Saints of this Day February  11 Tértio Idus Februárii.
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!)
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

Mary's Divine Motherhood

Saint Marie Bernard:  Bernadette_Soubirous  Our Lady of Lourdes

The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us that a life of Christian perfection is not impossible.
A young lady “I am the Immaculate Conception.” appeared to Bernadette Soubirous Our Lady of Lourdes (France, 1858)
How Could an Unbeliever Persevere in His Disbelief? (I)
A group of Lutheran theologians from Eastern Germany published a proclamation in 1971
containing these lines filled with moving honesty:
“At Lourdes, Fatima and other Marian sanctuaries, impartial criticism is faced with supernatural facts, which have a close relation to the Virgin Mary, either because of the apparitions, or because of the miraculous graces obtained by her intercession. These facts defy any natural explanation. Until now, 1,200 of the cures that have taken place at Lourdes were recognized as scientifically inexplicable by medical doctors. Yet the Catholic Church has only declared miraculous 44 of them. For thirty years, 11,000 doctors, without distinction of religion or scientific opinions, had free access to the Office of Medical Observations. Therefore, a cure declared miraculous has the greatest possible guarantee.”
 Excerpt taken from the Travel and Mission Notebook #113 by FJE
Told by in the Marian Collection (1991) by Brother Albert Pfleger
February 11 - Our Lady of Lourdes (France, 1858)
  The Apparitions of Mary in Lourdes
The mountain air was cold on February 11, 1858, in Lourdes. Food was scarce and the firewood was all gone in the "cachot" (the squalid room where Mr. Soubirous found refuge for his wife and 9 children). So that day young Bernadette went out with a few friends, to gather dead wood at the grotto of Massabielle near the Gave River. Suddenly, she heard a sound like a gust of wind, and she raised her head to look at the grotto. Bernadette saw a Lady dressed in white.
Her body was not different from ours except for its ineffable beauty. She was medium height and seemed very young. The curve of her oval face had heavenly grace and her blue eyes were so sweet that they could melt anyone's heart. Her mouth breathed God's goodness and kindness. Entering a supernatural stupor but filled with joy, Bernadette dared to approach the Lady, reciting her rosary.
The apparition ended. Bernadette came out of her ecstasy, and egged on by her companions, she shared with them what she should have kept to herself. On hearing the story, Mrs. Soubirous was wary and forbid her daughter to return to the grotto of Massabielle. But the following Sunday, she gave in to Bernadette's friends and gave them permission to go.
Arriving at the grotto, the visionary announced: "There she is." Then she threw holy water in the Lady's direction, saying: "If you come from God, stay or else go away!" The Lady smiled and bowed her head. The more Bernadette threw holy water, the more she smiled.   Adapted from Dom Antoine Marie OSB, abbot of Clarval
sin is the absence of Love, it is separation and isolation
The time for repentance and forgiveness is now, in the present life.
At the Second Coming, Christ will appear as the righteous Judge,
Who will render to every man according to his deeds" (Rom. 2:6).
Then the time for entreating God's mercy and forgiveness will have passed.
Parable of the Last Judgment.
<The_Awesome_Judgment.jpg
130 St. Calocerus bishop of Ravenna Italy disciple of (St. Apollinaris july 20)
303 Martyrs of Africa the "Guardians of the Holy Scriptures."
304 Saturninus, Dativus, Felix, Ampelius & Comps.
316 The Hieromartyr Blaise (Blasius), Bishop of Sebaste also healed sick
       animals by laying his hands upon them
350 St. Lucius Martyred bishop of Adrianople opposed Arianism
       Saint Castrensis of Capua formerly bishop of Castra in northern Africa
450 Lazarus of Milan suffered much as the hands of the invaders
      St. Jonas the Gardener 85 years day, and at night plaiting ropes and
      singing Psalms
507 St. Severinus miracles of healing
6th v Saint Gobnata (meaning Honey Bee) of Ballyvourney the angels spoke of 9 deer gift of healing, and there is a story of how she kept the plague from Ballyvourney
608 St. Desiderius martyred Bishop of Vienne 
670 Saint  Caedmon first Anglo-Saxon writer of religious poetry 
731 Gregory II, 89th Pope educated at the Lateran  restore clerical discipline, fought heresies  helped restore and rebuild churches (including Saint Paul-Outside-the-Walls), hospitals, and monasteries, including Monte Cassino under Petrona. The outstanding concern of his pontificate was his difficulties with Emperor Leo III the Isaurian (RM)
821 Benedict of Aniane, restorer of Western monasticism; his relics remain and are attributed with the working of
       miracles; often called the 'second Benedict.' died with extraordinary tranquility and cheerfulness
824 St. Paschal elected as the 94th pope on the day Pope Stephen IV (V) died, January 25, 817
867 Theodora, Empress restore the veneration of sacred images 
1058 St. Ardanus Benedictine abbot restored abbey cared for  populations during 3-year famine
1066 Blessed Helwisa of Coulombs recluse
1138 Holy Prince Vsevolod of Pskov he raised up many churches cathedral of the Great Martyr George at the Yuriev monastery and church of St John the Forerunner at Opokakh the prince granted a special charter of lands and privileges to the cathedral of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) and other churches
1224 St. Adolf of Osnabrück monk bishop piety charitable programs
1392 Saint Demetrius of Priluki, Wonderworker combined prayer and strict asceticism with kindliness fed the poor and hungry took in strangers conversed with those in need of consolation gave counsel loved to pray in solitude Miracles from the relics began in 1409
1519 Blessed Elisabeth Salviati Camaldolese nun abbess
1858  February 11 Our Lady of Lourdes a young lady “I am the Immaculate Conception.” appeared to Bernadette Soubirous
The Apparitions to Bernadette The Lady of Lourdes kept the promise
She made to Bernadette in 1858 - "I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the next".

