August 25 - Virgin Mary, Health of the Sick - Saint Louis, King of France (d. 1270)

Find your inspiration in Mary, Mother of love and human pain
"Do not worry about this illness or about any other misfortune. Am I, your Mother, not here at your side? Are you not protected by my shadow? Am I not your safety?" The humble Indio, Juan Diego of Cuautilan, heard these words on the lips of the Blessed Virgin, in December 1531, at the foot of Tepeyac Hill, today called Guadalupe, after asking for the healing of a relative.

… Dear brothers and sisters who experience suffering in a particular way, you are called to a special mission in the new evangelization and to find your inspiration in Mary, Mother of love and human pain. You are supported in this difficult witness by health-care workers, family members and the volunteers who accompany you on your daily path of suffering.

… In receiving this invitation from the heart of the Salus infirmorum, you will be able to impress a unique mark on the new evangelization by proclaiming the Gospel of life, mysteriously mediated through the witness given by the Gospel of suffering (cf. Evangelium vitae, n. 1; Salvifici doloris, n. 3).

Saint John Paul II

Apostle Bartholomew Transfer of the Relics of the took place at the end of the sixth century
Orthodoxe Kirche: 11. Juni und 25. August (Überführung der Reliquien) Katholische, Anglikanische und Evangelische Kirche: 24. August

His apostolic activity and martyr's end are remembered by the Church on June 11. The Apostle

When the city of Anastasiopolis was captured by the Persian emperor Chozroes, Christians took up the chest with the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew and fled with it to the shores of the Black Sea. Having overtaken them, pagan priests threw the chest with the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew into the sea. Four other chests containing the relics of the holy Martyrs Papian, Lucian, Gregory and Acacius were also thrown into the sea.
By the power of God the chests did not sink into the depths of the sea, but miraculously floated upon the waves and reached Italy. The chest with the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew came to land at the island of Lipari, and the remaining chests continued their journey and came to land at various places in Italy. The chest with the relics of the Martyr Papian halted at Sicily, the Martyr Lucian at Messina, the Martyr Gregory at Calabria, and the Martyr Acacius at Askalon.

The arrival of the relics of the holy Apostle Bartholomew was revealed to Bishop Agathon of the island of Lipari, who went with clergy to the shores of the sea, took the chest from the waters and solemnly transferred it to church. Bartholomew suffered for Christ in Armenian Albanus (now Baku) in the year 71, where his holy relics were. Numerous miracles occurred from the relics of the holy Apostle, and many of the unbelieving were converted to Christ. Under the emperor Anastasius (491-518) the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew were transferred into the newly constructed city of Anastasiopolis (or Dura) and remained there until the end of the sixth century.

Myrrh flowed from the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew, healing people of various illnesses.
The holy relics remained in the church of the island of Lipari until the middle of the ninth century when the island was captured by pagans. Christian merchants took up the holy relics of the Apostle Bartholomew and transferred them to the city of Beneventum, near Naples, where they were received with great veneration and placed in the main church of the city.

Apostel Bartholomäus
Orthodoxe Kirche: 11. Juni und 25. August (Überführung der Reliquien) Katholische, Anglikanische und Evangelische Kirche: 24. August
Der Apostel Bartholomäus wird seit dem Mittelalter gern mit Nathanael identifiziert, den Philippus zum Herrn führt und den der Herr als "rechter Israelit, in dem kein Falsch ist" bezeichnet (Joh. 1,47). Johannes nennt Nathanael außer in der Berufunsgerzählung noch in 21,2. Bartholomäus wird in den Apostellisten (Mt. 10, 3/Mk 3, 18/Lk 6, 14 und Apg. 1,13) genannt.
Nach der Überlieferung hat Bartholomäus das Evangelium in Persien und Indien verkündigt. "Als Pantäus zu Anfang des 3. Jahrhunderts nach Indien kam, fand er da Spuren des Christentums und des heiligen Bartholomäus. Von ihm sei das hebräische Evangelium Matthäi, welches die dortigen Christen zeigten, ins Land gebracht worden" (Wilhelm Löhe)
Michelangelo Sixtinische KapelleNach der Überlieferung soll Bartholomäus bei lebendigem Leib die Haut abgezogen worden sein, dann wurde er gekreuzigt. Das Martyrium wird in vielen Bildern dargestellt (z. B. von Michelangelo in der Sixtinischen Kapelle). Spätere Legenden berichten von abenteuerlichen Wegen der Gebeine, die sich heute in Rom und Frankfurt/Main befinden.

Saint Titus, Apostle of the Seventy was a native of the island of Crete, the son of an illustrious pagan. In his youth he studied Hellenistic philosophy and the ancient poets. Preoccupied by the sciences, Titus led a virtuous life, not devoting himself to the vices and passions characteristic of the majority of pagans. He preserved his virginity, as the Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer (December 20) testifies of him. By the prayer of St Titus, the idol of Diana fell down and shattered before the eyes of all. Another time St Titus prayed that the Lord would not permit the completion of a temple of Zeus, and it collapsed.

For such a manner of life the Lord did not leave him without His help. At age twenty St Titus heard a voice in a dream, suggesting that he abandon Hellenistic wisdom, which could not provide salvation for his soul, but rather to seek that which would save him. After this dream, St Titus waited yet another year, since it was not actually a command, but it did guide him to familiarize himself with the teachings of the prophets of God. The first that he happened to read was the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. Having opened it to the 47th Chapter, he was struck by the words, speaking as it were about his own spiritual condition.

When news reached Crete about the appearance of a Great Prophet in Palestine, and about the great miracles He worked, the governor of the island of Crete (an uncle of Titus) sent him there. This Prophet was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, incarnate of the Most Holy Virgin Mary Who came into the world for the redemption of the race of mankind from the oppression of ancestral sin.

At Jerusalem, St Titus saw the Lord. He heard His preaching and believed in Him. He witnessed the sufferingand death of the Savior on the Cross, His glorious Resurrection and Ascension to Heaven. On the day of Pentecost the future apostlle heard how the Twelve Apostles, after the descentof the Holy Spirit, spoke in various languages, among which was the Cretan language (Acts 2: 11).

St Titus accepted Baptism from the Apostle Paul and became his closest disciple. He accompanied St Paul on his missionary journeys, fulfilling the tasks entrusted to him. He was involved in establishing new churches, and was with Paul in Jerusalem.

St Titus was numbered among the Seventy Apostles and was made Bishop of Crete by the Apostle Paul. Around the year 65, not long before his second imprisonment, the Apostle Paul sent a pastoral epistle to his son in the Faith (Tit. 1: 4).

When the Apostle Paul was taken like a criminal to Rome to stand trial before Caesar, St Titus left his flock in Cretefor a time and went to Rome to be of service to his spiritual Father. After St Paul's death by martyrdom, Titus returned to Gortyna, the chief city of Crete.

St Titus peacefully guided his flock and toiled at enlightening the pagans with the light of faith in Christ. He was granted the gift of wonderworking by the Lord. During one of the pagan feasts in honor of the goddess Diana, Titus preached to a crowd of pagans.

When he saw that they would not listen to him, he prayed to the Lord, so that the Lord Himself would show to the mistaken people the falseness of idols. By the prayer of St Titus, the idol of Diana fell down and shattered before the eyes of all. Another time St Titus prayed that the Lord would not permit the completion of a temple of Zeus, and it collapsed.

By such miracles St Titus brought many to faith in Christ. After bringing the light of faith to the surrounding regions, St Titus died peacefully at the age of 97. At the time of his death, his face shone like the sun.

1st v. St. Gerintius of Italica Bishop missionary martyr who preached the Gospel in that country in apostolic times, and after many labours died in prison.
Itálicæ, in Hispánia, sancti Gerúntii Epíscopi, qui, Apostolórum témpore, Evangélium in ea província prædicávit, et, post multos labóres, in cárcere quiévit.
At Italica in Spain, St. Gerontius, bishop, who preached the Gospel in that country in apostolic times, and after many labours died in prison.
A missionary in Spain, he was said to be the bishop of Talco, near Seville, Spain .

St. Maginus Martyr evangelist Tarragona
Tarracóne, in Hispánia, sancti Magíni Mártyris. At Tarragona in Spain, St. Maginus, martyr.
Also called Magi and Maximus, he evangelized the region until arrested in the Roman persecution. Refusing to abjure the faith, Maginus was beheaded.

2nd v. Item Romæ sanctórum Mártyrum Eusébii, Pontiáni, Vincéntii et Peregríni; qui, sub Cómmodo Imperatóre, primum in equúleo leváti, nervis quoque disténti, ac deínde fústibus cæsi sunt, flammis circa eórum látera appósitis; et, cum in laude Christi fidelíssime permanérent, plumbátis usque ad emissiónem spíritus sunt mactáti.
Eusebius, Pontian, Vincent, and Peregrinus, Also at Rome, in the time of Emperor Commodus, the holy martyrs who were first racked, distended by ropes, then beaten with rods and burned about their sides. As they continued faithfully to praise Christ, they were scourged with leaded whips until they expired.

2nd v. St. Nemesius and Lucilla Two Roman martyrs
Romæ prætérea natális beáti Nemésii Diáconi, et fíliæ Lucillæ Vírginis; qui, cum de fide Christi flecti nequáquam possent, decolláti sunt, jubénte Valeriáno Imperatóre. Ipsórum córpora, a beáto Stéphano Papa sepúlta, deínde a beáto Xysto Secúndo via Appia, prídie Kaléndas Novémbris, honéstius tumuláta, Gregórius Quintus in Diacóniam sanctæ Maríæ Novæ tránstulit, una cum sanctis Symphrónio, Olympio Tribúno, hujúsque uxóre Exsupéria et Theodúlo fílio; qui omnes, Symphrónii ópera convérsi et ab eódem sancto Stéphano baptizáti, martyrio coronáti fúerant. Eadem Sanctórum córpora, Gregório Décimo tértio Summo Pontífice, ibídem invénta, sub altári ejúsdem Ecclésiæ honorificéntius collocáta sunt sexto Idus Decémbris.
In the same city of Rome, the birthday of blessed Nemesius, deacon, and his daughter, the virgin Lucilla. As they could not be prevailed upon to abandon the faith of Christ, they were beheaded by order of Emperor Valerian. Their bodies were buried by blessed Pope Stephen, and afterwards more decently entombed on the 31st of October, by blessed Sixtus on the Appian Way.
Gregory V translated them into the sacristy of Santa Maria Nova, together with the Saints Symphronius, Olympius, a tribune, Exuperia, his wife, and Theodulus, his son, who, being all converted by the exertions of Symphonius, and baptized by the same St. Stephen, had been crowned with martyrdom. These holy bodies were found there during the pontificate of Gregory XIII, and placed more honourably beneath the altar of the same church, on the 8th of December.

