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.
Immaculate_Conception_Pius_IX.jpg
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.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Solemnity)
    First Reading:
Psalm:
Gospel:
    
Genesis 3:9-15, 20
Psalm 98:1-4
Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12
Luke 1:26-38

Nothing is far from God.

-- St Monica
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 - THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
                 The Immaculate Conception According to Saint Maximilian Kolbe
Truly, the Immaculate is the work of God and, like any work of God, she is less than Him, without comparison, and she depends completely on her Creator. However, she is God's most perfect, and simplest work.  According to Saint Bonaventure, God could have created a larger, more perfect world, but He could never have made anything worthier than Mary. 
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, 1938 From: Marie, mère du Seigneur, by Rene Laurentin, Desclee 1984.

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)
On Death and Life
"Man Needs Eternity -- and Every Other Hope, for Him, Is All Too Brief"
  Saints of this Day December  08 Sexto Idus Decémbris 
SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT
cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.
 BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR    December 2011
Peace among All Peoples.
General Intention: That all peoples may grow in harmony and peace through mutual understanding and respect.
Missionary Intention: That children and young people may be messengers of the Gospel and that they may be respected and preserved from all violence and exploitation.

The Rosary html Mary Mother of GOD -- Her Rosary Here
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary
Mary's Divine Motherhood
Called in the Gospel “the Mother of Jesus,” Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as “the Mother of my Lord” (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly “Mother of God” (Theotokos). 
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.
“The Blessed Virgin was eternally predestined, in conjunction with the incarnation of the divine Word, to be the Mother of God. By decree of divine Providence, she served on earth as the loving mother of the divine Redeemer, an associate of unique nobility, and the Lord's humble handmaid. She conceived, brought forth, and nourished Christ.”
 (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 61).
Feasts of Our Lady.html January to December
breviary.net/martyrology/mart12 08 stlukeorthodox.com/html/saints/  usccb.org  ewtn.com  St Patricks 12 08
domcentral.org/life/martyr Nov syriac   oca.org   glaubenszeugen.de/tage/kai/08 Serbian   http://www.copticchurch.net  Melkite
Monthly Saints with pics here http://www.stfrancisenid.com/memorials.htm  antiochian.org/AW-WomenSaints--wonderful icons
Lutheran Saints  One Saint per day stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/index.htm    stjohndc.org  God's Humourous Saints

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

http://www.worldpriest.com/
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
How to Stay Out of PURGATORY -- How to Get others Out     POPES html    Parents of Saints html   
The_Litany_of_the_Blessed_Virgin.html   Patron_Saints.html    Angels and Archangels html
Marian Apparitions. html
   We are called upon with the whole Church militant on earth to join in praising and thanking God for the grace and glory he has bestowed on his saints. At the same time we earnestly implore Him to exert His almighty power and mercy in raising us from our miseries and sins, healing the disorders of our souls and leading us by the path of repentance to the company of His saints, to which He has called us.
   They were once what we are now, travellers on earth they had the same weaknesses, which we have. We have difficulties to encounter so had the saints, and many of them far greater than we can meet with; obstacles from kings and whole nations, sometimes from the prisons, racks and swords of persecutors. Yet they surmounted these difficulties, which they made the very means of their virtue and victories. It was by the strength they received from above, not by their own, that they triumphed. But the blood of Christ was shed for us as it was for them and the grace of our Redeemer is not wanting to us; if we fail, the failure is in ourselves.
   THE saints and just, from the beginning of time and throughout the world, who have been made perfect, everlasting monuments of God’s infinite power and clemency, praise His goodness without ceasing; casting their crowns before His throne they give to Him all the glory of their triumphs: “His gifts alone in us He crowns.”
Miracles 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000  
 1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800   1900 Lay Saints
The POPES HTML
Pius IX 1846--1878 • Leo XIII 1878-1903 • Pius X 1903-1914• Benedict XV 1914-1922 • Pius XI 1922-1939 • Pius XII 1939-1958 • John XXIII 1958-1963 • Paul VI 1963 to 1978 • John Paul • John Paul II 10/16/1975-4/2/2005 Benedict XVI

"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
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.

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."

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).

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

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

Benedict XVI_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.
Benedict XVI met with Aram I Catholicos of Cilicia, the highest authority of the Orthodox Church.  The Pope remembered the martyrs of the Armenian Church and the Armenian genocide, without explicitly mentioning it, and denounced the persecution of Christians in modern times.  Benedict XVI
That testimony culminated in the twentieth century, which proved a time of Unspeakable suffering for your people. Most recently we have all been saddened by the escalation of persecution and violence against Christians in parts of the Middle East and elsewhere.
The Catholicos is based in Lebanon. That is why, the Pope said, he prays every day for peace in this country and throughout the Middle East. Benedict XVI said there will only be peace in the region when each country is free to decide its own destiny and when every ethnic and religious group accepts and respects the others. Aram I emphasized that the churches must be means for peace and to achieve that they must recognize “all” genocides, even the Armenian.. The Catholicos recalled his meeting with John Paul II, adding that this visit represents a new step for ecumenical dialogue.
Aram I Catholicos
Our meeting is an opportunity to pray and reflect together, and to renew our commitment and efforts for Christian unity.
Armenian church members from all over the world join with Catholicos in making pilgrimages to Rome.
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.
THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY  PSALM 72

How good is God to Israel: to those who pay homage to His Mother and venerate her.
For she is our comfort: she is the most excellent of help in labor.
The enemy hath overspread my soul with darkness: O Lady, make light arise within me.
Let the wrath of God be turned away from me by thee: placate him by thy merits and thy prayers.
Stand for me in the day of judgment: in His presence take up my cause, and be my advocate.

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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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.
Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
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.
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. 
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.
Meeting of the Saints  walis (saints of Allah)
Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.
So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life.  But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA) 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life
To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:
Eternal Word Television Network 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Irondale, AL 35210  USA
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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

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

Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America
Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement 1362-1950 (1952);
The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and 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}.
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. Site http://www.fathercorapi
June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions.

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
Site http://www.fathercorapi

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.

Since his ordination to the priesthood in 1991 Fr. Corapi has traveled over 2,000,000 miles preaching the Gospel. He has preached in 49 of the 50 states, all of the Canadian provinces except NewFoundland, and several other foreign countries. He is currently engaged in preaching and teaching the Catholic faith by way of the means of social communication: television, radio, the internet, and various other multi-media formats.
  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
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_Of_The_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  Uniates

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.