Bernadette_Soubirous_June_6_1997
Bernadette has remained undisturbed in the Convent
of St. Gildard in Nevers, France since August 3, 1925. ( June 6, 1997).
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.”


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 10/16/1975-4/2/2005Benedict 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
731 Pope Gregory II, 89th Pope: educated at the Lateran  restore clerical discipline, fought heresies  helped restore and rebuild churches (including Saint Paul-Outside-the-Walls), hospitals, and monasteries, including Monte Cassino under Petrona The outstanding concern of his pontificate was his difficulties with Emperor Leo III the Isaurian    (RM)
824 Pope St. Paschal elected as the 94th pope on the day Pope Stephen IV (V) died, January 25, 817 unsuccessful in attempts to end the iconoclast heresy of Emperor Leo V, encouraged SS. Nicephorous and Theodore Studites in Constantinople to resist iconoclasm, and gave refuge to the many Greek monks who fled to Rome to escape persecution from the iconoclasts.
824 St. Paschal elected as the 94th pope on the day Pope Stephen IV (V) died, January 25, 817

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. Patron_Saints.html
THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY  PSALM 125

When thou shalt turn thy most serene countenance upon us: thou shalt rejoice us, O virginal Mother of God.
Blessed be thou, O treasury of Christ: above all women upon earth.
Blessed be thy glorious name: which the mouth of the Lord hath wonderfully named.
Let not thy praise fail from our lips: nor thy charity from our hearts.
Those who love thee will be blessed by God:
and those who wish to love thee, will not be defrauded of their confidence.

Glory be to the Father who created the Universe, and the Son who gave up His life so that we may live forever,
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.

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

Saint Frances Xavier Seelos  Practical Guide to Holiness
1. Go to Mass with deepest devotion. 2. Spend a half hour to reflect upon your main failing & make resolutions to avoid it.
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible.  4. Say the rosary every day.
5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament; toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour, 6.  Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day.
7.  Every month make a review of the month in confession.
8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue.
9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion. 10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary
My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.
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
  Catholic Television Network  Supported entirely by donations from viewers  help  spread the Eternal Word, online Here
Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

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

Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America
Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement 1362-1950 (1952);
The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and 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
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

The Apparitions of Mary in Lourdes February 11 - Our Lady of Lourdes (France, 1858)
The mountain air was cold on February 11, 1858, in Lourdes. Food was scarce and the firewood was all gone in the "cachot" (the squalid room where Mr. Soubirous found refuge for his wife and 9 children). So that day young Bernadette went out with a few friends, to gather dead wood at the grotto of Massabielle near the Gave River. Suddenly, sound like gust of wind, she raised her head to look at the grotto. Bernadette saw a Lady dressed in white.

Her body was not different from ours except for its ineffable beauty. She was medium height and seemed very young. The curve of her oval face had heavenly grace and her blue eyes were so sweet that they could melt anyone's heart. Her mouth breathed God's goodness and kindness. Entering a supernatural stupor but filled with joy, Bernadette dared to approach the Lady, reciting her rosary.

The apparition ended. Bernadette came out of her ecstasy, and egged on by her companions, she shared with them what she should have kept to herself. On hearing the story, Mrs. Soubirous was wary and forbid her daughter to return to the grotto of Massabielle. But the following Sunday, she gave in to Bernadette's friends and gave them permission to go.

Arriving at the grotto, the visionary announced: "There she is." Then she threw holy water in the Lady's direction, saying: "If you come from God, stay or else go away!" The Lady smiled and bowed her head. The more Bernadette threw holy water, the more she smiled.
Adapted from Dom Antoine Marie OSB, abbot of Clarval
1858  February 11 Our Lady of Lourdes a young lady “I am the Immaculate Conception.” appeared to Bernadette Soubirous
On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus. A little more than three years later, on February 11, 1858, a young lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. This began a series of visions. During the apparition on March 25, the lady identified herself with the words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

Bernadette was a sickly child of poor parents. Their practice of the Catholic faith was scarcely more than lukewarm. Bernadette could pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Creed. She also knew the prayer of the Miraculous Medal: “O Mary conceived without sin.”

During interrogations Bernadette gave an account of what she saw.
It was “something white in the shape of a girl.”
She used the word aquero, a dialect term meaning “this thing.” It was “a pretty young girl with a rosary over her arm.” Her white robe was encircled by a blue girdle. She wore a white veil. There was a yellow rose on each foot. A rosary was in her hand. Bernadette was also impressed by the fact that the lady did not use the informal form of address (tu), but the polite form (vous). The humble virgin appeared to a humble girl and treated her with dignity.

Through that humble girl, Mary revitalized and continues to revitalize the faith of millions of people. People began to flock to Lourdes from other parts of France and from all over the world. In 1862 Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions and authorized the cult of Our Lady of Lourdes for the diocese.

The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes became worldwide in 1907.