Put to death under Emperor Valerian. Nemesius was a deacon in Rome, and Lucilla was his daughter.

St. Marcian Abbot Founder of St. Eusebius Abbey in Apt, France. He was born in Saignon or Vaucluse .

3rd. v. St. Genesius Patron of actors said to be a catechumen and by profession a notary, one of those notaril who took down shorthand notes of judicial proceedings for the public archives to whom reference is several times made in the acts of the martyrs.

Item Romæ sancti Genésii Mártyris, qui, primum sub Gentilitáte mimus, cum in theátro, spectánte Diocletiáno Imperatóre, Mystériis Christianórum illúderet, repénte, inspirátus a Deo, convérsus est ad fidem et baptizátus. Mox, Imperatóris jussu, fústibus crudelíssime cæsus, deínde suspénsus in equúleo, et ungulárum diutíssima laceratióne vexátus, lampádibus étiam adústus est; ac tandem, cum in fide Christi persísteret, dicens: «Non est Rex præter Christum, pro quo si míllies occídar, ipsum mihi de ore, ipsum mihi de corde auférre non potéritis», martyrii palmam obtruncatióne cápitis proméruit.

Also at Rome, St. Genesius, martyr, who had embraced the profession of actor while he was a pagan. One day he was deriding the Christian mysteries in the theatre in the presence of Emperor Diocletian; but by the inspiration of God he was suddenly converted to the faith and baptized. By command of the emperor he was forthwith most cruelly beaten with rods, then racked, and a long time lacerated with iron hooks, and burned with torches. As he remained firm in the faith of Christ, even saying: "There is no king besides Christ. Should you kill me a thousand times, you shall not be able to take him from my lips or my heart." He was then beheaded, and thus merited the palm of martyrdom.

Areláte, in Gállia, beáti item Genésii, qui, cum ímpia edícta, quibus Christiáni puníri jubebántur, exceptóris offício fungens, nollet excípere, et, projéctis in públicum tábulis, se Christiánum esse testarétur, comprehénsus et decollátus est, atque ita martyrii glóriam, próprio cruóre baptizátus, accépit.
At Arles in France, another blessed Genesius, who, filling the office of notary, and refusing to record the impious edicts by which Christians were commanded to be punished, threw away his books publicly, and declared himself a Christian. He was seized and beheaded, and thus attained the glory of martyrdom through baptism in his own blood.

St Genesius The Comedian, Martyr. Father Delehaye classes the story of St Genesius in the category of imaginative romances it is possible that Genesius never existed at all, but is a western version of St Gelasius of Heliopolis, of whom (and of others) a similar tale is told.   The legend of Genesius is narrated by Alban Butler as follows.
The Emperor Diocletian coming to Rome, he was received with great rejoicings. Among other entertainments prepared for him, those of the stage were not neglected. In a comedy which was acted in his presence one of the players took it into his head to burlesque the ceremonies of Christian baptism, which could not fail to amuse the people, who held our religion and its mysteries in contempt and derision. This player therefore, whose name was Genesius and who had learned some things concerning Christian rites from friends who professed that religion, laid himself down on the stage, pretending to be ill, and said, Ah my friends, there is a great weight upon me, and I would gladly be eased ". The others answered, What shall we do to give you ease?   Would you like us to plane you and reduce the weight that way?" "Idiots" he exclaimed, I am resolved to die a Christian, that God may receive me on this day of my death as one who seeks His salvation by turning from idolatry and superstition."
Then a priest and exorcist were called, that is to say, two players who impersonated these characters. These, sitting down by his bedside, asked, "Well, my child, why did you send for us?" But here Genesius was suddenly converted by a divine inspiration and replied, not in mockery but seriously, "Because I desire to receive the grace of Jesus Christ and to be born again, that I may be delivered from my sins." The other players then went through the whole ceremony of baptism with him; but he in earnest answered the usual interrogatories, and on being baptized was clothed with a white garment. After this, other players, dressed like soldiers, to carry on the jest, seized him and presented him to the emperor, to be examined as the martyrs were wont to be.
Genesius then declared himself openly and seriously, standing upon the stage, "Hear! 0 emperor, and all you that are present, officers, philosophers, senators and people, hear what I am going to say. "I never yet so much as heard the word Christian but I reviled it, and I detested my very relations because they professed that religion. I learned its rites and mysteries only that I might the better ridicule it, and inspire you with the utmost contempt for it; but when I was to be washed with the water and examined, I had no sooner answered sincerely that I believed, than I saw a company of angels over my head, who recited out of a book all the sins I had committed from my childhood and having plunged the book into the water which had been poured upon me in your presence, they showed me the book whiter than snow. Wherefore I advise you, 0 great and mighty emperor, and all people here present who have mocked these mysteries, to believe with me that Jesus Christ is the true Lord ; that He is the light and the truth ; and that it is through Him you may obtain the forgiveness of your sins." {Assuming the story to be true, the "baptism "administered would not be valid, for lack, on the part of the sacrilegious actor, of any intention even "to do what the Church does" when she baptizes. Genesius received the baptism, not of water, but of desire and of blood..}
Diocletian, enraged at these words, ordered him to be beaten, and afterward to be put into the hands of Plautian, the prefect of the praetorium, that he might compel him to sacrifice. Plautian put him upon the rack, where he was torn with iron hooks and then burnt with torches; but the martyr persisted in crying out, "There is no other Lord beside Him whom I have seen.   Him I worship and serve, and to Him I will cling, though I should suffer a thousand deaths. No torments shall remove Jesus Christ from my heart and my mouth. Bitterly do I regret that I once detested His holy name, and came so late to His service." At length his head was struck off.

For satisfactory proof that Dom Ruinart blundered in including the story of this probably mythical personage among his Acta Sincera, the reader must consult the Martyrologes historiques of Dom Quentin, especially pp. 533-541, and also the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxix (1910), pp. 258-269. The legend of the mock baptism of the comedian Genesius was no doubt in circulation before the sixth century, for "Genesius the actor" is commemorated in the calendar of Carthage. Still the text in Ruinart is certainly not the primitive form of his "acts". What Ruinart has printed is only a copy of Ado's abridgement of the longer narrative which is known to us through Surius and others. It is not disputed that in early times the Christian rites were often burlesqued upon the stage (though H. Reich in his book, Der Mimus, has greatly exaggerated the evidence for this), and early currency was given to the tradition or legend that the practice had resulted in the conversion of an actor, who was thereupon put to death but unfortunately what is substantially the same story is connected with four different names, Genesius, Gelasius or Gelasinus, Ardalio and Porphyrius. We have no guarantee in any of these cases that it is not a hagiographical fiction. See further Bertha von der Lage, Studien zur Genesiuslegende (1898) Mostert and Stengel, L'ystoire et la Vie de Saint Genis (1908) Paul Allard, La persecution de Diocletien, vol. i (1908), pp.7-9, who argue. In favour of the real existence of the martyr and CMH.. pp. 463-465. Cf. also the next notice.

303 St Genesius of Arles, notary; Martyr patron of the city
On this day is commemorated another St Genesius (Genes), the patron of the city of Arles. He was said to be a catechumen and by profession a notary, one of those notaril who took down shorthand notes of judicial proceedings for the public archives to whom reference is several times made in the acts of the martyrs. His acta say that he studied with great perseverance and exercised with much success that useful art by which he was able at a single stroke to take down words, and by the speed of his hand to equal the rapidity of the discourse of an orator, and to render word for word, with abridged notes, the pleadings of counsel, the deposition of witnesses and the answers of the accused...Now it happened one day that, while he was performing his duties as clerk of the court before the judge at Arles, there was read out an impious and sacrilegious edict which the emperors had published throughout all the provinces [of persecution against the Christians]. The ears of the religious clerk were wounded and his hand refused to trace the words on the wax. He did more : he got up from his seat, flung his registers at the feet of the judge, and renounced for ever such a wicked occupation." He then fled secretly, seeking safety from town to town, and, as he thought that he had need to be fortified in the faith by baptism (for he had not yet been born again by water and the Holy Spirit), he sent his request to the bishop by some faithful persons. But whether the bishop was meanwhile arrested himself, or that he distrusted the youth of Genesius, would not risk conferring the sacrament, and put it off, he only told him that his blood shed for Jesus Christ would take the place of the baptism he so ardently wished to receive. And I think myself that it was not without a special dispensation of Providence that the bishop made difficulties for without doubt Heaven wished alone to consecrate Genesius, and Jesus Christ had prepared for him a double baptism, that of the water and blood which flowed from the side of the divine Saviour." Genesius was at length overtaken by the persecutors and beheaded on the banks of the river Rhône, during the persecution of Maximian and Diocletian.

The mention of this martyr by Prudentius, by Fortunatus and by others, as well as his inclusion in the "Hieronymianum" on this day, can leave little doubt that the honour paid to him at Arles rested on a sound historical foundation. The brief "acts" have been printed by Ruinart and again, with a much fuller discussion, in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. v. Delehaye in CMH., pp. 463-465, has discussed the case of the two saints called Genesius in some detail. His conclusion is that the martyr of Arles is alone historical. He became so famous that his cult was adopted in Rome, and thence spread to Africa and other places. From the fact that a church was built to him in Rome it was rashly announced that his body was buried there and that he was a Roman martyr. In a short time a story was invented transforming him into an actor who made sport of the Christian religious rites in presence of the emperor himself.

During a stage performance before Emperor Diocletian in Rome, the actor Genesius portrayed a catechumen about to be baptized in a play satirizing the Christian sacrament. In the midst of the ceremony he was suddenly converted to Christianity. When presented to the Emperor, he declared his Christianity. Enraged, Diocletian had him turned over to Plautian, prefect of the praetorium, who tortured him in an effort to force him to sacrifice to the pagan gods. When Genesius persisted in his faith, he was beheaded.

