Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary
Concéptio Immaculáta gloriósæ semper Vírginis Genitrícis Dei Maríæ, quam fuísse præservátam, singulári Dei privilégio, ab omni originális culpæ labe immúnem, Pius Nonus, Póntifex Máximus, hac ipsa recurrénte die, solémniter definívit.
The Immaculate Conception of the glorious and ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God.  On this day, Pius IX solemnly declared her to have been by a singular privilege of God preserved from all stain of original sin.
Saints of this Day December  08 Sexto Idus Decémbris
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here }
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.
 BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR    December 2009
General: That children may be respected and loved and never be the victims of exploitation in its various forms.
Mission: That at Christmas the peoples of the earth may recognize in the Word Incarnate the light which illuminates every man and that the Nations may open their doors to Christ, the Saviour of the world.
In 1854 Pius IX {pope 1846-1878)} gave the infallible statement:
“The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted
Feast of the Immaculate Conception  Concéptio Immaculáta gloriósæ semper Vírginis Genitrícis Dei Maríæ, quam fuísse præservátam, singulári Dei privilégio, ab omni originális culpæ labe immúnem, Pius Nonus, Póntifex Máximus, hac ipsa recurrénte die, solémniter definívit.  The Immaculate Conception of the glorious and ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God.  On this day, Pius IX solemnly declared her to have been by a singular privilege of God preserved from all stain of original sin.  by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race,
was preserved free from all stain of original sin.”
1st v. St Sosthenes one of the 70 Apostles of the Saints Apollos, Cephas, Tychicus, Epaphroditus, Caesar, Onesiphorus
Feast of the Immaculate Conception arose in the Eastern Church in the 7th v. came to the West in the 8th.
   283 Pope St. Eutychianus January, 275, until 7 December, 283 the last pope buried in the catacombs of St. Callixtus
       Anthusa The Holy Martyr wife of a Roman official martyred for refusing Arianism
  490 The Holy Martyrs of Africa 62 Clergy 300 Laypeople By a miraculous Divine power they continued to preach and
       to oppose the Arian heresy
  653 St. Romaric monk Merovingian nobleman
        St. Macarius Martyr of Alexandria, Egypt
7th v. Saint Patapius was born at Thebes into a pious Christian family gift of healing, began to help all the needy holy
         relics are found incorrupt to the present day Patapius especially revered in the Eastern Churches.
         Saint Cyril of Chelma Hill Enlightener of the Chudian People luminous ascetic life and kindly preaching moved
         many to accept holy Baptism
        St Sophronius In Cyprus, the holy bishop , who was a devoted protéctor of orphans and widows, and a helper of
        the poor and oppressed.
         St Nemesis, a deacon, his daughter Lucina At Rome, the finding of the holy martyrs Nemesis, a deacon, his daughter Lucina, a virgin, Symphronius, Olympius the tribune and his wife Exuperia and his son Theodulus, whose commemoration is made on the 25th of August.

Verónæ Ordinátio sancti Zenónis Epíscopi.
    At Verona, the ordination of St. Zeno, bishop.

December 8 - Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception  A Time of Waiting Unique in World History (VII)
The astrologers’ expectancy
It now seems to be established scientifically that the astrologers from Babylon were also awaiting the birth of the “ruler of the world” from the year 7 B.C. Kepler, one of the fathers of modern astronomy, observed in December 1603 the very bright alignment of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces. With his calculations, he was able to establish that the same phenomenon (which produces an intense and dazzling light in the star-filled heavens) also must have occurred in the year 7 B.C. Then he discovered that an ancient commentary on the Scriptures by the Rabbi Abarbanel recalled that, according to Jewish belief, the Messiah was due to appear precisely at the time when the light from Jupiter and Saturn shone as a single beam in the constellation of Pisces.
Yet hardly any significance was attached to Kepler’s discovery simply because it had not been established with certainty that Jesus had been born before the traditional date, following a mistake by Denys Petau. More than two centuries later, the Danish scholar Munter was to discover and decipher a mediaeval Hebraic commentary on the “seventy seven-day periods” in the Book of Daniel which alluded to the belief referred to by Kepler. In 1902, the Planetary Table was published that is today preserved in Berlin: an Egyptian papyrus that contains the exact movements of the planets between 17 B.C. and 10 A.D. This draws attention to the alignment between Jupiter and Saturn in 7 B.C., visible in its entire splendor across the Mediterranean region.
Lastly, in 1925, a description of Sippar’s Stellar Calendar was published: a baked earth tablet with cuneiform inscriptions from the ancient settlement of Sippar, on the Euphrates, which was the center of an important school of astrology in Babylon. Remarkably, on this “calendar” are marked all of the heavenly movements and alignments of the year 7 B.C. Why was this? Because, according to the Babylonian astrologers, this alignment that can only be observed every 794 years occurred three times in 7 B.C. ? on May 29, October 1 and December 5. And they considered Jupiter to be the planet of the world’s rulers, Saturn as the planet of those who protect Israel and the constellation of Pisces as the sign of the end of time, that is, the beginning of the Messianic era. (...)
Indeed, it is now certain, that between the Tigris and the Euphrates, not only was a Messiah expected that would emerge from Israel, but that amazingly he would be born in an age and at a time that had been predetermined.
Source: Jesus Hypotheses by Vittorio Messori, Saint Paul Pubns. (1978)