Comment:  Lourdes has become a place of pilgrimage and healing, but even more of faith. Church authorities have recognized over 60 miraculous cures, although there have probably been many more. To people of faith this is not surprising. It is a continuation of Jesus’ healing miracles—now performed at the intercession of his mother. Some would say that the greater miracles are hidden. Many who visit Lourdes return home with renewed faith and a readiness to serve God in their needy brothers and sisters. There still may be people who doubt the apparitions of Lourdes. Perhaps the best that can be said to them are the words that introduce the film Song of Bernadette: “For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”
Quote:     “Lo! Mary is exempt from stain of sin, Proclaims the Pontiff high; And earth applauding celebrates with joy Her triumph, far and high. Unto a lowly timid maid she shows Her form in beauty fair, And the Immaculate Conception truth Her sacred lips declare.” (Unattributed hymn from the Roman Breviary)
Bernadette
The marriage of Francois Soubirous and Louise Casterot produced six children. The eldest of these was Bernadette.
She was born of 7th January 1844, and was baptised the next day by the Abbe Forgues in the old parish church, being given the name Marie Bernarde. Because of her small stature, she was always referred to by the diminutive form of the name, Bernadette.
Six months later, Louise was again expexting a child; because of this, Bernadette was entrusted to the care of a woman in near-by Bartres, Marie Aravant, who had just lost a baby boy. She stayed there for fifteen months.
From her birth, Bernadette was a weak child, suffering even then from the asthma which would cause her so much suffering that later, in the convent, she would beg the nuns to tear open her chest that she might breathe. Because of her delicate constitution, her parents would endeavour to give her little morsels of food not available to the other children, such as white bread instead of black. Invariably, the young girl would share these treats with her siblings - often missing out herself on the sumptuous feast.
When she was ten, Bernadette was again seperated from her beloved family; the winter of 1855 was exceptionally cold and there was little work for the poor miller. Louise's sister, Bernarde, offered to take Bernadette for a while to relieve the pressure on the family and to minimise the effects of the cold on Bernadettes' health. She stayed with her aunt Bernarde for seven months, until the weather improved sufficiently and there was more work available for Francois, enabling him to feed his family properly.
Bernadette left Lourdes one more time - in summer of 1857, she returned to stay with Marie Aravant for a few months, working for her as a shephardesst. There was also a great affection between the two. Bernadette celebrated her fourteenth birthday here in Bartres, but still there had been no mention of her making her First Holy Communion; Marie Aravant tried to teach Bernadette about the Faith - but described her as being thick-headed;
"It was useless to for me to repeat my lessons; I always had to begin again. Sometimes I was overcome by impatience and I would throw my book aside and say to her, 'Go along, you will never be anything but a little fool'".
Marie asked the priest for advice - he said Bernadette should return to Lourdes to begin her Catechism classes. And so, in the early days of 1858, Bernadette returned to the Rue des Petits Fosses.
And return, she did. She visited a local grotto,
The Apparitions to Bernadette
Later in life she became a Sister of Charity of Nevers, and was besieged by many faithful and religious.

Bernadette (in religion, Sister Marie-Bernarde) spent the latter part of her life at the convent, saying that she had come to hide herself. She sought God in the silence of the cloister, serving Him in humility and under the vows of her profession as a Sister of Charity of Nevers. She lived in the convent for thirteen years, spending a large portion of this time ill in the infirmary - when a fellow sister accused her of being a 'lazybones', she said that her 'job' was "to be ill".
Bernadette died on 16th April 1879.
The Lady of Lourdes had kept the promise She made to Bernadette in 1858 - "I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the next".
Although the apparitions of Our Lady at Lourdes were over for Bernadette (at least in this life), their message and mission were never to be forgotten. Bernadette silently offered all of her sufferings, internal and external, for the benefit of "poor sinners".
130 St. Calocerus bishop of Ravenna Italy disciple of St. Apollinaris
303 Martyrs of Africa the "Guardians of the Holy Scriptures." (RM)
These martyrs are known as the "Guardians of the Holy Scriptures." They chose to die during the Diocletian persecutions rather than to deliver the sacred books to be burned.
Saint Augustine of Hippo mentions especially those of Numidia. (See Saint Saturninus et al.) (Benedictines).
304 Saturninus, Dativus, Felix, Ampelius & Comps. MM (RM)
Acta of these African martyrs are believed to be authentic, contemporaneous to their deaths. Emperor Diocletian had order Christians to give up the holy Scriptures during a year- long persecution.
In the town of Abitina, Saturninus celebrated the Eucharist on a Sunday in the house of Octavius Felix. The officials became aware of it and sent soldiers to arrest the entire congregation of 49 people. Arrested with Saturninus were his four children Saturninus (junior) and Felix (both lectors), Mary (who had consecrated her virginity to God), and Hilarianus (a child); and Dativus and another Felix (senators), Thelica, Emeritus, Ampelius, Rogatus, and Victoria.
The procession of prisoners was led by the senator and Saturninus, who were followed immediately by the latter's children.

Their courage in professing Jesus was in stark contrast to the infamous sacrilege committed just before by Bishop Fundanus of Abitina, who had given up the sacred books to be burned, but a violent storm put out the fire.  After their resolute confession, the Christians were shackled and set to Carthage, residence of the proconsul Anulinus. They thought themselves blessed to be chained for Christ and sang hymns of praise along the way.  Dativus was the first to be questioned, racked, torn with iron hooks, and then beaten with cudgels as was each in turn. The women no less than the men resolutely underwent the trials.
When Anulinus continuously asked why they presumed to celebrate the Lord's Day against imperial orders, they repeatedly answered: "The obligation of Sunday is indispensable. It is not lawful for us to omit the duty of that day. We celebrated it as well as we could. We never passed a Sunday without meeting at our assembly. We will keep the commandments of God at the expense of our lives."