4th v. Saint Barses and Eulogius, Bishops of Edessa, and Protogenes the Confessor, Bishop of Carrhae, suffered from the Arians in the second half of the fourth century. The emperor Valentius (364-378), wishing to propagate the Arian heresy, fiercely persecuted the Orthodox.

In the city of Edessa he removed St Barses, a champion for Orthodoxy, from the bishop's throne. He sent him for confinement on the island of Arad. The Orthodox population there received the exiled saint with great honor. They banished him farther, to the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchos, but there also the warm welcome was repeated. Then St Barses was banished to the very frontier of the imperial realm, to the faraway city of Thenon where, exhausted by his exiles, he died.

At Edessa the emperor Valentius placed an Arian pseudo-bishop upon the episcopal cathedra. Lupus, both by name and by deed showed himself to be like a wolf, scattering the sheep of Christ's flock. The Orthodox population of Edessa, both clergy and laity, ceased to attend their church, which had been seized by the Arians. They gathered outside the city and celebrated the divine services in an open area.

After he learned of this, the emperor ordered the eparch Modestus to kill all the Orthodox who met for divine services outside the city. The eparch pitied the city, and he informed the Orthodox that they should not attend divine services. The Orthodox, fervent with the desire to receive a martyr's crown for Christ, went as one to the place where they usually gathered for prayer.
Eparch Modestus, obeying his orders, went there with his armed soldiers. Along the way he saw a woman who hastened to the services with her small child, so as not to deprive him of the martyr's crown. Shaken, Modestus turned back with his soldiers. Appearing before the emperor Valentius, he urged him to cancel the decree to kill all the Orthodox and to apply it only to the clergy.

They led persons of spiritual rank to the emperor, and in the lead the oldest presbyter Eulogius. The emperor urged them to enter into communion with the pseudo-bishop Lupus, but none of them agreed. After this they sent eighty men of clerical rank in chains to prison in Thrace. The Orthodox met them along the way, revering them as confessors, and furnished them all the necessities. Learning of this, the emperor ordered the martyrs to be taken two by two, and to disperse them to remote areas.

The holy presbyters Eulogius and Protogenes were sent to the Thebaid city of Antinoe in Egypt. There by their preaching they converted many idol-worshippers to Christ and baptized them. When the emperor Valentius perished and was succeeded on the throne by the holy emperor Theodosius (379-395). The Orthodox confessors remaining alive after the persecution were returned from exile. The holy presbyters Eulogius and Protogenes returned to Edessa. In place of the dead and banished St Barses, presbyter Eulogius was elevated to Bishop of Edessa, and the holy presbyter Protogenes was made bishop in the Mesopotamian city of Carrhae. Both saints guided their flocks until their death, which occurred at the end of the fourth century.

St. Julian Syrian priest Martyr

In Syria sancti Juliáni Mártyris. In Syria, St. Julian, martyr.

According to the historian Cesare Baronius, he was a Syrian priest of whom nothing is known with certainty.

518-520 Saint John the Cappadocian, Patriarch of Constantinople, occupied the patriarchal throne.
The holy Patriarch Photius (857-867) termed him "a habitation of virtues."

535 Saint Epiphanius, Patriarch of Constantinople, occupied the cathedra from 520 to 535. He died peacefully.

552 St. Menas Patriarch of Constantinople

Constantinópoli sancti Mennæ Epíscopi. At Constantinople, St. Mennas, bishop.

ST MENNAS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE

MENNAS, a native of Alexandria, was a priest in Constantinople until 536, he was appointed patriarch of that church and consecrated by Pope St Agapitus, who was then in Constantinople. Mennas set himself to repair the harm done by his predecessor Anthimus, who was a monophysite, and to deal with a number of sectaries who, sheltering under the name of Origen, were troubling the East. In 544 the Emperor Justinian who, like most Eastern emperors and with more reason than some, fancied himself as a theologian, sought to conciliate his monophysite subjects by condenming certain writings, called the Three Chapters. All his bishops were ordered to sign the condemnation and St Mennas was the first to obey; not, however, very happily, for he said that he would withdraw his signature if the pope of Rome did not agree; but in the event he did not do this.

What followed need not be traced in detail here. Many bishops of the West, although they recognized that the writings were clearly heretical in part, objected to the condemnation because it seemed to compromise the Council of Chalcedon. The pope, Vigilius, was first on one side, then on the other, but eventually in 551 refused to accept Justinian's edict, and sought refuge in St Peter's church in Constantinople (whither he had been peremptorily summoned by the emperor), and then in St Euphemia's at Chalcedon, from whence he excommunicated St Mennas and others who had signed it. Mennas assured Vigilius that he in no way deviated from the acts of the Council of Chaleedon, and the matter of the Three Chapters was referred to an oecumenical council.
This council Mennas did not live to see, for he died on August 24, 552, and the fifth general council did not assemble till the following year. It then condemned the Three Chapters, as the emperor had done, and Pope Vigilius approved and confirmed the condemnation. We thus have the curious and unusual spectacle of a patriarch of Constantinople firmly supporting a policy which was to be eventually confirmed by a general council, as against a feeble pope who allowed his judgement and actions to be swayed from side to side by the conflicting views of Western bishops and Eastern emperor; it must be borne in mind that the matter at issue was concerned not with any definition of faith, but with the expediency and implications of the proposed condemnation. St Mennas is named in the Roman Martyrology.

A short Greek life with a general discussion of the saint's career is in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. v, but the story belongs rather to general ecclesiastical history. See Hefele-Leclercq, Conciles, vol. iv; F. Savio, 11 Papa Vigilio (1904); and especially DTC., vol. xi, cc. 1574-1588 ; and Fliche and Martin, Histoire de l'Eg1ise, t. iv, pp. 453-471.

He was a native of Alexandria, Egypt. Also called Mennas, he was consecrated patriarch by Pope St. Agapitus in 536 . He started his career as superior of the hospice of St. Samson. Menas condemned Origenism but supported Emperor Justinian on “The Three Chapters,” the emperor’s theologically misguided effort to reconcile the Monophysite heretics to the Church. This involvement resulted in his excommunication by Pope Vigilius in 551. He submitted immediately and was reconciled before his death.

Saint Menas, Patriarch of Constantinople (536-552), was at first a presbyter at Constantinople and supervisor there of the Home of St Sampson the Hospitable for the poor and needy during the reign of St Justinian I (527-565). After the removal of the heretic Anthimus (535-536), the holy presbyter Menas was raised to the patriarchal throne of Constantinople as one worthy to be bishop, because of his profound virtue and firm confession of Orthodoxy.

Agapitus, the Bishop of Rome (535-536), participated in the consecration of St Menas. He had come to Constantinople in order to depose the heretic Anthimus. During the patriarchate of St Menas a miracle occurred at Constantinople, which was known to the whole city.

A certain Jewish child went with other children to church and he partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. At home, he told his father about this. In a terrible rage, he seized the child and threw him into a red-hot oven (the father was a glass-blower). He said nothing to his wife. For three days, the mother tearfully searched for her son, calling loudly for him. On the third day, he emerged from the red-hot oven. When she pulled the child out, she found that he was unharmed.

The boy said that a most radiant Lady had come to him, cooling the fire and bringing him water and food. This incident became known to St Menas and the emperor Justinian I. The boy and his mother received Baptism, but the father of the child was obdurate and did not wish to repent, in spite of the great miracle that he had seen. Then the emperor ordered that the father be tried as a child-killer, and sentenced him to death.

The holy Patriarch Menas ruled the Church of Constantinople for sixteen years. During his patriarchate at Constantinople, the famous church of Hagia Sophia, the Wisdom of God, was consecrated. The saint died peacefully in the year 552.

591 St. Yrieix Abbot monastery and also the surrounding village of Saint-Yrieux were named in his honor
Yrieix, sometimes called Aredius. Born at Limoges, France, he served for a time in the court of the Franks and then was founder of the monastery of Atane in Limousin.The monastery and also the surrounding village of Saint-Yrieux were named in his honor .

St. Patricia blood liquefies 1300 yr after

Neápoli, in Campánia, sanctæ Patríciæ Vírginis. At Naples in Campania, St. Patricia, virgin.

St Patricia, Virgin
According to her legend, Patricia was a maiden of noble birth, belonging seemingly to the imperial family of Constantinople. To avoid marriage with the suitor chosen for her, she fled to Italy, and in Rome took vows consecrating her virginity to God. She then returned to Constantinople in order to distribute her goods to the poor, but, this done, she again made her way to Italy, and reached Naples,
where not long after she died. The, miracles which followed led to a cultus which was notably revived some centuries later by the discovery and translation of her relics in 1549. Since 1625 she has been honoured as one of the patrons of the city of Naples, and what is believed to be a relic of her blood liquefies there, like that of St Januarius, which is referred to by J. H. Newman when travelling in Italy
in 1846.

In the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. v, two short medieval Latin lives are printed, with stories of miracles and other material. The accounts given of her in various pious booklets published in Naples and elsewhere are full of extravagances, describing her absurdly as an empress, or as a daughter of Constantine the Great. Cf. Father Thurston's articles on "blood-miracles "in The Month, 1927.

According to legend, was of a noble and perhaps royal family in Constantinople who fled to Italy to escape marriage and became a virgin consecrated to God in Rome. She returned to constantinople, distributed her wealth to the poor, and then went back to Italy;, where she died soon after, at Naples. She is a patron of Naples, and like St. Januarius there, a vial believed to be filled with her blood reportedly liquefies thirteen hundred years after her death .

683 St Ebba, Abdess of Coldingham, Virgin

This St Ebba is sometimes called" the Elder" to distinguish her from the St Ebba, also abbess of Coldingham, said to have been put to death by the Danes about the year 870. She was sister to St Oswald and Oswy of Northumbria, and Oswy wanted her to marry the king of the Scots, but when she refused and took the monastic habit from St Finan of Lindisfame he gave her a piece of land on the Derwent, where she founded the monastery of Ebbchester. She afterwards moved to Coldingham on the coast of Berwick, and there founded a double monastery, which both in arrangement and situation resembled that of St Hilda at Whitby the promontory on which it was built is still called St Abb's Head. Here she was visited by St Cuthbert, and St Etheldreda was a nun under her before becoming abbess of Ely.
Personal sanctity, that is, ability rightly to rule oneself, by no means always involves ability to rule others well and apparently St Ebba was not a very successful abbess. For St Bede relates that St Adamnan (not he of Jona), who was a monk at Coldingham, had a vision in which he learned that the monastery would be destroyed by fire, because its monks and nuns were slack and frivolous " the cells that were built for prayer or reading are now turned into places for feasting, drinking, talk and other pleasures; the very maidens, dedicated to God, lay aside the respect due to their profession and employ their leisure in weaving fine clothes, either to adorn themselves like brides, which is dangerous to their state, or to attract the attention of strangers ". Perhaps St Adamnan, being himself a holy man and seeing how things were, cast his prophecy in the form of a vision from God for motives of prudence. For when it came to the ears of St Ebba and she asked for an explanation, he said, " I was afraid to say anything about it before, out of respect for yourself ", and added tactfully, " But this calamity will not happen in your time." The chronicler goes on to say that the religious were frightened and behaved themselves better for a short time, but after the death of St Ebba they became worse than ever, and the house was in fact burned down very shortly after. That all this fell out thus ", says Bede, "was told me by my very reverend fellow priest, Edgils, who then lived in that monastery. After its destruction he lived for a long time in our monastery and died here."

