixtus II and these six deacons is celebrated on 6 August, the day of their martyrdom. The remains of Sixtus were transferred by the Christians to the papal crypt in the neighbouring cemetery of St. Callistus. Behind his tomb was enshrined the bloodstained chair on which he had been beheaded. An oratory (Oratorium Xysti) was erected above the cemetery of St. Prætextatus, at the spot where he was martyred, and was still visited by pilgrims of the seventh and the eighth century.

For some time Sixtus II was believed to be the author of the so-called "Sentences", or "Ring of Sixtus", originally written by a Pythagorean philosopher and in the second century revised by a Christian. This error arose because in his introduction to a Latin translation of these "Sentences". Rufinus ascribes them to Sixtus of Rome, bishop and martyr. It is certain that Pope Sixtus II is not their author (see Conybeare, "The Ring of Pope Xystus now first rendered into English, with an historical and critical commentary", London, 1910). Harnack (Texte und Untersuchungen zur altchrist. Literatur, XIII, XX) ascribes to him the treatise "Ad Novatianum", but his opinion has been generally rejected (see Rombold in "Theol. Quartalschrift", LXXII, Tübingen, 1900). Some of his letters are printed in P.L., V, 79-100. A newly discovered letter was published by Conybeare in "English Hist. Review", London, 1910.

258 St. Agapitus matyred and five other deacons-Felicissimus, Januarius, Magnus, Stephen, and Vincent.  
Item Romæ sanctórum Mártyrum Felicíssimi et Agapíti, ipsíus beáti Xysti Diaconórum; Januárii, Magni, Vincéntii et Stéphani, Subdiaconórum.  Hi omnes, una cum eódem Pontífice páriter decolláti sunt, atque in Prætextáti cœmetério sepúlti.  Passus est étiam cum eis beátus Quartus, ut scribit sanctus Cypriánus.
    Also, the holy martyrs Felicissimus and Agapitus, deacons of blessed Sixtus; Januarius, Magnus, Vincent, and Stephen, subdeacons, all of whom were beheaded with him and buried in the cemetery of Praetextatus.  With them suffered also blessed Quartus, as is related by St. Cyprian, Deacon, and companion of Pope Sixtus II in death. He was with the pope when seized during the persecutions of Emperor Valerian. Agapitus and five other deacons-Felicissimus, Januarius, Magnus, Stephen, and Vincent- were martyred.
304 Saints Justus and Pastor are venerated as Christian martyrs Alcala and Madrid in Spain share two child patrons
Complúti, in Hispánia, sanctórum Mártyrum Justi et Pastóris fratrum, qui, cum adhuc púeri lítteris imbueréntur, sponte ad martyrium, projéctis in schola tábulis, cucurrérunt; et mox, a Daciáno Præside tenéri jussi et fústibus cædi, ambo, extra civitátem perdúcti sunt, et ibi a carnífice juguláti.
    At Alcala in Spain, the holy martyrs Justus and Pastor, brothers.  While they were yet schoolboys, they threw aside their books in school, and spontaneously ran to martyrdom.  By order of the governor Dacian, they were arrested, beaten with rods, and as they exhorted each other to constancy, were led out of the city, and had their throats cut by the executioner.

304 Ss. Justus and Pastor, Martyrs
THEY were two brothers who, while still schoolboys, overcame with heroic courage the rage and power of Dacian, governor of Spain under Diocletian and Maximian.

In his progress through his province in search of the servants of God, he arrived at Complutum, now called Alcalà de Henares, and began to put to the torture the Christians that were brought before him. Justus and Pastor, children who were then learning their elements in the public school of that city (the one being thirteen, the other only nine years old), hearing of the torments which were inflicted on the followers of Christ, were fired to have a share in their triumphs. They threw down their books, ran to the place where the governor was interrogating the confessors, and by their behaviour showed the faith which they professed. They were soon taken notice of and presented to the judge. He, instead of being touched, was furious to see children brave his power and authority and, not doubting that a little correction would dispel their courage, commanded them to be severely whipped. This was executed in the most barbarous manner; but He who makes the tongues of infants eloquent in His praise, gave them strength to defy their tormentors. The spectators were filled with astonishment to see the con­stancy with which in their turn they encouraged each other to be brave for Christ. Dacian, to cover his shame, gave an order that they should be at once beheaded. Their relics are enshrined at Alcalà, of which city and Madrid they are the patrons.