No dangers nor torments could deter them from this duty, from which so many now seek to excuse themselves.
Previously, Victoria, a professed virgin of pagan parents, had leaped from her window on her wedding day to prevent the marriage but was miraculously saved from death and escaped to the refuge of a church. Because she was counted among the nobility and her brother was a pagan, Anulinus tried every means to prevail upon her to renounce her faith and save herself.

She continued to profess her faith. Her pagan brother Fortunatianus undertook her defense, but she refuted his intimation that she had simply been led astray. Anulinus asked Victoria if she would return home with her brother. She said that she could not because she only acknowledged as brethren those who kept the law of God. Continued entreaties did not move her.
Anulinus then turned his attention to the child Hilarianus, son of Saturninus, thinking that he could sway one of such a tender age. But the child showed more contempt than fear of the tyrant's threats, and continued to answer that he was a Christian of his own free will. While his elders were being tortured, he replied, "Yes, torture me, too; anyhow, I am a Christian."
These Christians died from the hardships of their confinement and are all honored in the ancient calendar of Carthage and the Roman Martyrology on February 11, though only two (both named Felix) actually died on that day (Benedictines, Husenbeth).
316 The Hieromartyr Blaise (Blasius), Bishop of Sebaste also healed sick animals by laying his hands upon them
Known for his righteous and devout life. Unanimously chosen by the people, he was consecrated Bishop of Sebaste. This occurred during the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Licinius (307-324), fierce persecutors of Christians. St Blaise encouraged his flock, visited the imprisoned, and gave support to the martyrs.

Many hid themselves from the persecutors by going off to desolate and solitary places. St Blaise also hid himself away on Mount Argeos, where he lived in a cave. Wild beasts came up to him and meekly waited until the saint finished his prayer and blessed them. The saint also healed sick animals by laying his hands upon them.

The refuge of the saint was discovered by servants of the governor Agrilaus, who had come to capture wild beasts to loose on the Christian martyrs. The servants reported to their master that Christians were hiding on the mountain, and he gave orders to arrest them. But those sent out found there only the Bishop of Sebaste. Glorifying God Who had summoned him to this exploit, St Blaise followed the soldiers.

Along the way the saint healed the sick and worked other miracles. Thus, a destitute widow complained to him of her misfortune. A wolf had carried off a small pig, her only possession. The bishop smiled and said to her, "Do not weep, your pig will be returned to you...." To the astonishment of everyone, the wolf came running back and returned his prey unharmed.

Agrilaus, greeting the bishop with words of deceit, called him a companion of the gods. The saint answered the greeting, but he called the gods devils. Then they beat him and led him off to prison.
On the next day, they subjected the saint to tortures again. When they led him back to the prison, seven women followed behind and gathered up the drops of blood. They arrested them and tried to compel them to worship the idols. The women pretended to consent to this and said that first they needed to wash the idols in the waters of a lake. They took the idols and threw them in a very deep part of the lake, and after this the Christians were fiercely tortured. The saints stoically endured the torments, strengthened by the grace of God, their bodies were transformed and became white as snow. One of the women had two young sons, who implored their mother to help them attain the Kingdom of Heaven, and she entrusted them to the care of St Blaise. The seven holy women were beheaded.

St Blaise was again brought before Agrilaus, and again he unflinchingly confessed his faith in Christ. The governor ordered that the martyr be thrown into a lake. The saint, going down to the water, signed himself with the Sign of the Cross, and he walked on it as though on dry land.  Addressing the pagans standing about on shore, he challenged them to come to him while calling on the help of their gods. Sixty-eight men of the governor's retinue entered the water, and immediately drowned. The saint, however, heeding the angel who had appeared to him, returned to shore.

Agrilaus was in a rage over losing his finest servants, and he gave orders to behead St Blaise, and the two boys entrusted to him, the sons of the martyr. Before his death, the martyr prayed for the whole world, and especially for those honoring his memory. This occurred in about the year 316.
The relics of the Hieromartyr Blaise were brought to the West during the time of the Crusades, and portions of the relics are preserved in many of the lands of Europe [and his memory traditionally honored there on February 3].
We pray to St Blaise for the health of domestic animals, and for protection from wild beasts.
350 St. Lucius Martyred bishop of Adrianople opposed Arianism
who was part of the Council of Sardica in 347. He opposed the Arians and was martyred by the Arian emperor Constantius II.

Lucius BM and Companions MM (RM) Died 350. Lucius, who succeeded Eutropius as bishop of Adrianople, was driven from his see to Gaul for having opposed Arianism. He played a leading role in the Council of Sardica in 347. Under the protection of Pope Saint Julius I, he returned to Adrianople, but refused to be in communion with the Arian bishops condemned at Sardica. On this account he was arrested and died in prison. A group of his faithful Catholics, who had been siezed with him, were beheaded by order of the Emperor Constantius (Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson).
4th v St. Jonas the Gardener; 85 years day, and at night plaiting ropes and singing Psalms
 Egyptian monk under St. Pachomius at Demeskenyanos Monastery. He served as a gardener for eighty-five years in the desert hermitage and was known for his deep piety.
Jonas of Demeskenyanos, Hermit (RM) (also known as Jonas the Gardener) 4th century. Saint Jonas was an Egyptian monk of Demeskenyanos under Saint Pachomius. He was the gardener for the community for 85 years, working in this capacity during the day, and at night plaiting ropes and singing Psalms (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Gill).
450 Lazarus of Milan suffered much as the hands of the invaders B (RM)
Died March 14, feast day formerly March 14. Lazarus, archbishop of Milan, supported his flock during the invasion of the Ostrogoths. He suffered much as the hands of the invaders, but filled his office well and faithfully. Lazurus is said to have introduced Rogation days with processions, litanies, and fasts as means of invoking God's protection in each season; however, the practice appears to have predated him. His feast was translated from the day of his death to today in deference to the Milanese custom of not celebrating saints' days in Lent (Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson).
507 St. Severinus miracles of healing
Severinus was born in Burgundy. He joined the monastery of Agaunum as a youth.
He cured King Clovis of a disease that his doctors had been unable to cure in 504, and is reported to have performed miracles of healing before his death at Chateau-Landon.
St. Severin church in Paris is named after him. His feast day is February 11.