A life of Ebbs by Capgrave, partly based on Reginald of Durham, printed in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. v also Plummer's Bede and DCB., vol. ii, pp. 22-23. Apart from the lessons in the Aberdeen Breviary, there is not much trace of cultus .

VII v. St. Warinus Martyr of the Franks ldin
The son of St. Sigrada and brother of St. Leodegarius, he was murdered by Ebroin, the cruel Frankish Mayor of the Palace after Ebroin entered into a bitter feud with Leodegarius .

775? St Gregory of Utrecht, Abbot

Trajécti sancti Gregórii Epíscopi. At Utrecht, St. Gregory, bishop.

This Gregory was born in the territory of Trier about the year 707. One day when he was fifteen years of age he was desired by his grandmother, the abbess of Pfalzel, near Trier, to read to the nuns. St Boniface, who was travelling from Friesland into Hesse and Thuringia, was present. After he had finished reading, Gregory was asked to explain what he had read for the benefit of those who did not understand Latin; but this he said he was not able to do. Whereupon St Boniface got up and expounded the passages, and added a homily on the need and beauty of an apostolic and virtuous life by way of commentary. Gregory was so moved by his discourse that he resolved upon the spot to follow the holy man wherever he went. St Boniface took him with him, and was himself his master and instructor, made him his constant attendant, and always loved him as his son. The disciple was a faithful imitator of his spirit and virtues, assisted him in his missions, and accompanied him on his journeys. St Boniface a little before his death sent Gregory to Utrecht to govern a monastery lately founded there, dedicated in honour of St Martin. In 754 St Boniface received the crown of martyrdom and at the same time St Eoban, who had administered the see of Utrecht since the death of St Willibrord. Thereupon St Gregory had to take upon himself the care of that church. He never received episcopal consecration, though he administered the diocese during twenty years, to his death; that he never was more than priest appears from his life written by St Ludger, though he is called bishop in the Roman Martyrology and elsewhere.
The abbey of St Martin became a great missionary centre under the rule of St Gregory; candidates came to it from all the neighbouring countries, not least from England: among its alumni were St Ludger, just mentioned, St Lebwin and St Marchelm, all three associated with England, the last two as natives and Ludger being a student at York. By his preaching and care St Gregory made the diocese for which he was responsible a fitting surrounding to the abbey. St Ludger speaks particularly of his prudence, generous alms-deeds and spirit of forgiveness. The last trait was exemplified after his two half- brothers had been treacherously killed. When the murderers were sent to him to be put to what death he should think fit, according to the barbarous custom of the country in that age which left the punishment of assassins to the direction of the relations of the deceased person, the saint gave every one of them an alms, and dismissed them with good advice. For the last three years of his life St Gregory bore with fortitude and patience a creeping paralysis. He died at Maastricht on August 25, about the year 775, and his feast is kept at Utrecht and Trier as well as by the Canons Regular of the Lateran.

As mentioned above St Ludger wrote a life of Gregory which is our principal source of information. It has been printed by Mabillon and in the Acta Sanctorum August, vol. v. Moreover it has been critically re-edited in Pertz, MGH., Scriptores, vol. xv. See further H. Timerding, Die christliche Frühzeit Deutschlands, vol. ii, Die angelsachsische Mission " (1929), and J. A. Coppens, Kerkgeschiedenis van Noord-Nederland (1902), pp. 62-70; with Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. ii.

Gregor von Utrecht / von Pfalzel Katholische und Evangelische Kirche: 25. August
Gregor wurde um 707 in Franken geboren. Er lernte 721 im Kloster Pfalzl, das von seiner Großmutter Adula geleitet wurde, Bonifatius kennen und wurde sein Schüler. Er begleitete Bonifatius bei der Mission in Hessen und Thüringen und wurde dann Leiter der Schule am Martinsmünster und 747 Abt des Martinklosters in Utrecht. Um 742 wurde Gregor zum Nachfolger Bonifatius in der Missionsarbeit bestimmt. Nach dem Tode Bonifatius übernahm er das Missionswerk und verwaltete das Bistum Utrecht. Aus politischen Gründen wurde er aber nicht zum Bischof ernannt. Gregor starb am 25.8. 775 oder 776.
Sein Schüler Liudger schrieb seine Biographie. Einige Lexika nennen Gregor von Utrecht und Gregor von Pfalzel nebeneinander, es handelt sich aber offensichtlich um die gleiche Person.

1057 St. Gurloes Benedictine abbot of Sainte Croix of Quimperle in Brittany, France

1282 St. Thomas of Hereford; relics were brought back to Hereford, where many miracles were wrought by his intercession and his shrine became second only to that of St. Thomas of Canterbury.
Apud Montem Falíscum, in Etrúria, sancti Thomæ, Confessóris, qui Herfordiénsis Ecclésiæ, in Anglia, Epíscopus éxstitit.
At Monte Falisco in Etruria, St. Thomas, bishop of the church of Hereford in England, and confessor.
(THOMAS DE CANTELUPE). Born at Hambledon, Buckinghamshire, England, about 1218; died at Orvieto, Italy, 25 August, 1282. He was the son of William de Cantelupe and Millicent de Gournay, and thus a member of an illustrious and influential family. He was educated under the care of his uncle, Walter de Cantelupe, Bishop of Worcester, first at Oxford then at Paris. During his studies he attended the Council of Lyons in 1245, when he became a papal chaplain. Returning to Oxford, he taught canon law, and in 1262 was elected chancellor of the university. In the Barons' Wars he took the popular side and stated the Barons' case before St. Louis at Amiens, 1263. After the defeat of Henry III at the battle of Lewes he was made chancellor of England (22 February, 1265), gaining wide renown for his judicial wisdom and fairness. Deprived of the chancellorshp on the death of Simon de Montfort, he went into exile, lecturing at Paris on theology and Scripture (1265-72). He then resumed teaching at Oxford till 1274 when he attended the second Council of Lyons. He held several benefices which he administered most zealously, appointing responsible vicars, visiting them regularly, and showing himself a model pastor by his holiness and wide charity. In June, 1275, he was appointed Bishop of Hereford, and was consecrated by his friend Cardinal Kilwardby (8 September, 1275). As bishop he continued his apostolic life, labouring incessantly for the good of his people, maintaining the privileges and property of his diocese against Gilbert of Gloucester, Llewellyn, and others, supporting Edward I in his struggle with Llewellyn, combating the unjust practices of the Jews, and reforming the clergy, secular and regular. He came into conflict with Archbishop Peckham on questions of jurisdiction, and at the Council of Reading (July, 1279) led the resistance of the bishops to the policy of Peckham. (For the articles embodying the points in dispute see Wilkins, "Concilia", II, 75.) His personal differences with Peckham led first to his withdrawal to Normandy that he might avoid an interdict and appeal to Rome, and subsequently in 1282 to his actual excommunication by the archbishop. He then went to Rome to plead his own cause before Pope Martin IV, who received him kindly. But his failing health succumbed to the fatigue of the journey and the summer heat. He was buried at Orvieto, but subsequently his relics were brought back to Hereford, where many miracles were wrought by his intercession and his shrine became second only to that of St. Thomas of Canterbury. He was canonized by John XXII (17 April, 1320), and his festival, formerly observed on 2 October, is now kept in England on 3 October.

1270 St. Louis, King of France the 9th of his name; patron of Tertiaries; In the person of St Louis (Lewis) IX were united the qualities which form a great king, a hero of romance, and a saint. He was endowed with qualifications for good government, he excelled in the arts of peace and of war, and his courage and greatness of mind received from his virtue the highest setting ambition had no share in his enterprises, his only motives in them was the glory of God and the good of his subjects. Though the two crusades in which he was engaged were failures, he is certainly to be ranked among the most valiant of princes, and a perfect example of the good and great medieval nobleman.
Apud Cartháginem sancti Ludovíci Noni, Regis Francórum et Confessóris, vitæ sanctitáte ac miraculórum glória præclári; cujus ossa póstmodum Lutétiam Parisiórum sunt reláta.
    At Carthage, St. Louis IX, king of France and confessor, illustrious for holiness of life and glorious miracles. His bones were later translated to Paris.