December 8 - Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

A Newly Converted Saul is Confounded by the Greatness of Mary (1I)
It was then that a sad coldness spread over the faces of his guests. Barnabas said, "You have forgotten. Even God waited on her consent--this little maiden just past puberty--to bear His Son! She had been announced from the ages, this virgin child. She nurtured God at her breast; she taught Him to walk; she heard His first childish words. She made His clothing; she rocked Him in her arms; she babbled to Him as only mothers tenderly babble, as infants listen with delight and trust.
She cooked His meat and His fish; she made His bread. She milked the goats for Him, and gathered the fruit.
She attended to the needs of His human flesh. For thirty years
He was hers alone, and what wonders must have been revealed to her! And how she must have brooded and wept over His cradle, understanding that one day He must leave her and bring the holy tidings to mankind, and that he must die under frightful circumstances. The Apostles, and Lucanus, have told us of these things. The Lord performed His first miracle at her loving request. It was He who gave her as Mother to all men, as He hung dying on the infamous cross. She was present when the fire of Pentecost descended on His weeping Apostles and disciples. Did it carefully refrain from blazing upon the Mother?

"She was no 'mere woman,' Saul. She was the Mother of God. He loved her before He loved others in His human flesh. He ran beside her as a Child; He was helplessly dependent on her for nurture. We men love our mothers and reverence them. How much more, then, must God love and bless His mother! Nothing is impossible with God. If He chose to lift her uncorrupted body to Him, as the Messiah had been lifted, who shall dispute Him? (...) If the Lord could so honor and love His Mother, when then should men cavil? Had not she cried, "All generations shall call me blessed?"
Saul shook his head. "It is a mystery," he murmured, with uneasiness. "I must meditate upon it."
The Nazarenes (*Christians) received women among them with full equality and respect. They met in the houses of wives and mothers, to escape the exasperated wrath of their fellow Jews. They honored women because of the Mother of the Messiah.
Excerpt from Great Lion of God,a novel about the life of St Paul,
by Taylor Caldwell (1970, Doubleday, New York, p. 496-497)
“The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the theologian and evangelist says: ‘But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of God....’ Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men who announced the coming of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death, so that we may also share their crowns of glory” Exposition of the Orthodox Faith

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

Join the Mary of Nazareth Project and help us build the International Marian Center of Nazareth.

Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here }

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

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY  PSALM 19
Thou shalt hear us, O Lady, in the day of tribulation: and by our prayers turn to us thy merciful countenance.
Cast us not off in the time of our death: but help the soul, when it shall have left the body.
Send an angel to meet it: by whom it may be defended from the enemy.
Show unto it the most serene Judge of ages: who for thy grace will bestow pardon.
Let it feel thy refreshment in its torments: and grant to it a place among the elect of God.
Glory be to the Father who created Heaven and earth; His only Son who lived and died for all of us;
and the Holy Spirit the Lord giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and Son, with the Father and Son He is Worshiped and Glorified, and He has spoken through the prophets:  Amen.

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THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY TO BE BELIEVED POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI
Morning Prayer and Hymn    Meditation of the Day    Prayer for Priests    Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List  Here
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.

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;
and 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

 breviary.net/martyrology/mart12/mart1208  stlukeorthodox.com/html/saints/august/ usccb.org  ewtn.com  Irondequoit .org Saints Alive
domcentral.org/life/martyrSeptember syriac   oca.org  glaubenszeugen.de/tage/September/   Serbian   http://www.copticchurch.net  Melkite
Monthly Saints with pics here http://www.stfrancisenid.com/memorials.htm
 One Saint per day stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/index.htm    stjohndc.org  God's Humourous Saints
Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart ... From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
On Friday during Holy Communion, He said these words to me, His unworthy slave, if I mistake not: "I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that its all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they will not die under my displeasure or without receiving their sacraments, my divine Heart making itself their assured refuge at the last moment."
Margaret Mary was inspired by Christ to establish the Holy Hour and to pray lying prostrate with her face to the ground from eleven till midnight on the eve of the first Friday of each month, to share in the mortal sadness He endured when abandoned by His Apostles in His Agony, and to receive holy Communion on the first Friday of every month. In the first great revelation, He made known to her His ardent desire to be loved by men and His design of manifesting His Heart with all Its treasures of love and mercy, of sanctification and salvation. He appointed the Friday after the octave of the feast of Corpus Christi as the feast of the Sacred Heart; He called her "the Beloved Disciple of the Sacred Heart", and the heiress of all Its treasures. The love of the Sacred Heart was the fire which consumed her, and devotion to the Sacred Heart is the refrain of all her writings. In her last illness she refused all alleviation, repeating frequently: "What have I in heaven and what do I desire on earth, but Thee alone, O my God", and died pronouncing the Holy Name of Jesus.
With regard to this promise it may be remarked: (1) that our Lord required Communion to be received on a particular day chosen by Him; (2) that the nine Fridays must be consecutive; (3) that they must be made in honor of His Sacred Heart, which means that those who make the nine Fridays must practice the devotion and must have a great love for our Lord; (4) that our Lord does not say that those who make the nine Fridays will be dispensed from any of their obligations or from exercising the vigilance necessary to lead a good life and overcome temptation; rather He implicitly promises abundant graces to those who make the nine Fridays to help them to carry out these obligations and persevere to the end; (5) that perseverance in receiving Holy Communion for nine consecutive First Firdays helps the faithful to acquire the habit of frequent Communion, which our Lord eagerly desires; and (6) that the practice of the nine Fridays is very pleasing to our Lord since He promises such g reat reward, and that all Catholics should endeavor to make the nine Fridays.
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.
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
The POPES HTML
God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven.
"The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints. They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties, how to stand firm in our faith, and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious."  1913 Saint Barsanuphius of Optina
God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven.
The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR benefit of others.
Non est inventus similis illis
283 Pope St. Eutychianus January, 275, until 7 December, 283 the last pope
          buried in the catacombs of St. Callixtus Pope St Callistus (Calixtus) I 218 - 223
If we knew more of St. Callistus from Catholic sources,
he would probably appear as one of the greatest of the popes.