Severinus of Agaunum, Abbot (RM)
Died at Château-Landon, c. 507. Severinus is said to have been a Burgundian abbot of Saint Maurice in Agaunum, Switzerland, who caused the fever of Clovis to go down and worked many other miraculous cures. The details of his life given to us are unreliable. Saint-Séverin in Paris is dedicated to his honor (Attwater2, Benedictines, Encyclopedia). Saint Severinus is represented in art as a bishop curing King Clovis (Roeder).
5th v Saint Castrensis of Capua formerly bishop of Castra in northern Africa B (RM)
Saint Castrensis has a second feast day on September 1 together with Priscus, an African bishop, and his priests (Tamarus, Rosius, Heraclius, Secundinus, Adjutor, Mark, Augustus, Elpidius, Canion, and Vindonius) who were cast adrift in a rudderless boat by the Arian Vandals. They reached southern Italy, where eventually Priscus became bishop of Capua and several of the others were promoted to other sees.
The Acta, however, are untrustworthy. It seems that the companions of Saint Priscus are Campanian (Italian) saints unconnected with the story in the Roman Martyrology. One opinion interprets Priscus Castrensis as meaning "Priscus formerly bishop of Castra in northern Africa" (Benedictines).
6th v Saint Gobnata (meaning Honey Bee) of Ballyvourney the angels spoke of 9 deer gift of healing, and there is a story of how she kept the plague from Ballyvourney
died 5th or 6th century (?) V (AC) (also known as Gobnet, Gobnait)
Born in County Clare, Ireland;. In order to escape a family feud, Saint Gobnata fled to the Aran Islands. There she built a church, which is still named after her, but angels told her that she would find the place of her resurrection where nine white deer grazed. So she went to southern Ireland and founded the church of Kilgobnet (near Dungarvan), where she saw the nine deer.
Saint Abban of Kilabban, County Meath, Ireland, is said to have founded a convent in Ballyvourney, County Cork, on land donated by the O'Herlihy family, and to have placed Saint Gobnata over it as abbess. This is Ballyvourney, the place of which the angels spoke. A 13th-century wooden statue of Gobnata, in the hereditary keepership of the O'Herlihy family, was venerated there until 1843. A well still exists at Ballyvourney that is named after her. As with many Irish saints, there are stories of wondrous interactions with nature. Gobnata (meaning Honey Bee, which is the equivalent of the Hebrew "Deborah") used her bees to keep out unwelcome visitors.

Her grave in the churchyard at Ballyvourney is decorated with crutches and other evidence of cures obtained through Gobnata's intercession. Among the miracles attributed to her intercession were the staying of a pestilence by marking off the parish as sacred ground. Another tradition relates that she routed an enemy by loosing her bees upon them. Her beehive has remained a precious relic of the O'Herlihys.

The round stone associated with her is still preserved. Several leading families of Munster have a traditional devotion to this best-known and revered local saint. The devotion of the O'Sullivan Beare family may have been the reason that Pope Clement VIII honored Gobnata in 1601 by indulgencing a pilgrimage to her shrine and, in 1602, by authorizing a Proper Mass on her feast. About that time the chieftains of Ireland were making a final struggle for independence and the entire clan migrated to the North having dedicated their fortunes to Gobnata in a mass pilgrimage that included O'Sullivan Beare, his fighting men, and their women, children, and servants (Benedictines, D'Arcy, Farmer, Montague, Neeson, O'Hanlon, Sullivan).
In art, Saint Gobnata is represented as a beekeeper (Farmer).

Saint Gobnata was born in Co. Clare at the end of the fifth, or the beginning of the sixth century. Later she fled to the Aran Islands to escape from some enemy. An angel appeared to her one day and told her to leave that place and to keep walking until she found nine white deer. She saw three white deer at Clondrohid, Co. Cork, and decided to follow them. Then at Ballymakeera, she saw six white deer. Finally, at Ballyvourney she came upon nine white deer grazing in a wood. There she was given land for a women's monastery by her spiritual Father St Abban of Kilabban, Co. Laois (March 16), and he installed her as abbess. Excavations in 1951 proved that indeed there had been an early Christian settlement on the site.

St Gobnata was renowned for her gift of healing, and there is a story of how she kept the plague from Ballyvourney. She is also famous for her skill as a bee-keeper.