Whatever may be thought of the value of the reputed “acts”, printed by the Bollandists under August 6, there can be no question as to the genuineness and antiquity of the cultus of these saints. St Paulinus of Nola had his little son buried close beside them at Alcalà

Prudentius numbers them among the most glorious martyrs of Spain. Their names also are recorded in the “Hieronymianum”, on August 25. See the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. ii.

Many cities have their own patron saints. Venice has St. Mark; Strasbourg, St. Fridolin; Paris, St. Genevieve; Chester (England), St. Werburga. These ancient patrons are usually adult saints. However, Alcala and Madrid in Spain share two child patrons, the brothers Justus and Pastor. When they were executed, Justus was thirteen; Pastor was nine. The story of their martyrdom, as it comes down to us (perhaps imperfectly), is as follows: Diocletian and Maximian Hercules, Roman co-emperors around 300 AD, authorized the last great Roman persecution of Christians. Their prefect (governor) in Spain, a man named Dacian, carried out the imperial edicts with pagan zeal, touring Spain in search of Christians so that he might convert or erase them. The governor's tour brought him to Complutum, an old Roman city called today Alcala de Henares, which is not far from the present Madrid. The Complutensian Christians were rooted out by the police and brought before his tribunal for judgement.

Among the Christian children of Alcala there were two little brothers, Justus and Pastor. Their family background is unknown, but they must have come from educated and devoutly Christian stock. They were in class at the elementary school at the time of Dacian's arrival. Learning of what was happening at the governor's court to their grown-up fellow Christians, they burned with a desire to share in their witness to the faith. So they threw down their books and writing tablets and ran off to the place where Dacian had set up his public tribunal. With boyish enthusiasm they elbowed their way up to where the adult Christians were on trial, caught the eye of the civil officials, and made it quite clear to them that they, too, where Christians and not afraid to suffer for it.

The police eventually brought the lads up in front of where Dacian sat. Had he been a man of heart, he could have been touched at the sight of the innocent heroism of the young brothers. Being without compassion, he was simply annoyed with the boys for their intrusion. Sassy kids who trivialized the dignity of an imperial prefect deserved punishment. A good whipping, he thought, would destroy their "courage;" so he ordered them to be given a beating. The whippers laid on brutally, but with the strokes the boys' commitment to their faith grew stronger, rather than weaker. Amazed at their steadfastness, the adult Christians, some of whom had been weakening, took inspiration, and began to encourage each other to be firm in faith. Embarrassed by his inability to master Justus and Pastor, Dacian ordered the pair beheaded.

The thought may occur to us, could children nine and thirteen really deserve to be crowned as saints by the Church? The answer is, Why not? It might be difficult to prove that children of that age had achieved heroic virtues apart from martyrdom, but a number of children have been proclaimed saints or blesseds who died in defense of Christian faith and virtue. Ordinarily, the basic requirement would be that they had reached the age of reason, were able to discern right from wrong, and chose to die rather than betray their consciences. In their innocence, young children can often see issues like this more clearly than adults, and follow through. I should think that the main problem with a persecuted child would be his or her natural fear. But God's grace can take care of that.

May the spiritual courage of Ss. Justus and Pastor inspire us as it inspired the wavering adult Christians of Alcala. Their story reminds us of the truth that if we stand by Him, He will always stand by us. --Father Robert F. McNamara

Saints Justus and Pastor (d. ca. 304) are venerated as Christian martyrs. According to their Acts, they were two schoolboys (Justus was 13 years old, Pastor less than 9) who were persecuted for their faith. Flogged and beheaded outside Alcalá de Henares, they are today considered patron saints of both Alcalá and Madrid. They are mentioned by Prudentius.  What was perceived to be their relics was discovered in the 8th century and taken to Huesca. In 1568, they were brought back to Alcalá, where they lie under the high altar of the collegiate church.
The story of Justus and Pastor is mentioned in the film The Others.
500  St. James the Syrian recluse in Mesopotamia where he was greatly revered for his penitential practices miracles.
Amidæ, in Mesopotámia, sancti Jacóbi Eremítæ, miráculis clari.
    At Amida in Mesopotamia, St. James, a hermit renowned for miracles.
A Syrian hermit. He lived for many years as a recluse in Mesopotamia where greatly revered for his penitential practices.
514 St. Hormisdas Pope successor to St. Symmachus,  ending of the Acacian Schism which had divided the Eastern and Western Churches since 484
Romæ sancti Hormísdæ, Papæ et Confessóris.
    At Rome, St. Hormisdas, pope and confessor.