Paul VI_Athenagoras_05_01_1964
Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Instruction on the Contemplative Life includes this passage:  
 "To withdraw into the desert is for Christians tantamount to associating themselves more intimately with Christ’s passion, and it enables them, in a very special way, to share in the paschal mystery and in the passage of Our Lord from this world to the heavenly homeland" (#1).
Benedict_XVI_Patriarch_Bartholomew

but an encounter with a person" -- Benedict XVI
"Christianity is not a moral code or a philosophy,

BenedictXVI_Archbishop_Hilarion
Benedict XVI receives Orthodox Archbishop Hilarion n September 18th, Pope Benedict XVI;  Archbishop Hilarion, president of the Department for External Church Affairs of the Patriarchate of Moscow.
The Orthodox Archbishop is currently visiting the Vatican at the invitation of Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
This Pontifical Council underlined that the visit will confirm the ties of friendship between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, with a view to closer collaboration and to favor the presence of the Church in the lives of the peoples of Europe and the world.
In addition, a further step in ecumenical relations is scheduled for the month of October in Cyprus: the meeting of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, which will address the theme of Petrine Primacy.
Cross Not Optional, Says Benedict XVI
Reflects on Peter's "Immature" Faith CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 31, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Taking up one's cross isn't an option, it's a mission all Christians are called to, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this today before reciting the midday Angelus with several thousand people gathered in the courtyard of the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.
Referring to the Gospel reading for today's Mass, the Holy Father reflected on the faith of Peter, which is shown to be "still immature and too much influenced by the 'mentality of this world.'”  He explained that when Christ spoke openly about how he was to "suffer much, be killed and rise again, Peter protests, saying: 'God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.'"
"It is evident that the Master and the disciple follow two opposed ways of thinking," continued the Pontiff. "Peter, according to a human logic, is convinced that God would never allow his Son to end his mission dying on the cross.  "Jesus, on the contrary, knows that the Father, in his great love for men, sent him to give his life for them, and if this means the passion and the cross, it is right that such should happen."
Christ also knew that "the resurrection would be the last word," Benedict XVI added.
Serious illness
The Pope continued, "If to save us the Son of God had to suffer and die crucified, it certainly was not because of a cruel design of the heavenly Father.  "The cause of it is the gravity of the sickness of which he must cure us: an evil so serious and deadly that it will require all of his blood. 
"In fact, it is with his death and resurrection that Jesus defeated sin and death, reestablishing the lordship of God."
Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Instruction on the Contemplative Life includes this passage:  
 "To withdraw into the desert is for Christians tantamount to associating themselves more intimately with Christ’s passion, and it enables them, in a very special way, to share in the paschal mystery and in the passage of Our Lord from this world to the heavenly homeland" (#1).

"Evil, is only eradicated by holiness, not by harshness. And holiness introduces into society a seed that heals and transforms.  It is like the tectonic plates of the earth’s crust: The deepest layers need only shift a few millimeters to shatter the world’s surface. Yet for this spiritual revolution to occur, we must experience radical 'metanoia'--a conversion of attitudes, habits and practices--for ways that we have misused or abused God’s Word, God’s gifts and God’s creation. The challenge before us is the discernment of God’s Word in the face of evil, the transfiguration of every last detail and speck of this world in the light of Resurrection." "The victory is al ready present in the depths of the Church, whenever we experience the grace of reconciliation and communion."
Patriarch_Bartholomew I: SYNOD OF BISHOPS VATICAN CITY, OCT. 17, 2008
is Holiness Aram I, current (2008) 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.
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.
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. Eccl., V,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.

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.
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams.  Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles
569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti  greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.) , Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam,  Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA)
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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
Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 20 years
Lover of the poor; "A very Holy Man of God"
Monsignor Reardon P.A.  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 5/31/1908
James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932
James M. Reardon Publication  History of the Basilica of Saint Mary 1955 {update}
Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America

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

James Michael Reardon B. 1872, Nova Scotia; Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland; Member  St. Paul Seminary faculty
Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows Here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary spaces filled between with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron  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.  It became the Popes' own cathedral and official residence for the 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 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.
By Father John Corapi, SOLT
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.