One day, St Gobnata was watching from a hill overlooking a valley as an invading chieftain and his army came through, destroying crops and driving off cattle. She sent the bees to attack them, and they were thrown into such confusion that they left without their plunder.
The holy virgin St Gobnata fell asleep in the Lord on February 11. The exact year of her death is not known, but it probably occurred in the sixth century. Although she is regarded as the patron saint of Ballyvourney, she is venerated throughout southern Ireland. There are churches dedicated to her in Waterford and Kerry, for example, and she is also revered in Scotland.
670 Saint  Caedmon; first Anglo-Saxon writer of religious poetry (AC)
Saint Bede recorded the life of Caedmon, the cowherd of Whitby Abbey, who though rough and untutored, by some strange power, in his later years broke into song and became the father of English poetry. Some say he was quite old when he first exercised his gift. The legend is that for years he was so ashamed of his inability, on account of his shyness, to take his turn in singing on festive occasions that he would steal away and hide himself. 'Wherefore, being sometimes at feasts, when all agreed for glee's sake to sing in turn, he no sooner saw the harp come towards him than he rose from the board and turned homewards.'
One night, however, when he had left the feast and had taken refuge in the stable, he heard a voice saying: 'Sing, Caedmon. Sing some song to Me.' Caedmon stammered in reply: 'I cannot sing.' 'But you shall sing,' replied the voice. 'What shall I sing?' Caedmon asked in wonder. The voice answered: 'Sing the beginning of created things.' And Caedmon, in that moment, attempting to sing, found his stammering tongue had been loosened.

In the morning he recalled the words of his song and, adding other verses to it, appeared before the Abbess Hilda, to whom he related his strange story. He sang to her the song he had sung in the night, and she and all who heard were amazed, and agreed 'that heavenly grace had been conferred upon him by the Lord.'

He became a lay-brother and, still in the great abbey of Whitby, was taught by his fellow monks the truths of the Bible; these he turned into poetry 'so sweet to the ear that his teachers became his hearers.' 'He sang,' says Bede, 'of the creation of the world, the origin of man, and the history of Israel, of the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection of Christ, and the teaching of the Apostles.' This first Anglo-Saxon writer of religious poetry covered with his paraphrases the whole field of Scripture, and though 'others after him strove to compose religious poems, none could vie with him, for he learned the art of poetry not from men, but from God.'
He is said to have died in holiness and perfect charity to all, after showing he knew his life was at end, although not seriously ill.

It was a remarkable instance of the power of the Bible to stimulate the imagination and awaken natural genius. Thus, Caedmon brought to the common people the energy and realism of the Scriptures, which, entering deeply into the life of the nation, have never ceased through all the centuries to invigorate and inspire the culture of the English-speaking world. Though only nine lines of one of his hymns, Dream of the Road, said to have been composed in a dream, survives, he is called the 'Father of English Sacred Poetry.' His feast is still celebrated at Whitby (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Gill).
731 Gregory II, 89th Pope educated at the Lateran  restore clerical discipline, fought heresies  helped restore and rebuild churches (including Saint Paul-Outside-the-Walls), hospitals, and monasteries, including Monte Cassino under Petrona The outstanding concern of his pontificate was his difficulties with Emperor Leo III the Isaurian    (RM)
Born in Rome, Italy; sometimes celebrated also on February 13. The 89th pope, Saint Gregory, became involved in church affairs in his youth, was educated at the Lateran, became a subdeacon under Pope Saint Sergius, served as treasurer and librarian of the Church under four popes, and became widely known for his learning and wisdom.
In 710, now a deacon, he distinguished himself in his replies to Emperor Justinian when he accompanied Pope Constantine to Constantinople to oppose the Council of Trullo canon that had declared the patriarchate of Constantinople independent of Rome and helped to secure Justinian's acknowledgment of papal supremacy.
On May 19, 715, Gregory was elected pope to succeed Constantine, put into effect a program to restore clerical discipline, fought heresies, began to rebuild the walls around Rome as a defense against the Saracens, and helped restore and rebuild churches (including Saint Paul-Outside-the-Walls), hospitals, and monasteries, including Monte Cassino under Petronax, which had been destroyed by Lombards about 150 years previously. He sent missionaries into Germany, among them Saint Corbinian and Saint Boniface in 719, whom he consecrated bishop. He also helped Saint Nothelm in his researches in the papal archives to provide material for Saint Bede's Ecclesiastical history. Gregory also received the Wessex king Ina, who became a monk in Rome in 726.
An old tradition makes Gregory a Benedictine monk, and his office figured for centuries in several Benedictine Propria.

The outstanding concern of his pontificate was his difficulties with Emperor Leo III the Isaurian.
Gregory opposed Leo's illegal taxation on the Italians, and counseled against the planned revolt of Italy against Byzantium and the election of an emperor in opposition to Leo. He also demanded that Leo stop interfering with church matters, vigorously opposed iconoclasm supported by the emperor, and severely rebuked him at a synod in Rome in 727. Gregory also supported Germanus, patriarch of Constantinople, against Leo. Gregory's relations with the Lombards who were intent upon conquering Italy were friendly mainly due to his influence with their leader, Liutprand (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer).
608 St. Desiderius martyred Bishop of Vienne
France, murdered by the Frankish queen Brunhildis and her followers, and is revered as a martyr. Born at Autun, he is also called Didier. As bishop, he attacked Queen Brunhildis for immorality. She accused him of paganism, but he was cleared by Pope St. Gregory the Great. Desiderius was then banished from his see. He was slain upon his return four years later at Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne.
821 Benedict of Aniane  restorer of Western monasticism; his relics remain and are attributed with the working of miracles often called the 'second Benedict.' died with extraordinary tranquility and cheerfulness
OSB Abbot Hermit (AC)  Born in Languedoc, France, 750; died at Cornelimuenster, Aachen, Germany, February 11.
The son of the Visigoth Aigulf, count or governor of Maguelone, Witiza was cup-bearer to King Pepin and Charlemagne and served in the army of Lombardy. About age 20 he made a resolution to seek the kingdom of God with his whole heart. For three years more he served at the court while mortifying his body.
In 774, having narrowly escaped drowning in the Tesin near Pavia while trying to save his brother during a military campaign in Lombardy, Italy, he made a vow to quit the world entirely.