523 ST HORMISDAS, POPE
HORMISDAS, a Campanian by birth, was a widower and a deacon of the Roman church, whose son St Silverius was also to become pope. He earned the high regard of St Ennodius, Bishop of Pavia, who prophesied that this deacon would one day be pope. Two days after the death of St Symmachus in 514 the pre­diction was fulfilled. Practically the whole of the pontificate of St Hormisdas was devoted to dealing with the delicate and complex situation brought about in the East by the Acacian schism, caused by the attempt of Acacius of Constantinople to placate the monophysites; and to this pope belongs the honour of having brought it to an end by means of the confession of faith that bears his name, the Formula of Hormisdas. This document, which has been cited in the delibera­tions of the Church so lately as at the Vatican Council, is one of the most important pieces of evidence of the recognition of papal authority in the first six centuries.

Nothing is recorded of the less public life of St Hormisdas, but it is clear that he was able and sagacious, and a man of peace: he severely rebuked some African monks for their quarrelsomeness. His last days were made happy by the cessation of the Vandal persecution in Africa.

Save for the succinct account given in the Liber Pontificalis, there is nothing in the nature of a biography of Pope Hormisdas. A fairly full discussion of his public activities will be found in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. ii. See also Mgr Duchesne’s notes to the Liber Pontifical is, vol. i, pp. 272—274; and H. Grisar, Geschichte Roms und der Päpste, vol. i, pp. 478—481, and passim.
Pope from 514-523, successor to St. Symmachus, and father of Pope St. Silverius
  Born in Frosinone, Campagna di Roma, Italy, he was an Italian, although he had a Persian name. Married and widowed prior to ordination, he succeeded St. Symmachus on July 21, 514.
   One of his great achievements was the ending of the Acacian Schism which had divided the Eastern and Western Churches since 484. The Church in Constantinople was reunited to Rome in 519 as a result of the confession called the Formula of Hormisdas. This document was signed by Patriarch John of Constantinople and 250 Eastern bishops. Hormisdas also received Laurentian schismaticsLeo I and the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon and the recognition authority of the Holy See over the universal Church.
into the Church and secured the acceptance of the Tome of
At Bologna, the birthday of St. Dominic, confessor, founder of the Order of Friars Preachers, most renowned for sanctity and learning.  He preserved his chastity unsullied to the end of his life, and by his great merits raised three persons from the dead.  After having repressed heresies by his preaching, and instructed many in the religious and godly life, he rested in peace.  His feast is celebrated on the 4th of August by decree of Pope Paul IV.
     
Bonóniæ natális sancti Domínici Confessóris, qui Ordinis Fratrum Prædicatórum Fundátor éxstitit.  Hic vir, sanctitáte et doctrína claríssimus, virginitátem perpétuo illibátam custodívit, et, ob singulárem meritórum grátiam, tres mórtuos suscitávit; cumque prædicatióne sua compressísset hæreses, ac plúrimos ad religiósam et piam vitam instituísset, in pace quiévit.  Ejus autem festívitas prídie Nonas mensis hujus celebrátur, ex constitutióne Pauli Papæ Quarti.
8th century More than two hundred Benedictine monks Martyrs of Cardena
In monastério sancti Petri de Cardégna, Ordinis sancti Benedícti, apud Burgos, in Hispánia, pássio ducentórum Monachórum cum Stéphano Abbáte, qui a Saracénis pro Jesu Christi fide interfécti sunt, atque ibídem in claustro a Christiánis sepúlti.
    At Burgos in Spain, in the monastery of St. Peter of Cardegna, of the Order of St. Benedict, two hundred monks, with their abbot Stephen, who were put to death for the faith of Christ by the Saracens, and buried in the monastery by the Christians.
Benedictine monks in the monastery of Cardena, Spain, under Abbot Stephen. More than two hundred monks here were put to death by the Arabs during their conquest of the peninsula. Their cult was approved in 1603.

Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ
In monte Thabor Transfigurátio Dómini nostri Jesu Christi.
    On Mount Tabor, the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Observed on August 6 to commemorate the manifestation of the Divine glory recorded by St. Matthew (Chapter 17).

Origin. The Armenian bishop Gregory Arsharuni (about 690) ascribes the origin of this feast to St. Gregory the Illuminator (d. 337?), who, he says, substituted it for a pagan feast of Aphrodite called Vartavarh (roseflame), retaining the old appellation of the feast, because Christ opened His glory like a rose on Mount Thabor. It is not found however in the two ancient Armenian calendars printed by Conybeare (Armenian Ritual, 527 sq.). It probably originated, in the fourth or fifth century, in place of some pagan nature-feast, somewhere in the highlands of Asia.

Propagation. The Armenians at present keep it for three days as one of the five great feasts of the year (seventh Sunday after Pentecost); it is preceded by a fast of six days. Also in the Syriac Church it is a feast of the first class. In the Greek Church it has a vigil and an octave. The Latin Church was slow in adopting this feast; it is not mentioned before 850 (Martyrology of Wandelbert, Gavanti, "Thesaurus Liturg.", II, August); it was adopted in the liturgy about the tenth century in many dioceses, and was celebrated mostly on 6 August; in Gaul and England, 27 July; at Meissen, 17 March; at Halberstadt, 3 September, etc. In 1456 Callixtus III extended the feast to the Universal Church in memory of the victory gained by Hunyady at Belgrade over the Turks, 6 August, 1456. Callixtus himself composed the Office. It is the titular feast of the Lateran Basilica at Rome; as such it was raised to a double second class for the Universal Church, 1 Nov., 1911.

Customs. On this day the pope at Mass uses new wine or presses a bunch of ripe grapes into the chalice; raisins are also blessed at Rome. The Greeks and Russians bless grapes and other fruit.

St. Dominic the birthday of Patron of Astronomers b. 1170 d. 1221.
Bonóniæ natális sancti Domínici Confessóris, qui Ordinis Fratrum Prædicatórum Fundátor éxstitit.  Hic vir, sanctitáte et doctrína claríssimus, virginitátem perpétuo illibátam custodívit, et, ob singulárem meritórum grátiam, tres mórtuos suscitávit; cumque prædicatióne sua compressísset hæreses, ac plúrimos ad religiósam et piam vitam instituísset, in pace quiévit.  Ejus autem festívitas prídie Nonas mensis hujus celebrátur, ex constitutióne Pauli Papæ Quarti.
    At Bologna, the birthday of St. Dominic, confessor, founder of the Order of Friars Preachers, most renowned for sanctity and learning.  He preserved his chastity unsullied to the end of his life, and by his great merits raised three persons from the dead.  After having repressed heresies by his preaching, and instructed many in the religious and godly life, he rested in peace.  His feast is celebrated on the 4th of August by decree of Pope Paul IV.


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 27

The foundations of life in the soul of the just: are to persevere in charity unto the end.

Thy grace raises up the poor man in adversity: and the invocation of thy name inspires him with confidence.

Paradise is filled with thy tender mercies: and by the fear of thee the infernal enemy is confounded.

He who hopes in thee, will find treasures of peace:
and he who invokes thee not in this life, will not attain to the kingdom of God.

Grant, O Lady, that we may live in the grace of the Holy Ghost: and lead our souls to a holy end.


Glory be to thee forever, O Queen of Heaven: and never forget us at any time.


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

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

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

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

Widowed Saints  html
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Of_The_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  UniateChalcedon

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

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

Join us on CatholicVote.org. Be part of a new movement committed to using powerful media projects to create a Culture of Life. We can help shape the movement and have a voice in its future. Check it out at www.CatholicVote.org

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

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

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

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

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

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

To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:
Eternal Word Television Network 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Irondale, AL 35210  USA
  Catholic Television Network  Supported entirely by donations from viewers  help  spread the Eternal Word, online Here
Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey  Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

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


God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***
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 27 2023