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM
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. Although it is supposed to be a religion of peace, Islam has been hijacked by Satan and now operates in the dark space of international terrorism.  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

A New Series by Fr. Corapi! The Moon Under Her Feet CD-Audio Set: $39.00 DVD-Video Set: $45.00  call 1-888-800-7084 or go to Site http://www.fathercorapi.com
In this four part series 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 this four part series on topics more timely than ever.
The four titles are:  1. The Real War We Fight 2. The Battle for Hearts & Minds 3. Leadership: Essential for Victory 4. With the Moon Under Her Feet
DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS
VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2009 (VIS) - Today, during a private audience with Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Pope authorised the congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
All Servants of God
MIRACLES:
- 1909 Ciriaco Maria Sancha y Hervas, Spanish cardinal archbishop of Toledo, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of
          Charity of Cardinal Sancha (1833-1909).
- 1956 Carlo Gnocchi, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the "Pro Juventute" Foundation (1902-1956).
- 1735 Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos, Spanish professed priest of the Company of Jesus (1711-1735).
- 1919 Raphael Rafiringa (ne Louis), Madagascan professed religious of the Institute of Brothers of Christian Schools
          (1856-1919).
- 1946 Eustachio Kugler, (ne Joseph), German professed religious of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God (1867-1946).
 
HEROIC VIRTUES
- 1659 Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, Spanish bishop of Osma (1600-1659).
- 1888 Robert Spiske, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Hedwig (1821-1888).
- 1932 Carolina Beltrami, Italian foundress of the Institute of "Immaculatine" Sisters of Alessandria (1869-1932).
- 1998 Mary of the Immaculate e Conception Salvat y Romerio (nee Maria Isabella), Spanish superior general of the Institute of
          Sisters of the Company of the Cross (1926-1998).
- 1842 Liberata Ferrarons y Vives, Spanish laywoman of the Third Order of Carmelites (1803-1842).
  In the course of a private audience with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. on 22 December 2008, the Pope authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree regarding the heroic virtues of
1871 Jose Tous y Soler, Servant of God Spanish professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins and founder of the
        Capuchin sisters of the Mother of the Divine Shepherd (1811-1871).
CSS/DECREES/AMATO VIS 090119 (320)
RITES OF BEATIFICATION APPROVED BY THE HOLY FATHER VATICAN CITY, 8 SEP 2009 (VIS)
The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff today announced that the following rites of beatification,
approved by the Holy Father, will take place over the coming months:
- Servant of God Eustachio Kugler (ne Joseph), German professed religious of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God: at 2 p.m. on Sunday 4 October in the cathedral of Regensburg, Germany.
- Servant of God Ciriaco Maria Sancha y Hervas, Spanish cardinal and archbishop, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Cardinal Sancha, at 10 a.m. on Sunday 18 October in the cathedral of Toledo, Spain.
- Servant of God Carlo Gnocchi, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the "Pro Juventute" Foundation: at 10 a.m. on Sunday 25 October in the Piazza del Duomo in Milan, Italy.
- Servant of God Zoltan Lajos Meszlenyi, Hungarian bishop and martyr: at 10.30 a.m. on Saturday 31 October in the cathedral of Esztergom, Hungary.
- Servant of God Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas (nee Soultaneh Maria), co-foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem: at 10.30 a.m. on Sunday 22 November, Solemnity of Christ the King, in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel. OCL/BEATIFICATIONS/... VIS 090908 (220)
Holy Land Christians Welcome Beatification Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas to Be Named Blessed in Nazareth  JERUSALEM, SEPT. 10, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Holy Land Christians are rejoicing over the forthcoming beatification, the first to take place in their country, of Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas, which is planned for Nov. 22 in Nazareth.
 
Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of the Holy Land, affirmed this Wednesday, the day after the Holy See publicized the place and date of the beatification. The Vatican communiqué reported that "Mother Ghattas," born Soultaneh Maria, co- founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem, will be beatified on the solemnity of Christ the King in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Father Pizzaballa told the Italian agency Sir that this celebration will be "an important event, which will bring the Palestinian Christian community together again after Benedict XVI's visit."  He explained, "This beatification gives local Christians a symbol and spiritual example at a difficult time, in which their number is diminishing, with so many challenges such as secularization, formation and the political problems that continue unresolved."
 
Mother Ghattas' spiritual daughters, the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary, were very enthusiastic when the news was made public. Sister Ildefonsa, secretary general of the congregation, explained to Sir that not only her congregation but the whole Christian community, especially in Galilee have been preparing for a long time. She stated, "We have sent a letter from the congregation to all the convents spread across the Middle East, so that they will pray and fast faced to the beatification."
 