He was son of Louis VIII and was eight years old when the death of his grandfather, Philip II Augustus, put his father in possession of the crown of France. He was born at Poissy on April 25, 1214. His mother was Blanche, daughter of Alfonso of Castile and Eleanor of England, and to her care and attention in the education of St Louis we are indebted, under God, for the great example of his virtues. She used often to say to him when he was a child, "I love you, my dear son, as much as a mother can love her child; but I would rather see you dead at my feet than that you should ever commit a mortal sin". Nor did Louis forget the lesson. His friend and biographer, the Sieur de Joinville, historian of the crusades, relates that the king once asked him, "What is God?" Joinville replied, "That which is so good that there could be nothing better." "Well said. Now tell me, would you rather be a leper or commit a mortal sin?"   "And I, who never told a lie", says Joinville, "answered, `I would rather commit thirty mortal sins than be a leper`."
   Later Louis led him apart and took him to task for his honest but misguided reply. King Louis VIII died on November 7, 1226, and Queen Blanche was declared regent for her son, who was then only twelve years old. The whole time of the king's minority was disturbed by ambitious barons, but Blanche by several alliances and by her courage and diligence overcame them in the field and forced their submission. Louis rejoiced in his victories chiefly because he procured by them the blessings of peace to his subjects. He was merciful even to rebels, and by his readiness to receive any proposals of agreement gave the proof that he neither sought revenge nor conquests. Never had any man a greater love for the Church, or a greater veneration for its ministers. Yet this was not blind; he opposed the injustices of bishops, when he saw them betrayed into any, and did not listen to their complaints till he had given a full hearing to the other party, as he showed in the contests of the bishops of Beauvais and Metz with the corporations of those cities.
   Louis enjoyed the conversation of priests or other religious men, and he often invited such (e.g. St Thomas Aquinas) to his house, but he knew how to observe seasons with a decent liberty. Once when a friar had started a grave religious topic at table, he turned the discourse to another subject, saying, "All things have their time". He celebrated feasts and rejoicings on the creation of knights and other such occasions with magnificence, but banished from his court all diversions dangerous to morals. And he would tolerate neither vulgar obscenity nor thoughtless profanity; "I was a good twenty-two years in the holy king's company", says Joinville, and never once did I hear him swear, either by God or His mother or His saints. I did not even hear him name the Devil, except if he met the word when reading aloud, or when discussing what had been read." And a Dominican testified that he had never heard him speak ill-naturedly of anyone. When he was urged to put to death the son of Hugh de Ia Marche, who had followed his father in rebellion, Louis refused, saying,   "A son cannot refuse to obey his father".

When he was nineteen St Louis married Margaret, the eldest daughter of Raymund Berenger, Count of Provence, whose second daughter, Eleanor, was married to Henry III, King of England; his third, Sanchia, to his brother Richard of Cornwall and Beatrice, the youngest, to Charles, brother to St Louis. The marriage was blessed with a happy union of hearts and eleven children, five sons, six daughters, from whose descendants kings were given to France until that January 21, 1793, when the Abbé Edgeworth, it is often stated, said to Louis XVI as the guillotine was about to fall, "Son of St Louis, go up to Heaven!". {* Edgeworth is said to have denied to Lord Holland that he used these words.} In 1235, having come of age, St Louis took the government of his kingdom into his own hands. But he continued to show the greatest deference to his mother, and to profit by her counsel, though Blanche was inclined to be jealous of and unkind to her daughter-in-law.
The first of many religious foundations for which Louis was responsible was the abbey of Royaumont. In 1239 Baldwin II, the Latin emperor at Constantinople, made St Louis (in gratitude for his largesse to the Christians in Palestine and other parts of the East) a present of the Crown of Thorns, which was then in the hands of the Venetians as a pledge for a loan of money to Baldwin, which Louis had to discharge. He sent two Dominican friars to bring this treasure to France, and met it himself beyond Sens, attended by his whole court. To house it he pulled down his chapel of St Nicholas and built the Sainte Chapelle, which is now empty of its relic. +{What remains of it is now in Notre-Dame de Paris and is, in fact, only part of the rush foundation, with no thorns thereon. Several of these were given away by St Louis in golden reliquaries one such is in the British Museum and appears still to contain the thorn it was made to enshrine. After the Revolution what remained of the crown, or its rush foundation, was brought to light in 1804 and handed over to the archbishop of Paris.

He brought the Carthusians to Paris and endowed them with the palace of Vauvert, and helped his mother in the foundation of the convent of Maubuisson. Several ordinances of this prince show us how much he applied himself to see justice well administered. In succeeding reigns, whenever complaints were raised among the people, the cry of those dissatisfied was to demand that abuses should be reformed and justice impartially administered as was done in the reign of St Louis. In 1230 he forbade all manner of usury, and restrained the Jews in particular from practising it. He published a law commanding all who should be guilty of blasphemy to be branded, and thus punished a rich and important citizen of Paris to some who murmured at this severity he said that he would undergo that punishment himself if thus he might put a stop to the crime. He protected vassals from oppressive lords, and when a Flemish count had hanged three children for hunting rabbits in his woods, had him imprisoned and tried, not by his peers as he demanded, but by the ordinary judges, who condemned him to death. He afterwards spared his life, but subjected him to a fine which deprived him of the greater part of his estates. This money the king ordered to be expended on religious and charitable works. He forbade feudal lords to make private war upon one another, and his scrupulous fidelity in keeping his word and observing treaties was notable; this impartial and inflexible integrity made barons, prelates and even foreign kings ask to have him for judge and arbitrator, and put their affairs into his hands.
Hugh of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, made trouble soon after the king's majority ; his estates were a fief of Poitou and he refused to pay homage to the count of Poitiers, the brother of St Louis. Hugh's wife, Isabel, was the widow of King John and mother of Henry III of England, who came over to support his stepfather. St Louis defeated King Henry III (who was never born to be a soldier) at Taillebourg in 1242. Henry fled to Bordeaux and the next year returned to England, having made a truce with the French. Seventeen years later Louis concluded another treaty with Henry III. By it he yielded to England the Limousin and Périgord, King Henry renouncing on his side all pretensions to Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine and Poitou. The French criticized their sovereign's concessions, and Louis replied that he hoped by them to cement a lasting peace between the two nations, and that it was very honourable to his crown to have so great a king as vassal for Guienne. But some historians are of the opinion that had Louis pushed home his advantage the Hundred Years' War would have been averted for his successors.

After an illness in 1244 Louis determined to undertake a crusade in the East, and early the next year he by letter assured the Christians in Palestine that he would make all possible haste to their assistance against the infidels, who a few months before had retaken Jerusalem. But the opposition of his councillors and nobles, the preparation of the expedition, and the settling of his kingdom put off his departure for three and a half years. At the thirteenth general council at Lyons of 1245 all benefices were taxed a twentieth of their income for three years for the relief of the Holy Land (the English representatives strongly protested against this), and this gave encouragement to the crusaders. In 1248 Louis sailed for Cyprus, where he was joined by William Longsword, Earl of Salisbury, and two hundred English knights. The objective was Egypt. Damietta, in the delta of the Nile, was easily taken and St Louis made a solemn entry into the city, not with the pomp of a conqueror but with the humility of a truly Christian prince, walking barefoot with the queen, the princes his brothers and other great lords, preceded by the papal legate. The king ordered that all plundering and other crimes should be strictly inquired into and punished, and that restitution should be made, and he forbade any infidel to be slain whom it was possible to make prisoner. But notwithstanding all his watchfulness many, to his grief, gave themselves up to debauchery and outrageous acts of violence. Owing to the rising of the Nile and the summer heat the crusaders could not follow up their advantage, and it was not till six months had passed that they advanced to attack the Saracens, who were on the other side of the river. Then followed another six months of desultory fighting, in which the crusaders lost many by battle and sickness, until in April 1250 St Louis himself was taken prisoner, and his army routed with frightful slaughter.

During his captivity the king recited the Divine Office every day with two chaplains just as if he had been in perfect health in his own palace, and to the insults that were sometimes offered him he opposed an air of majesty and authority which kept his guards in awe. When he was asked and refused to give up the castles in Syria he was threatened with the most ignominious treatment and with torture to which he coolly replied that they were masters of his body, and might do with it what they pleased. The sultan sent to him a proposal by which he demanded a million bezants of gold and the city of Damietta for his ransom and that of the other prisoners. Louis answered that a king of France ought not to redeem himself for money, but that he would give the city for his own release and the million bezants for that of all the other prisoners. The sultan. at that time was overthrown by the Mamluk emirs, and these eventually released the king and the other prisoners on these terms, but the sick and wounded crusaders in Damietta they treacherously slew. St Louis then sailed to Palestine with the remainder of his army. There he remained until 1254, visiting all the holy places he could, encouraging the Christians, and strengthening the defences of the Latin kingdom-such as it was. Then, news being brought to him of the death of his mother, who was regent in his absence, he returned to France. He had been away almost six years, but he was oppressed by the memory of the distresses of the Christians in the East and he continued to wear the cross on his clothes to show that he intended to return to their assistance. Their position got rapidly worse : between 1263 and 1268 the Mamluk Baibars took Nazareth, Caesarea, Jaffa and Antioch. About 1257 Master Robert de Sorbon, a canon and very learned doctor of Paris, laid the foundations of that theological institute in the city which became known after him as the Sorbonne. Master Robert was a personal friend of St Louis and sometimes acted as his confessor, and the king enthusiastically seconded his project and helped to endow it. Louis also founded in Paris, for poor blind men, the hospital of Quinze-Vingts, so called because there were in it at the first foundation three hundred such patients. He likewise made provision of all kinds for the poor; in addition to thirteen special indigent guests he had daily a large number of poor folk to meals near his own palace, and in Lent and Advent all who presented themselves ; and these he often served in person. He kept lists of needy people, especially les pauvres honteux, whom he regularly relieved in every province of his dominions. Though not personally a legislator he had a passion for justice, and he transformed the feudal "king's court " into a highly organized royal court of justice and, as in the case of Henry III and his barons, sovereign princes submitted their difficulties to his ruling; in all causes he endeavoured to substitute proof by witnesses and decision by judicial process or arbitration for appeal to arms.
Having one day stood godfather to a Jew who was baptized at Saint-Denis, St Louis said to the ambassador of the emir of Tunis that to see his master receive that sacrament he would with joy pass the rest of his life in chains under the Saracens. Accordingly people were not surprised when in 1267 he announced another crusade: nor were they pleased. Among less worthy reasons, they feared to lose so good a king, who if only fifty-two years old was weak with toil, ill-health and austerities. Joinville said bluntly that "those who recommended this voyage to the king sinned grievously ", and excused himself, urging the necessity of his staying at home to protect his vassals from oppression. The king embarked with his army at Aigues-Mortes on July 1, 1270; when the fleet was over against Cagliari in Sardinia it was resolved to proceed to Tunis, where soon after landing the king himself and his eldest son Philip both sickened with typhus. It was soon seen that Louis was dying. He gave his last instructions to his sons and to his daughter, the queen of Navarre, and composed himself for death. On August 24, which was Sunday, he received the last sacraments, and called for the Greek ambassadors, whom he strongly urged to reunion with the Roman Church. He lost his speech the next day from nine till twelve o'clock, then, recovering it and lifting up his eyes towards Heaven, he repeated aloud the words of the psalmist,

Lord, I will enter into thine house; I will worship in thy holy temple, and will give glory to thy name ". He spoke again at three in the afternoon, "Into thy hands I commend my soul ", and immediately after breathed his last. His bones and heart were taken back to France and enshrined in the abbey-church of St Denis, whence they were scattered at the Revolution: he was canonized in 1297.