Witiza became a Benedictine monk at Saint-Seine near Dijon, France, where he took the name Benedict and was appointed cellarer. He spent two and one half years there living on bread and water, sleeping on the bare ground, often praying throughout the night, and going barefoot even in winter. He received insults with joy, so perfectly had he died to self. God bestowed upon him the gift of tears and an infused knowledge of spiritual things.
When the abbot died he refused the abbacy offered him there because he knew his brothers were unwilling to reform.

In 779 Benedict returned to his estate at Languedoc, where he lived as a hermit near the brook of Aniane (Coriere), attracted numerous disciples including the holy man Widmar, and in 782 built a monastery and a church.  The monks employed themselves in manual labor and copying manuscripts.
They lived on bread and water except on Sundays and great feast days when they added wine or milk if they received any in alms. The results of his austere rule combining those of Benedict, Pachomius, and Basil were disappointing, so he adopted the Benedictine Rule and the monastery grew. From here his influence spread. He reformed and inaugurated other houses.
When Bishop Felix of Urgel proposed that Christ was not the natural, but only the adoptive son of the eternal Father (Adoptionism), Benedict opposed this heresy and assisted in the Council (synod) of Frankfurt in 794.
He also employed his pen to refute this heresy in four treatises, which were published in the miscellanies of Balusius.
Throughout the Frankish empire monasticism had suffered from the dual evils of lay ownership and the attacks of the Vikings. Monastic discipline had decayed regardless of the efforts of 8th and 9th century emperors who had legislated in favor of the Rule of Saint Benedict as the fundamental and stable code of conduct throughout their domains.

Benedict of Aniane and Emperor Louis the Pious cooperated with each other to mutual benefit. The emperor, who built the abbey of Maurmünster as a model abbey for Benedict in Alsace and then Cornelimünster (initially called Inde) near Aachen (Aix-la- Chapelle, Germany), made Benedict director of all the monasteries in the empire. The monk instituted widespread reforms, though because of opposition they were not as drastic as he had wanted.  And Benedict supported the emperor, first by moving closer to his throne at Aachen. Then, at Aachen, he presided over a meeting of all the abbots of the empire in 817--a turning point in Benedictine history.
During the meeting Benedict's Capitulare monasticum, a systematization of the Benedictine Rule was approved as the rule for all monks in the empire.
He also compiled the Codex regularum, a collection of all monastic regulations, and Concordia regularum, showing the resemblance of Benedict's rule to those of other monastic leaders.
The legislation emphasized the fundamental guidelines of the Benedictine Rule, stressing individual poverty and chastity with obedience to a properly constituted abbot, who was himself a monk. Under imperial pressure for uniformity in food, drink, clothing, and the Divine Office (which can be compared with Charlemagne's insistence on the Roman Rite), there was also some attempt to impose monastic observance in less important details. Benedict insisted upon the liturgical character of monastic life, including a daily conventual Mass and additions to the Divine Office. He also stressed the clerical element in monasticism which led to the development of teaching and writing as opposed to manual labor in the field. This innovative systematizing and centralization fell into desuetude after the death of Benedict and his patron Louis, but it had lasting effects on Western monasticism.
The influence of his reforms can be seen in the reforms of Cluny and Gorze.
For this reason, Benedict is considered the restorer of Western monasticism and is often called the 'second Benedict.'
Benedict died with extraordinary tranquility and cheerfulness at about age 71 and was buried in the monastery church, where his relics remain and are attributed with the working of miracles (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Husenbeth, Walsh).
In art, Saint Benedict is portrayed as a Benedictine abbot with supernatural fire near him. Sometimes he is shown (1) in a cave, food lowered to him in a basket (this is more generally Saint Benedict himself), or (2) giving the habit to Saint William of Aquitaine. He is venerated at Dijon (Saint-Seine) and Aniane (Languedoc) (Roeder).
824 St. Paschal elected as the 94th pope on the day Pope Stephen IV (V) died, January 25, 817; unsuccessful in attempts to end the iconoclast heresy of Emperor Leo V, encouraged SS. Nicephorous and Theodore Studites in Constantinople to resist iconoclasm, and gave refuge to the many Greek monks who fled to Rome to escape persecution from the iconoclasts.
Paschal was the son of Bonosus, a Roman. He studied at the Lateran, was named head of St. Stephen's monastery, which housed pilgrims to Rome, and was elected Pope to succeed Pope Stephen IV (V) on the day Stephen died, January 25, 817. Emperor Louis the Pious agreed to respect papal jurisdiction, but when Louis' son Lothair I came to Rome in 823 to be consecrated king, he broke the pact by presiding at a trial involving a group of nobles opposing the Pope. When the two papal officials who had testified for the nobles were found blinded and murdered, Paschal was accused of the crime. He denied any complicity but refused to surrender the murderers, who were members of his household, declaring that the two dead officials were traitors and the secular authorities had no jurisdiction in the case. The result was the Constitution of Lothair, severely restricting papal judicial and police powers in Italy.
Paschal was unsuccessful in attempts to end the iconoclast heresy of Emperor Leo V, encouraged SS. Nicephorous and Theodore Studites in Constantinople to resist iconoclasm, and gave refuge to the many Greek monks who fled to Rome to escape persecution from the iconoclasts.
Paschal built and redecorated many churches in Rome and transferred many relics from the catacombs to churches in the city. Although listed in the Roman Martyrology, he has never been formally canonized.