The beatification "will be, for our Christian communities, an invitation to courage, to stay despite the difficulties," the nun added. "On our part we intend to give them education and instruction." 
Daughter of Palestine 
Ghattas was born on October 4, 1843 in Jerusalem. She entered religious life at age 14, with the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, taking the name Alfonsina. She had visions of the Virgin Mary, who requested that she found a congregation dedicated to the Holy Rosary. In 1880, together with Father Joseph Tannous, she initiated the new religious community, which soon spread all over the Holy Land. The Custos of the Holy Land stated that Mother Ghattas was "a daughter of Palestine who lived in the Holy Land and who understood the importance of instruction and formation to give Christian witness in this tormented region of the world."
HOLY FATHER TO CANONISE FIVE BLESSEDS ON 11 OCTOBER
VATICAN CITY, 1 OCT 2009 (VIS) - At 10 a.m. on Sunday 11 October the Holy Father will celebrate Mass in St. Peter's Square, during which he will canonise five blesseds, according to a communique released today by the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.
  The five future saints are: Zygmunt Szczesny Felinski (1822-1895), Polish former archbishop of Warsaw and founder of the Congregation of Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary; Francesc Coll y Guitart (1812-1875), Spanish professed priest of the Order of Friars Preachers and founder of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Jozef Damian de Veuster (1840-1889), Belgian professed priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar (PICPUS); Blessed Rafael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938), Spanish oblate friar of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, and Mary of the Cross Jugan (nee Jeanne) (1792-1879), French virgin and foundress of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor.
OCL/CANONISATIONS/...                                                           VIS 091001 (190)
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St Sosthenes one of the 70 Apostles of the Saints Apollos, Cephas, Tychicus, Epaphroditus, Caesar, Onesiphorus
Chosen and sent by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to preach. They were chosen some time after the selection of the Twelve Apostles (Luke 10:1-24).

St Sosthenes, before accepting Christianity, was head of the Jewish synagogue at Corinth. During a riot against the Apostle Paul, he too suffered a beating. He was converted by Paul to faith in Christ and afterwards became bishop at Caesarea.

All of these saints departed peacefully to the Lord (they are also commemorated on March 30). The Church also remembers St Onesiphorus (September 7) with them.

St Apollos (September 10) was a native of Alexandria and was a man of erudition. The chief place of his service was at Corinth. He toiled there for a long time and converted many to Christ. Towards the end of his life he preached on the island of Crete and was Bishop of Caesarea.

St Cephas was bishop at Colophon, Pamphylia.

St Tychicus native of Asia Minor disciple and companion of the holy Apostle Paul. During St Paul's first imprisonment, he delivered the Epistles to the Ephesians and to the Colossians. He replaced St Sosthenes on the episcopal throne at Caesarea.

St Epaphroditus one of the Apostle Paul's closest assistants and companions; bishop of the Thracian city of Adriaca.

St Caesar preached at and was bishop of Dyrrhachium, a district of the Peloponnesos in Greece.
Feast of the Immaculate Conception arose in the Eastern Church in the 7th v. came to the West in the 8th.

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
BY the bull Ineffabilis Deus of December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX, by an exercise of his supreme pontifical power of infallible teaching, pronounced and defined it to be “a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful that the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first instant of her conception was, by an unique grace and privilege of Almighty God in view of the merits of Jesus Christ the Saviour of the human race, preserved exempt from all stain of original sin.”
That is to say that her soul at the first moment of its creation and infusion into her body was clothed in sanctifying grace, which to every other child of Adam is only given in the first instance after birth and, since Christ, at baptism (though it is generally held that Jeremias and St John Baptist received it before birth, but not at conception). The stain of original sin was not removed but excluded from her soul.

For two hundred and fifty years before this solemn definition the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception had been universally believed in the Church (it was, of course, implicit in the deposit of faith from the beginning) and public teaching to the contrary was forbidden; but it was not “of faith” (it had somewhat the same position as the doctrine of the Assumption of our Lady held until 1950).
   It is therefore found that Alban Butler writes on this day under the heading simply of the “Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, and says, “It is the most generally received belief, though not defined as an article of faith, that in her very conception she was immaculate. Many prelates and a great number of Catholic universities have declared themselves in strong terms in favour of this doctrine; and several popes have severely forbidden any one to impugn or to dispute or write against it. Nevertheless, it is forbidden to rank it among articles of faith defined by the Church, or to censure those who ‘privately hold the contrary’ ”. “But”, he goes on; “it is sufficient for us, who desire as dutiful sons of the Church to follow her direction in all such points, that she manifestly favours this opinion”. “The very respect which we owe to the Mother of God and the honour due to her divine Son incline us to believe this privilege most suitable to her state of spotless holiness.” Since Pius IX spoke in 1854 the reservations mentioned by Butler have ceased to exist and every Catholic is bound to believe by divine faith that the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is true.

A liturgical feast commemorating the conception of our Lady by the power of her father in the womb of her mother (without any reference to Mary’s sinlessness) seems to have been originally celebrated in Palestine. There is much reason to believe that the idea of this conception feast for our Lady was suggested by the earlier existence of a conception feast for St John Baptist, which is found at the beginning of the seventh century. For a long time the expression Conception of Mary was taken to mean the conception of our incarnate Lord within her womb by the power of the Holy Ghost (which we celebrate on the feast of the Annunciation), and consequently the new feast referred to was called the Conception of (or by) St Anne.* {*    It is a quite understandable error among non-Catholics not informed on the matter that the expression Immaculate Conception refers to the virginal conception of our Lord.}

In the ninth century it was imported to southern Italy and Sicily from Constantinople, still called the Conception of St Anne and with no idea of the immaculate conception. + {+ The feast has maintained this name in the East and even the Catholic Byzantines call it officially the “Child-begetting of the holy Anne, mother of the Mother of God”, and keep it on December 9, the original Eastern date. But, of course, it is for them now the same feast as our Immaculate Conception. The dissident Eastern churches have no official teaching about the doctrine: some theologians have repudiated it, others have taught it.  The people probably believe it, at least implicitly. The original Russian sect of Old Believers is said to have professed it formally. The calendar of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer still has the “Conception of the Virgin Mary” on December 8.}
The first clear evidences of a feast of the Conception of our Lady, and under that name, in the West come from England, at Winchester, Canterbury and Exeter just before the Norman Conquest. This was identified with December 8; *{* The date was fixed by the feast of the Birthday of our Lady, nine months before September 8. why this date was selected for the birthday is not known.} and when we remember that in Jerusalem and Constantinople, and also in Naples, December 9 was the day assigned for this observance it seems probable that the determining influence came from the East.