Authentic materials for the life of St Louis are naturally abundant.

We have in the first place the French memoirs of the Sieur de Joinville which have been translated into almost every European language the English version by Sir Frank Marzials is in the Everyman series, and there is an excellent new one by René Hague (1955). Then, from a more religious point of view, there are somewhat detailed Latin biographies by his confessors and chaplains, Geoffrey de Eeaulieu and William de Chartres. Text of these two narratives will be found in the Acta Sanctorum, August, vol. v, but they have been printed more than once elsewhere. Most valuable also is the copious French account of the saint compiled by the confessor of the queen a Latin version of this life, which contains a good deal of information about the canonization, is printed by the Bollandists. From the king's own hand we have the account of his captivity, and the instructions which he drew up for his son Philip and his daughter Isabel these instructions should not be read without reference to the comments of Paul Viollet in the Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des chartes, 1869 and 1874. There are excellent modern lives by H. Wallon (1875), and on a smaller scale (in the series "Les Saints ") by Marius Sepet (Eng. trans.). Cf. also especially Elie Berger, Saint Louis et Innocent IV and the same author's Histoire de Blanche de Castille and the Cambridge Mediaeval History, vol. vi. Among slighter sketches, which are numerous in every language, that of W. F. Knox, The Court of a Saint, may be recommended. The French name Louis should properly be rendered in English as Lewis.

Was the 9th of his name. He was born at Poissy, France, in 1214. His father was Louis VIII, and his mother was Blanche, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castille, surnamed the Conqueror. At the age of 12 he lost his father, and his mother became regent of the kingdom. From his tenderest infancy she inspired him with a love for holy things.
St. Louis of France (1226-1270)
At his coronation as king of France, Louis bound himself by oath to behave as God’s anointed, as the father of his people and feudal lord of the King of Peace. Other kings had done the same, of course. Louis was different in that he actually interpreted his kingly duties in the light of faith. After the violence of two previous reigns, he brought peace and justice.
He was crowned king at 12, at his father’s death. His mother, Blanche of Castile, ruled during his minority. When he was 19, (and his bride 12) he was married to Marguerite of Provence. It was a loving marriage, despite her arrogant and restless nature. They had 10 children.
Louis “took the cross” for a Crusade when he was 30. His army took Damietta on the Nile but not long after, weakened by dysentery and without support, they were surrounded and captured. Louis obtained the release of the army by giving up the city of Damietta in addition to paying a ransom. He stayed in Syria four years.
He is admired as a crusader, but perhaps he deserves greater credit for his extending justice in civil administration. He drew up regulations for his officials which became the first of a series of reform laws. He replaced trial by battle with a form of examination of witnesses and encouraged the beginning of using written records in court.
Louis was always respectful of the papacy, but defended royal interests against the popes and refused to acknowledge Innocent IV’s sentence against Emperor Frederick II.

Louis was devoted to his people, founding hospitals, visiting the sick and, like his patron St. Francis, caring even for people with leprosy. (He is one of the patrons of the Secular Franciscan Order.) Louis united France—lords and townsfolk, peasants and priests and knights—by the force of his personality and holiness. For many years the nation was at peace.
Every day Louis had 13 special guests from among the poor to eat with him, and a large number of poor were served meals near his palace. During Advent and Lent, all who presented themselves were given a meal, and Louis often served them in person. He kept lists of needy people, whom he regularly relieved, in every province of his dominion.
Disturbed by new Muslim advances in Syria, he led another crusade in 1267, at the age of 41. His crusade was diverted to Tunis for his brother’s sake. The army was decimated by disease within a month, and Louis himself died on foreign soil at the age of 44. He was canonized 27 years later.
Comment: Louis was strong-willed, strong-minded. His word was trusted utterly, and his courage in action was remarkable. What is most remarkable was his sense of respect for anyone with whom he dealt, especially the “humble folk of the Lord.” To care for his people he built cathedrals, churches, libraries, hospitals and orphanages. He dealt with princes honestly and equitably. He hoped to be treated the same way by the King of Kings, to whom he gave his life, his family and his country.
In 1234, he married Margaret, the virtuous daughter of Raymond Berenger, Count of Provence, and two years later he took the reigns of government into his own hands. In 1238, he headed a crusade, in which he fell a prisoner among the Mohammedans, but a truce was concluded and he was set free and he returned to France. In 1267, he again set out for the East at the head of a crusade but he never again beheld his native land. In 1270, he was stricken by the pestilence at the siege of Tunis, and died after receiving the Last Sacraments.

1624 Bl. Louis Baba Martyr Japan Franciscan native
He went with Blessed Louis Sotelo to Europe, and upon returning to Japan, was arrested. Louis received the Franciscan habit in Omura. He was burned alive in Shimabara. Louis was beatified in 1867 .

1624 Bl. Peter Vasquez Martyr in Japan Born in Galicia Spain
He entered the Dominicans and after training was sent to Japan. Captured during the Japanese persecutions, he was burned alive at Shimabara with Blessed Louis Sotelo and others .

1624 Bl. Louis Sasanda native Martyr Japan
The son of Blessed Michael Sasanda. In 1613, this Japanese youth became a Franciscan in Mexico and was ordained in 1622 in Manila, Philippines. He returned to Japan and was arrested and burned alive at Shimabara with Blessed Louis Sotelo. He was beatified in 1867 .

1624 Bl. Louis Sotelo Franciscan martyr Japan noble of Spain.
Louis Was a noble of Spain, who was ordained and sent to Manila, Philippines, in 1601. He went to Japan in 1603 but was exiled. Returning to Spain in 1613, he visited Rome in 1622, and then went again to Japan. He was arrested in Nagasaki and burned alive at Shimabara. Louis was beatified in 1867 .

1648 St. Joseph Calasanctius Founder of Scolopi or Piarists
Romæ natális sancti Joséphi Calasánctii, Presbyteri et Confessóris, vitæ innocéntia et miráculis illústris; qui, ad erudiéndam pietáte ac lítteris juventútem, Ordinem Clericórum Regulárium Páuperum Matris Dei Scholárum Piárum fundávit. Eum Pius Duodécimus, Póntifex Máximus, ómnium Scholárum populárium christianárum ubíque exsisténtium cæléstem apud Deum Patrónum constítuit. Ipsíus tamen festívitas sexto Kaléndas Septémbris recólitur.
At Rome, the birthday of St. Joseph Calasanctius, priest and confessor, noteworthy for his holy life and miracles. He founded the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Christian Schools. The Sovereign Pontiff, Pius XII, named him as heavenly patron of all Christian schoolchildren. His feast is on the 27th of August.

St Joseph Calasanctius, Founder of The Clerks Regular of The Religious Schools

Joseph Calasanctius was the youngest of five children borne by Maria Gaston to her husband Pedro Calasanz. He was born in his father's castle near Peralta de Ia Sal in Aragon in the year 1556, and in due course was sent to study the humanities at Estadilla, where his virtue and religious observances were regarded with considerable disrespect by his fellow-students. His father wanted him to be a soldier, but Joseph had other ideas and induced Don Pedro instead to send him to the University of Lerida, where he took his doctorate in law before going on to Valencia. It is said that he left this university in order to escape the attentions of a young kinswoman, who subjected him to a temptation similar to that undergone by his namesake many centuries before at the court of Pharaoh certainly he continued his theology at Alcalá, and in 1583 he was ordained priest, being already twenty-eight years old.
Soon the fame of Joseph's wisdom, learning and goodness was spread abroad, and after varied experience he was appointed by the bishop of Urgel vicar general of the district of Trempe. He was so successful here that he was sent to deal with the Pyrenean part of the diocese, which comprises the valleys of Andorra of which the bishop of Urgel was joint sovereign prince (he still holds the title) as well as ordinary. This lonely and inaccessible region was in a terrible state of religious and moral disorder, and St Joseph conducted a long and arduous visitation of which the first task was to bring the clergy to a sense of their responsibilities and obligations;   on its completion he returned to Trempe and remained there until he was made vicar general of the whole diocese.
For some time Joseph had been listening to an interior call to undertake a quite different sort of work; at length he resigned his office and benefices, divided his patrimony between his sisters and the poor, reserving a sufficient income for himself, endowed several charitable institutions, and in 1592 left Spain for Rome. Here Joseph met an old friend of Alcalá, Ascanio Colonna, already a cardinal, and for five years he was under the direct patronage of the Colonnas. During the plague of 1595 he distinguished himself by his devotion and fearlessness, and entered into a holy rivalry with his friend St Camillus of Lellis as to who should expend himself the more freely in the service of the sick and.dying.
During these years St Joseph never lost sight of the work which had drawn him to Rome, namely, the instruction of young children, of whom there were so many, neglected or homeless, in the most urgent need of interest and care. He had become a member of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, whose business it was to teach both children and adults on Sundays and feast-days, and in so doing was brought home vividly to St Joseph the state of degradation and ignorance in which so many of the children of the poor lived. He was soon convinced that periodical instruction was utterly inadequate to cope with the situation; and that free day-schools for both religious and secular education were required. He therefore first of all invited the official parish-schoolmasters to admit poor pupils to their schools without payment, but they would not undertake the extra work without a rise in salary, and this the Roman senate refused to grant.
He approached the Jesuits and the Dominicans, but neither order could see a way to extending its activities, for their members were already fully engaged. St Joseph then came to the conclusion that it was God's will that he should begin the work himself, single-handed if necessary. Don Antonio Brendani, parish-priest of Santa Dorotea, offered him the use of two rooms and his own services, two more priests joined them, and in November 1597 a public free school was opened. At the end of a week the school had a hundred pupils and before long many more, and the founder had to engage paid teachers from among the unbeneficed clergy of the city.
In 1599 it was moved into new quarters and St Joseph obtained permission from Cardinal Ascanio to leave the Colonna household and take up his residence on the school premises with the other masters; they lived a quasi-community life and the founder acted as superior. During the following couple of years the pupils increased to seven hundred, and in 1602 another move was made, to a large house adjoining the church of Sant' Andrea della Valle.   While hanging a bell in the courtyard St Joseph fell from a ladder and broke his leg, an accident the effects of which were a source of lameness and pain for the rest of his life.
Pope Clement VIII having made a grant towards the rent, and people of consequence having begun to send their children to the school, the parish-schoolmasters and others began to criticize it with some vehemence; complaints of its disorders were made to the pope and he directed Cardinals Antoniani and Baronius to pay it a surprise visit of inspection.   This was done and as a result of their report Clement took the institution under his immediate protection.
In similar circumstances the same course was taken and the grant doubled in 1606 by Paul V.
These difficulties were the beginning of trials and persecutions which beset St Joseph until the end of his life. Nevertheless during the succeeding five years the work prospered and grew in spite of all opposition, and in 1611 a palazzo was purchased to house it near the church of San Pantaleone; there were about a thousand pupils, including a number of Jews whom the founder himself invited to attend and encouraged by his kindness.
Other schools were opened, and in 1621 the teachers were recognized as a religious order, of which St Joseph was named superior general. He did not let the cares of the generalate diminish either religious observances or his care for the needy, the sick, and any to whom he could be of service.   About this time there came to Rome, with his wife and family, an English gentleman, Mr Thomas Cocket, who by abjuring Protestantism had brought himself within reach of the penal laws. St Joseph assisted him, and the pope followed his example assigning a pension to the refugee converts. For ten years the congregation continued to prosper and extend, and spread from Italy into the Empire.