In England, again as in the East, the observance began in the monasteries, and its first two mentions are found in calendars of the abbey called the New Minster, at Winchester. It met with opposition as an innovation. But a disciple of St Anselm, the monk Eadmer, wrote an important treatise on our Lady’s conception, and the archbishop’s nephew, another Anselm, introduced the feast of the Conception into his own abbey at Bury St Edmunds. It was soon taken up by Saint Albans, Reading, Gloucester and others. Some monks of Westminster, where the prior, Osbert of Clare, favoured the feast, challenged its lawfulness, but it was approved by a synod in London in 1129.
   At the same time the feast began to spread in Normandy, though whether it was first brought there from England or from southern Italy, then in Norman occupation, is not clear.

The adoption of the feast in the cathedral church of Lyons, about the year 1140, was the occasion of a protest by St Bernard which precipitated a theological controversy that was to last for three hundred years, the point at issue being the moment at which the sanctification of Mary took place. But however the controversy fluctuated from one to another of its several sides, the observance of the feast of the Conception of our Lady steadily progressed. In 1263 the whole Order of Friars Minor, who became the great defenders of the Immaculate Conception, whereas the Dominican theologians generally opposed it, adopted it.

In spite of its popularity in England, Canterbury did not adopt the feast until 1328, and it was not till 1476 that the Franciscan pope, Sixtus IV, officially adopted it for the Roman church. The feast was still of the Conception of the Immaculate One rather than of the Immaculate Conception as we understand it, though, as Butler pertinently notes, the sanctification of our Lady rather than her bare conception is the object of the Church’s devotion. But in 1661 Pope Alexander VII declared that the feast celebrated the immunity of our Lady from original sin in the first moment of the creation of her soul and its infusion into her body, i.e. the moment of “passive conception” in the sense of the Catholic doctrine. In 1708 Pope Clement XI imposed the festival on the whole Western church as a feast of precept.

After the solemn definition of the dogma in 1854 the name of the feast was altered to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and nine years later a new Mass and Office in accordance therewith was prescribed. Since then, and indeed for some time before, the veneration of our Lady as immaculately conceived has become one of the most popular aspects of Marian devotion.
Of the eighteen dioceses of England and Wales, ten have our Lady as conceived sinless for their principal patron.
Saint Mary was declared patroness of the United States under this title by the first Council of Baltimore eight years before the definition. Hundreds of churches throughout the world are dedicated to God in honour of our Lady so regarded.  There is, of course, an immense literature connected with the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and with its liturgical celebration. Perhaps the fullest account is furnished in the article by Fathers Le Bachelet and Jugie in DTC., vol. vii, which runs to over three hundred and fifty columns. See also on the feast Fr Thurston in The Month, 1904, May, June, July and December, with E. Bishop’s criticisms in the Bosworth Psalter, pp. 43—55, and Liturgica Historica, pp. 238—259; and on the entry in early Irish calendars, Fr Grosjean’s very important “note “ in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxi (1943), pp. 95—95, where he shows that these entries got into certain manuscripts “par une bévue de copiste”. There are two valuable articles on the feast in the Byzantine church in Bessarione, September and December 1904. The first well-considered theological treatise arguing soberly that our Lady’s conception was immaculate is that of Eadmer, the devoted adherent and biographer of St Anselm, though in this he departs from the view held by the saint himself. The text with other matter was critically edited in Slater and Thurston, Eadmeri Tractatus de Conceptione Sanctae Mariae (1904). It has been translated into French by H. del Marmot (1923). For many centuries after Eadmer’s day the discussion went on, but for this see the bibliography of Fr Le Bachelet and the article of A. W. Burridge in the Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique vol. xxxii (1936), pp. 570—597, entitled “L’Immaculée Conception dans la théologie de l’Angleterre médiévale”. There is a recent work by M. Jugie, L’Immaculée Conception dans l’Écriture sainte (1952). For the origin of the Western feast, see Fr. S. J. P. van Dijk in the Dublin Review, 3rd and 4th qrs., 1954; and for the devotion, Mgr H. F. Davis in the latter issue of the same.

A feast called the Conception of Mary arose in the Eastern Church in the seventh century. It came to the West in the eighth century. In the eleventh century it received its present name, the Immaculate Conception. In the eighteenth century it became a feast of the universal Church.
   In 1854 Pius IX {(Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti b.1792, pope 1846-1878)} gave the infallible statement: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted Feast of the Immaculate Conceptionby almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin.”
   It took a long time for this doctrine to develop. While many Fathers and Doctors of the Church considered Mary the greatest and holiest of the saints, they often had difficulty in seeing Mary as sinless—either at her conception or throughout her life. This is one of the Church teachings that arose more from the piety of the faithful than from the insights of brilliant theologians. Even such champions of Mary as Bernard and Thomas Aquinas could not see theological justification for this teaching.
Two Franciscans, William of Ware and Blessed John Duns Scotus, helped develop the theology. They point out that Mary’s Immaculate Conception enhances Jesus’ redemptive work. Other members of the human race are cleansed from original sin after birth. In Mary, Jesus’ work was so powerful as to prevent original sin at the outset.
Comment:    In Luke 1:28 the angel Gabriel, speaking on God’s behalf, addresses Mary as “full of grace” (or “highly favored”). In that context this phrase means that Mary is receiving all the special divine help necessary for the task ahead. However, the Church grows in understanding with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit led the Church, especially non-theologians, to the insight that Mary had to be the most perfect work of God next to the Incarnation. Or rather, Mary’s intimate association with the Incarnation called for the special involvement of God in Mary’s whole life. The logic of piety helped God’s people to believe that Mary was full of grace and free of sin from the first moment of her existence. Moreover, this great privilege of Mary is the highlight of all that God has done in Jesus. Rightly understood, the incomparable holiness of Mary shows forth the incomparable goodness of God.

Quote:   “[Mary] gave to the world the Life that renews all things, and she was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.
    “It is no wonder, then, that the usage prevailed among the holy Fathers whereby they called the mother of God entirely holy and free from all stain of sin, fashioned by the Holy Spirit into a kind of new substance and new creature. Adorned from the first instant of her conception with the splendors of an entirely unique holiness, the Virgin of Nazareth is, on God’s command, greeted by an angel messenger as ‘full of grace’ (cf. Luke 1:28). To the heavenly messenger she replies: ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word’ (Luke 1:38)” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 56).
Tréviris sancti Euchárii, qui fuit discípulus beáti Petri Apóstoli et primus ejúsdem civitátis Epíscopus.
    St. Eucharius, a disciple of blessed Peter the Apostle, At Treves,  first bishop of that city.
283 Pope St. Eutychianus January, 275, until 7 December, 283
Romæ beáti Eutychiáni Papæ, qui per divérsa loca trecéntos quadragínta duos Mártyres manu sua sepelívit; quibus et ipse deínde sociátus, sub Numeriáno Imperatóre, martyrio coronátus est, et in cœmetério Callísti sepúltus.
    At Rome, blessed Eutychian, pope, who with his own hand buried three hundred and forty-two martyrs in various places.  He himself was joined with them, crowned with martyrdom under Emperor Numerian, and was buried in the cemetery of Callistus.

283 Pope St. Eutychianus January, 275, until 7 December, 283 the last pope buried in the catacombs of St. Callixtus
   He succeeded Pope Felix I a few days after the latter's death, and governed the Church from January, 275, until 7 December, 283. We know no details of his pontificate. The rite for blessing the produce of the fields, ascribed to him by the "Liber Pontificalis", undoubtedly belongs to a later period. The statement also that he promulgated rules for the burial of martyrs and buried many of them with his own hands, has but slight claim to acceptance, since after the death of Aurelian (275) the Church enjoyed a long respite from persecution. It is highly probable that Eutychianus died not die a martyr. The fourth-century Roman Calendar mentions him (8 December) in the "Depositio Episcoporum", but not in its list of martyrs. His remains were placed in the papal chapel in the Catacomb of Callistus. When this famous crypt was discovered the fragments of the epitaph of Eutychianus were found, i.e. his name (in Greek letters): EUTYCHIANOS EPIS(KOPOS). His feast is celebrated on 8 December.
The Holy Martyr Anthusa wife of a Roman official martyred for refusing Arianism
baptized by St Ambrose of Milan (December 7). When the city prefect's wife Sunilda suggested that St Anthusa be baptized by an Arian, she refused. So she was committed to the fire, and received the crown of martyrdom.
490 The Holy Martyrs of Africa 62 Clergy 300 Laypeople By a miraculous Divine power they continued to preach and to oppose the Arian heresy
They suffered in the time of the emperor Zeno (474-491). Guneric, the ruler of the Vandal kingdom in North Africa, came under the influence of heretical Arian bishops and began a fierce persecution against the Orthodox.

When believers had gathered at one of the churches and secretly celebrated the Divine Liturgy, barbarian soldiers burst into the church. Some of the worshippers fled, but 300 men voluntarily gave themselves over to torture and were beheaded. Of the clergy, two were burned, and sixty had their tongues cut out. By a miraculous Divine power they continued to preach and to oppose the Arian heresy.

They all endured horrible torments, but remained faithful to Christ and His holy Church.
653 St. Romaric monk Merovingian nobleman
In monastério Luxoviénsi, in Gállia, sancti Romárici Abbátis, qui, cum in aula Theodobérti Regis primus esset, renuntiávit sæculo, et monásticæ étiam observántiæ laude céteris antecélluit.
    In the monastery of Luxeuil in France, St. Romaricus, abbot, who left the highest station at the court of King Theodobert, renounced the world, and surpassed others in the observance of monastic discipline.
 653 ST ROMARIC, ABBOT
IN the account of St Amatus of Remiremont given herein under September 13 it is related how he brought about the conversion to God of a Merovingian nobleman named Romaric, who became a monk at Luxeuil; and how they afterwards went together to the estate of Romaric at Habendum in the Vosges, and established the monastery which was later known as Remiremont (Romarici Mons).