In 1630, the institute at Naples admitted one Mario Sozzi, a middle-aged priest, who in due course was professed. For several years his froward and perverse behaviour made him a great nuisance to his brethren but, having by a show of zeal gained the good will and influence of the Holy Office, he contrived to get himself, in 1639, made provincial of the Clerks Regular of the Religious Schools in Tuscany, with extraordinary powers and independence of the superior general. He proceeded to administer the province in the most capricious and damaging way, harmed as much as he could the reputation of St Joseph with the Roman authorities, and at length denounced him to the Holy Office.
Cardinal Cesarini, as protector of the new institute and in order to vindicate Joseph, ordered Father Mario's papers and letters to be seized these included some documents of the Holy Office and that congregation, spurred on by Sozzi, straightway had St Joseph arrested and carried through the streets like a felon.
He was brought before the assessors and only saved from imprisonment by the intervention of Cardinal Cesarini. Father Mario was unpunished, and continued to plot for control of the whole institute, representing St Joseph to be too old and doddering for the responsibility he managed by deceit to get him suspended from the generalate and contrived that a visitor apostolic be appointed who was favourable to himself. This visitor and Father Mario became in effect in supreme command, and St Joseph was subjected by them to the most humiliating, insulting and unjust treatment, while the order was reduced to such confusion and impotence that the loyal members were unable to persuade the superior authorities of the true state of affairs.
Towards the end of 1643 Mario died and was succeeded by Father Cherubini, who pursued the same policy. St Joseph bore these trials with marvellous patience, urging the order to obey his persecutors for they were defacto in authority, and on one occasion sheltering Cherubini from the violent opposition of some of the younger fathers who were indignant at his treachery.
The Holy See had some time previously set up a commission of cardinals to look into the whole matter, and at length in 1645 it ordered the reinstatement of St Joseph as superior general. This announcement was received with great joy but it led at once to renewed efforts on the part of the malcontents, who had the support of an aggrieved female relative of the pope. They were successful, and in 1646 Pope Innocent X published a brief of which the effect was to make the Clerks Regular of the Religious Schools simply a society of priests subject to their respective bishops. Thus in his ninetieth year St Joseph saw the apparent overturning of all his work by the authority to which he was so greatly devoted and the indirect disgrace of himself before the world when the news was brought to him he simply murmured,

"The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

The business of drawing up new constitutions and regulations for the shattered institute of Religious Schools was entrusted to Father Cherubini, but within a few months he was convicted by the auditors of the Rota of the maladministration of the Nazarene College, of which he was rector. He retired from Rome in disgrace, but returned in the following year to die, repentant of the part he had played and reconciled to St Joseph, who consoled him on his death-bed. A few months later, on August 25, 1648, St Joseph himself died, and was buried in the church of San Pantaleone he was ninety-two years old.
There is an obvious parallel between this history and that of St Alphonsus Liguori and the early days of the Redemptorists, and during the troubles of his young congregation St Alphonsus used to encourage and fortify himself by reading the life of St Joseph Calasanctius; he was canonized in 1767, six years before the death of Alban Butler, who only gives to him a brief notice, wherein he is referred to as "a perpetual miracle of fortitude and another Job"-a comparison made by Cardinal Lambertini (afterwards Pope Benedict XIV) before the Congregation of Sacred Rites in 1728.
The failure of St Joseph's foundation was only apparent. Its suppression was strongly objected to in several places, and it was reconstituted with simple vows in 1656 and restored as a religious order in 1669. Today the Clerks Regular of the Religious Schools (commonly called Piarists or Scolopi) flourish in various parts of the world.
The documents submitted in the process of beatification and canonization have been largely utilized by the biographers of St Joseph Calasanctius, and this is notably the case in the life written in Italian in the eighteenth century, a translation of which was published in the Oratorian Series edited by Father Faber (1850). The earliest detailed account of Calasanctius seems to have been compiled by one of his religious sons, Father Mussesti, for the information of Pope Alexander VII, less than twenty years after the saint's death. A considerable number of biographies have since appeared in Italian, French, Spanish and German. Those by Timon-David (1883), Tommasee (1898), Casanovas y Sanz (1930), Heidenreich (1907), Giovanozzi (1930) and Santoloci (1948) may be specially mentioned. See also Heimbucher, Orden, und Kongregationen der Kat. Kirche, vol. iii, pp. 287-296 and Pastor, Geschichte der Papste, especially vol. xi, pp. 431-433 (Eng. trans.).

St. Joseph Calasanctius Called in religion "a Matre Dei", founder of the Piarists, b. 11 Sept., 1556, at the castle of Calasanza near Petralta de la Sal in Aragon; d. 25 Aug., 1648, at Rome; feast 27 Aug. His parents, Don Pedro Calasanza and Donna Maria Gastonia, gave Joseph, the youngest of five children, a good education at home and then at the school of Petralta. After his classical studies at Estadilla he took up philosophy and jurisprudence at Lérida and merited the degree of Doctor of Laws, and then with honours completed his theological course at Valencia and Alcalá de Henares. His mother and brother having died, Don Pedro wanted Joseph to marry and perpetuate the family. God interfered by sending a sickness in 1582 which soon brought Joseph to the brink of the grave. On his recovery he was ordained priest 17 Dec., 1583, by Hugo Ambrose de Moncada, Bishop of Urgel. Joseph began his labours as priest in the Diocese of Albarracin, where Bishop della Figuera appointed him his theologian and confessor, synodal examiner, and procurator, and when the bishop was transferred to Lérida his theologian followed him to the new diocese. In 1586 della Figuera was sent as Apostolic visitator to the Abbey of Montserrat, and Joseph accompanied him as secretary. The bishop died the following year and Joseph left, though urgently requested to remain. He hurried to Calasanza only to be present at the death of his father. He was then called by his Bishop of Urgel to act as vicar-general for the district of Trempe. In 1592 he embarked for Rome, where he found a protector in Cardinal Marcantonio Colonna who chose him as his theologian and instructor to his nephew. Rome offered a splendid field for works of charity, especially for the instruction of neglected and homeless children, many of whom had lost their parents. Joseph joined a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and gathered the boys and girls from the streets and brought them to school. The teachers, being poorly paid, refused to accept the additional labour without remuneration. The pastor of S. Dorotea, Anthony Brendani, offered him two rooms and promised assistance in teaching, and when two other priests promised similar help, Joseph, in November, 1597, opened the first public free school in Europe. Pope Clement VIII gave an annual contribution and many others shared in the good work, so that in a short time Joseph had about a thousand children under his charge. In 1602 he rented a house at S. Andrea della Valle and commenced a community life with his assistants and laid the foundation of the Order of Piarists. Much envy and opposition arose against him and his new institute, but all were overcome in time. In 1612 the school was transferred to the Torres palace adjoining S. Pantaleone. Here Joseph spent the remaining years of his life in his chosen calling. He lived and died a faithful son of the church, a true friend of forsaken children. His body rests in S. Paltaleone. His beatification was solemnized on 7 Aug., 1748, and his canonization by Clement XIII, 16 July, 1767.

Founder of the Religious Schools, called the Scolopi or Piarists. Joseph was born in Peralta, Aragon, Spain. He went to Rome in 1592 and joined the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, founding his congregation as a result of his work with neglected children. Joseph suffered unjust accusations but restored as head of his congregation before he died. He was canonized in 1767.

1826 St Joan Antide-Thouret, Virgin, Foundress of The Sisters of Charity Under St Vincent's Protection

Joan Antide-Thouret was born on November 27, 1765, at Sancey-le-Long, near Besançon. Her father was a tanner, and she was the fifth child of a large family. She lost her mother when she was sixteen, and thereafter took charge of her father's household, which she managed for six years until it was made clear to her that she was called to serve God in the religious life, and she was accepted by the Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul in Paris. During her period of postulancy and noviceship Sister Joan was twice taken very seriously ill, and when the Revolution began the Sisters of Charity were allowed to carry on their work only on sufferance, so when in 1793 the religious were dispersed she had not yet made her profession. She made her escape from Paris and begged her way on foot to Besançon, and then to her home at Sancey. Her father was now dead, and to her bitter grief one of her brothers had become a revolutionary.
So she went to live with her godmother and opened a free school, where in the mornings she taught reading, writing and catechism to the village children, and spent the rest of the day, and much of the night, in visiting the sick and needy all over the large parish. She sheltered priests and enabled them to celebrate Mass and administer the sacraments. Joan was denounced to the magistrates for these activities, but her disarming frankness kept her from harm. But in 1796 she took refuge in Switzerland and attached herself to the Sisters of the Christian Retreat, established by the Ven. Antony Receveur at Fribourg; she accompanied them to Germany, but after a time was advised to return to Switzerland, and again begged her way on foot, this time to Landeron, in the canton of Neufchâtel. Here she met M. de Chaffoy, vicar general of Besançon, who invited her to come back there now conditions were improved and take charge of a school. She at first demurred, pointing out that she had had no proper formation and training in the religious life, but M. de Chaffoy waved aside her scruples: "All that is true, but you can do it, nevertheless. Courage, virtue and trust in God are what are required, and it seems to me that you have these qualities."