The father of Romaric had lost his life and his lands at the hands of Queen Brunehilda, and his young son became a homeless wanderer. At the time of his meeting St Amatus, Romaric was a person of distinction at the court of Clotaire II, with considerable property and a number of serfs. These he enfranchised, and it is said that when he was tonsured at Luxeuil several of these newly freed men pre­sented themselves to the abbot for the same purpose.

  Remiremont was founded in 620 and St Amatus was its first abbot, but his duties soon devolved upon St Romaric, who at the time of his death had governed for thirty years. The size of the communities enabled the laus perennis to be established, the Divine Office being sung without intermission by seven alternating choirs, a practice which St Amatus had learned when he was at Agaunum.

   Among the early recruits was the friend of Romaric, St Arnulfus of Metz, who about 629 came to end his days in a near-by hermitage. Shortly before his death St Romaric was disturbed by the news that Grimoald, the son of another old friend, Bd Pepin of Landen, was plotting to exclude the young prince Dagobert from the Austrasian throne. The aged abbot made his way to Metz, where he remonstrated with Grimoald and warned the nobles who supported him. They heard him quietly, treated him with courtesy, and sent him back to his monastery. Three days later St Romaric died.

There are two biographical texts, the first of which has been printed by Mabillon, and edited more critically in modern times by B. Krusch in MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. iv, pp. 221—225; see also G. Kurth, Dissertations académiques, vol. i (1888).
St. Macarius Martyr of Alexandria, Egypt
Alexandríæ sancti Macárii Mártyris, qui, témpore Décii, cum a Júdice multis verbis ad negándum Christum suaderétur, et eo majóri constántia suam profiterétur fidem, vivus ad últimum exúri jubétur.
    At Alexandria, St. Macarius, martyr, whose constancy in professing the faith increased with the efforts made by the judge to persuade him to deny Christ.  He was finally condemned to be burned alive.
He is possibly the same Macarius commemorated on February 28 and October 30.
7th v. Saint Patapius was born at Thebes into a pious Christian family gift of healing, began to help all the needy holy relics are found incorrupt to the present dayConstantinópoli sancti Patápii Solitárii, virtútibus et miráculis clari.
    At Constantinople, St. Patapius, solitary, renowned for virtues and miracles.

Reaching the age of maturity, he scorned the vanities of the world and so went into the Egyptian desert where he became known for his ascetic deeds. Though he wished to dwell in silence, people began to come to him for advice.
He went eventually to Constantinople, where he obtained a cell at the city wall, near the Blachernae church. But here, too, he quickly became known. The sick began to throng about, and he having been vouchsafed the gift of healing, began to help all the needy.
After a life adorned with virtue and miracles, St Patapius fell asleep in the Lord and was buried in the church of St John the Baptist.
Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
The image of God, was faithfully preserved in you, O Father. For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By Your actions you taught us to look beyond the flesh for it passes, rather to be concerned about the soul which is immortal. Wherefore, O Holy Patapius, your soul rejoices with the angels.
Kontakion in the Third Tone
Having found thy Church to be a place of spiritual healing, all the people flock with haste thereto, O Saint, and they ask thee to bestow the ready healing of their diseases and forgiveness of the sins they wrought in their lifetime; O Patapius most righteous, in every need, thou art the protector of all.
Reading:

This Saint was from the Thebaid of Egypt and struggled many years in the wilderness. He departed for Constantinople, and having performed many miracles and healings, he reposed in peace in a mountain cave on the Gulf of Corinth, where his holy relics are found incorrupt to the present day.

St. Patapius A seventh century Egyptian hermit He was originally from Egypt but journeyed to Constantinople lived as a hermit. Patapius especially revered in the Eastern Churches.
Saint Cyril of Chelma Hill Enlightener of the Chudian People luminous ascetic life and kindly preaching moved many to accept holy Baptism
Born at the city of White Lake. He was tonsured at the monastery of St Anthony the Roman, where for six years he passed through various obediences. Then, after wandering through the wilderness for three years, he settled in a wild region of Kargopolsk. And here, by a command from on high, he chose Chelma Hill for his constant abode. Many of the afflicted from the Chud people came to see St Cyril, whose luminous ascetic life and kindly preaching moved many to accept holy Baptism.
Toward the end of his life, St Cyril established a monastery and church in honor of the Theophany of the Lord. The monk dwelt upon Chelma Hill for fifty-two years, and died at the advanced age of 82.
In Cypro sancti Sophrónii Epíscopi, qui pupíllórum, orphanórum ac viduárum defénsor miríficus, et páuperum atque oppressórum ómnium adjútor fuit.
    St Sophronius In Cyprus, the holy bishop , who was a devoted protéctor of orphans and widows, and a helper of the poor and oppressed.
Romæ Invéntio sanctórum Mártyrum Nemésii Diáconi, ejúsque fíliæ Lucíllæ Vírginis, Symphrónii, Olympii Tribúni, hujúsque uxóris Exsupériæ et Theodúli fílii; quorum memória octávo Kaléndas Septémbris recensétur.
    St Nemesis, a deacon, his daughter Lucina At Rome, the finding of the holy martyrs Nemesis, a deacon, his daughter Lucina, a virgin, Symphronius, Olympius the tribune and his wife Exuperia and his son Theodulus, whose commemoration is made on the 25th of August.