In April 1799 the school was opened at Besançon and in the following October, with four other sisters, had to move to a larger house, to which they added a soup-kitchen and a dispensary. In 1800 the community numbered twelve, and a regular novitiate was begun. St Joan was subjected to much adverse criticism for having established this new institute, it being objected that after the Concordat of 1801 she ought to have returned to her own congregation in Paris. She herself had scruples in this matter, but was assured by M. de Chaffoy that she was under no obligation towards the community to which she had formerly belonged: she had taken no vows with them, she had been separated from them by force of the Revolution, and the community was not yet re-established. And she had established the Besançon institute purely and simply in obedience to her ecclesiastical superiors.
At request of prefect of the city she took charge of municipal female asylum at Belleveaux, which sheltered orphans, beggars and criminals as well as lunatics, and her acceptance of this charge involved her in a deal of odium and persecution which for a time grievously hampered her work. But this was put on a more secure footing when in 1807 the rule of her sisters was approved by Mgr Le Coz, Archbishop of Besançon.
By 1810 they had spread into Switzerland and Savoy, and in that year Joachim Murat, King of Naples, asked St Joan to occupy the convent of Regina Coeli and administer a hospital in his capital city. With seven sisters she accordingly went, and remained there until 1821 laying firm foundations for the educating of girls, the care of the sick, and the spiritual and temporal welfare of her community. One of the first things to be done, and St Joan did it with determination and spirit, was to get rescinded in their favour the local law which put nuns at the mercy of the civil authorities and forbade their dependence on a foreign mother general.
In 1818 Pope Pius VII approved the institute, and confirmed it by a brief in the following year.
But this, instead of giving joy and increased stability to the sisters, precipitated a schism that filled with sorrow the remaining years of life of the foundress. In its approbatory brief the Holy See made some small alterations in the rule, and decreed that for the future all the convents of the congregation of the Daughters of Charity under the protection of St Vincent de Paul (as they were to be called) were to be subject to their local bishop and not, as hitherto, to the archbishop of Besançon. The then archbishop, Mgr Cortois de Pressigny, a Gallican-minded prelate, announced that he refused to accept these ammedments, and he separated all the convents in his diocese from the rest of the congregation and even forbade them to receive their foundress and mother general within their walls.
In 1821 she came to France and passed eighteen months in Paris, trying in vain to smooth out the difficulties. As a last resort she presented herself at the mother-house in Besançon-and was refused admission. Both charity and facts incline us to the view that this action was prompted not by partizanship but by obedience to their archbishop. Before the schism hardened many of the sisters of the Besançon diocese openly adhered to their foundress and to the directions of the Holy See.
St Joan wrote of these troubtes, "As for French affairs, we commit all to divine providence. With the advice of the Holy See we have done all that is possible to achieve unity; that unity has not yet been effected. We therefore leave it to the mercy of God, in whose hands we long ago placed it. May His will be done and everything be for His glory!" Then she returned to Naples and, having spent three strenuous years in founding new convents in Italy, she died peacefully on August 24, 1826. St Joan Antide-Thouret was canonized in 1934.
There are biographies in French by P. Bernard and by F. Trochu (the best), and in English by Blanche Anderdon.

1865 St. Maria Michaela Desmaisieres work for street women Foundress of The Handmaids of The Blessed Sacrament
St Mary Michaela Desmaisieres, Virgin, Foundress of The Handmaids of The Blessed Sacrament
This Spanish lady, who had the title of viscountess and is sometimes referred to by her long family style, is Called in the documents of the Congregation of Rites simply Maria Michaela Desmaisières. She was born in Madrid in 1809, lost her mother in childhood, and resisted all attempts to persuade her to marry but she lived for some years with her brother while he was Spanish ambassador at Paris and Brussels. Her position necessitated attendance at banquets, state balls and theatrical performances, but she fortified herself against this outwardly worldly life by daily communion and by wearing instruments of penance beneath her dress. All her interest was given to the religious instruction of the ignorant, the rescue of the unprotected and the fallen, and the relief of sickness and poverty.
When she returned to Spain she started more than one organization for work of this kind, but she had to encounter in full measure the contradictions which usually beset such efforts. Her most lasting achievement was the foundation of the congregation of Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity, of which she was elected mother general in 1859. Its work is for women of the streets. This institute was approved by the Holy See for five years in the lifetime of its foundress, and shortly after her death it obtained permanent recognition. It had in the meantime spread widely and was full of promise for the future. In 1865 in connection with this final approbation Mother Michaela had set out on her way to Rcme, when an epidemic of cholera broke out in Valencia. Thither she hastened to the succour of her religious daughters, who were attending the plague-stricken. But though she had more than once in previous outbreaks attended cholera patients, she took the infection herself and died, a victim of charity, on August 24. She was canonized in 1934.

The brief of beatification with a biographical summary is printed in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. xvii (1925), pp. 292-296. See also Kempf, Holiness of the Church in the Nineteenth Century, pp. 199-201 and Angeio Romano di S. Teresa, La Beata Maria Michelina del Sacramento

This Spanish Lady was born in Madrid in 1809, lost her mother in childhood, and resisted all attempts to persuade her to marry; she lived with her brother for some years while he was Spanish ambassador at Paris and Brussels. All her interest was given to the religious instruction of the ignorant, the rescue of the unprotected and the fallen, and the relief of sickness and poverty. When she returned to Spain she started more than one organization for work of this kind; her most lasting achievement was the foundation of the congregation of Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity, of which she was elected Mother General in 1859. Its work is for women of the streets. This Institute was approved by the Holy See for five years in the lifetime of its foundress, and shortly after her death it obtained permanent recognition. It had in the meantime spread widely and was full of promise for the future. In 1865 in connection with this final approbation Mother Michaela had set out on her way to Rome, when an epidemic of cholera broke out in Valencia. She hastened to the help of her religious daughters, who were attending the plague-stricken. But though she had more than once in previous outbreaks attended cholera patients, she took the infection herself and died, a victim of charity on August 24th. She was canonized in 1934 (1925). .

St. Macarius Translocation of the Body of to His Monastery in Scetis. {Coptic}
On this day, the church celebrates the return of the body of St. Macarius to his monastery in the desert of Sheahat (Scetis). After the departure of St. Macarius, some of the natives of the city of Shanshour (Shabsheer) came and stole his body. They built a large church for him, and placed the body in it. Later on, his body was moved to another town where he stayed for four hundred forty years, till the time of Pope Michael V (Anba Mikhail V), the 71st Pope. When Pope Michael went to the wilderness to observe the holy fast in the monastery, he sighed and said, "How much I yearn that God would help us so that the body of our father Anba Macarius be in our midst."

Later on, the abbot of the monastery, the Archpriest (Hegumen) Michael, went with some of the elders on certain business of the monastery, and they thought of bringing back the body of the saint to their monastery. They came to where the body was, but the people of the town and the governor assembled against them with swords and sticks and prevented them from taking the body. The elders spent the night in great sorrow. The governor saw that night a vision of St. Macarius telling him, "Let my children take my body and do not prevent them." The governor was frightened and he called the elders and gave them the body. The elders took the body with great joy, and many faithful people followed them to bid the body farewell.

When the ship arrived in Mariot, they spent the night. The next morning they celebrated the Divine Liturgy and received the Holy Mysteries. Then they loaded the body on a camel to the wilderness. Midway through the journey, they needed to rest, but the Abbot said, "As the Lord lives, we do not rest until the Lord shows us the place where the angel of the Lord held our father's hand." So they kept moving until the camel knelt down and did not get up. The camel started to turn his head around, licking the body and bowing his head down to the ground. Then the elders knew that was the right place, and they glorified God.

As they reached the monastery, all the monks came out holding candles and singing. Then they carried the body on their shoulders and went into the church in a great celebration, and God performed many wonders on that day.

May his prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen .

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

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 46

Give praise to Our Lady, for she is good: in all the tribes of the earth relate her mercies.

Far from the impious is her conversation: her foot has not declined from the way of the Most High.

A fountain of fertilizing grace comes forth from her mouth: and a virginal emanation sanctifying chaste souls.

The hope of the glory of Paradise is in her heart: for the devout soul who shall have honored her.

Have mercy on us, O resplendent Queen of Heaven: and give consolation from thy glory.

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

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

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

There are over 10,000 named saints beati from history
and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources
Patron_Saints.html Widowed_Saints html Indulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East Lourdes 1858 China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine Loreto, Italy Marian Apparitions (over 2000) Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related MarianWebsites Angels and Archangels Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell
Widowed Saints html
Doctors_of_the_Church Acts_Of_The_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates Chalcedon

Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BC Lay Saints Miraculous_Icons Miraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
Miracles by Century 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
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The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him” For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.

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

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos Practical Guide to Holiness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meeting of the Saints walis (saints of Allah)

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

So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life. But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddi n Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA) 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.

801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions. Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq. She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186). Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186). She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching. As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director. She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222). A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid. The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind. She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca: "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God. She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker. Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219). During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?' I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them. I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me? Is it not God Who wills it? When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will? It is not well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic. It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187). She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world. A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill. Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?" (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold. She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him. And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance. She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did. For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself. The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other. When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from. "From that other world," she said. "And where are you going?" she was asked. "To that other world," she replied (219). She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end. Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love. In this quest, logic and reason were powerless. Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition. Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved. Through this communion, she could discover His will for her. Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul." [224]

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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey

Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament

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

Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 14 years Lover of the poor; “A very Holy Man of God.”

Monsignor Reardon Protonotarius Apostolicus
Pastor 42 years BASILICA OF SAINT MARY Minneapolis MN

America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World

August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation

by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908

James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932

Index to Part I and Part II 1932

James M. Reardon Publication History of the Basilica of Saint Mary 1955 {update}

Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America
Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement 1362-1950 (1952);
The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922; (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;

James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872; Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;

Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.

Affiliations and Indulgences Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here. Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon

Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.

The only replicas ever made: in order from west to east {1932}.

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

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

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

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

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

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

By Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

About Father John Corapi.

Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .

The pillars of father's preaching are basically:

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday, November 23 2014 Six to Be Canonized on Feast of Christ the King.

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

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

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

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

October 01, 2015 Vatican City, Pope Authorizes following Decrees
(ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter
Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God
Pope Authorizes Decrees
Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees:

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

HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963);
- Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987);
- Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991);
- Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996);
- Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917);
- Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913);
- Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973).

March 06 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
MIRACLES

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

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

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

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Paqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).

LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000) India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858
China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related Marian Websites Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates, 46 2023