Paschal I, OSB, Pope (RM)  Died 824; feast day formerly May 14. Saint Pascal, son of the Roman Bonosus, studied at the Lateran and was named abbot of Saint Stephen's monastery, which housed pilgrims to Rome. He was elected as the 94th pope on the day Pope Stephen IV (V) died, January 25, 817.  Emperor Louis the Pious agreed to respect papal jurisdiction, but when Louis's son Lothair I came to Rome in 823 to be consecrated king, he broke the pact by presiding at a trial involving a group of nobles opposing the pope. When two papal officials who had testified for the nobles were found blinded and murdered, Paschal was accused of the crime.
Paschal denied any complicity but refused to surrender the murderers, who were members of his household, declaring that the two dead officials were traitors and the secular authorities had no jurisdiction in the case. The result was the Constitution of Lothair, severely restricting papal jurisdiction and police powers in Italy.
Paschal loved religious art even though he lived at a time when many people in the Eastern churches were breaking up sacred pictures in the belief that these were idolatrous images.

Fanatics would even murder those who supported the use of fine art to decorate Christian churches and foster the spirit of worship.

Though he was unsuccessful in ending the iconoclast heresy of Emperor Leo V, Pascal did his best to help Eastern Christians who were fighting to stop this destruction of great religious art. He sent his aides to try to secure the release of Abbot Theodore the Studite, who had been imprisoned for defending sacred icons, and encouraged Saint Nicephorus. And Paschal gave shelter to many Greek monks who had fled from the east in fear of those who were destroying what they held to be precious aids to the Christian life.
While Pascal did not succeed in ending this strife, the influence of Eastern artists can be seen in the work done between 817 and 824 (while he was pope) to embellish Rome. Pascal, for instance, rebuilt the Roman church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, and made it into a fitting shrine for the bones of Saint Cecilia. This church has been considerably rebuilt since then, but another church in Rome, Santa Maria in Domnica, remains substantially as it was after Pascal had restored it and shows his deeply held beliefs.
Paschal also supported missionary activities in Denmark. Although Paschal is listed in the Roman Martyrology, he has never been formally canonized (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Schamoni).
867 Theodora, Empress restore the veneration of sacred images (AC)
Theodora, wife of the iconoclast emperor Theophilus, did her utmost during the reign of her son, Michael the Drunkard, to restore the veneration of sacred images. Together with Saint Methodius, Theodora instituted the Feast of Orthodoxy on the first Sunday in Lent, which celebrates the restoration of holy images for veneration. While she ended her life in a convent, her claim to sanctity is questionable (Attwater2, Benedictines, Encyclopedia). In Ravenna, Italy, a contemporary mosaic shows her among her ladies. Most often she is holding a ring or an evil spirit takes her hand (Roeder). She is venerated in the East (Attwater2).

Holy Empress Theodora was the wife of the Byzantine emperor Theophilus the Iconoclast (829-842), but she did not share in the heresy of her husband and secretly venerated the holy icons. After the death of her husband, St Theodora governed the realm because her son Michael was a minor.
She convened a Council, at which the Iconoclasts were anathematized, and the veneration of icons was reinstated. St Theodora established the annual celebration of this event, the Triumph of Orthodoxy, on the first Sunday of the Great Fast. St Theodora did much for Holy Church and fostered a firm devotion to Orthodoxy in her son Michael.
When Michael came of age, she was retired from governing and spent eight years in the monastery of St Euphrosyne, where she devoted herself to ascetic struggles, and reading books that nourished her soul.
A copy of the Gospels, copied in her own hand, is known to exist. She died peacefully around the year 867.
In 1460, her relics were given by the Turks to the people of Kerkyra (Kephalonia).
1058 St. Ardanus Benedictine abbot, restored abbey, cared for populations during 3-year famine
also called Ardaing, Ardan, or Ardagne. He was the abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Tournus, now in the diocese of Autun, France. Ardanus restored the abbey and cared for the surrounding populations, especially during the three-year famine starting in 1030.
Ardanus of Tournus, OSB Abbot (AC) (also known as Ardaing, Ardagne, Ardagnus, Ardan) Died 1058. Ardanus was the 13th abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Tournus, now in the diocese of Autun. He restored the monastic buildings and was a father to the people during the famine of 1030 to 1033 (Benedictines).
1066 Blessed Helwisa of Coulombs recluse , OSB V (AC)
Helwisa was a recluse under the obedience of the Benedictine abbey of Coulombs in Normandy (Benedictines).
1224 St. Adolf of Osnabrück monk bishop piety charitable programs
who was a member of the family of Tecklenburg, counts in Westphalia. Adolf became a canon in Cologne, Germany, but then entered the Cistercian monastery, where he became known for his piety. In 1216, he was named the bishop of Osnabrück and maintained charitable programs there, dying on June 30, 1224.
1138 Holy Prince Vsevolod of Pskov; he raised up many churches cathedral of the Great Martyr George at the Yuriev monastery and church of St John the Forerunner at Opokakh the prince granted a special charter of lands and privileges to the cathedral of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) and other churches

In Baptism Gabriel, a grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, was born at Novgorod, where in the years 1088-1093 and 1095-1117 his father ruled as prince. His father was the holy prince St Mstislav-Theodore the Great (April 15). In the year 1117, when Great Prince Vladimir Monomakh gave Mstislav Kievan Belgorod as his "udel" (land-holding), practically making him co-ruler, young Vsevolod remained as his father's vicar in the Novgorod principality.

Holy Prince Vsevolod did much good for Novgorod. Together with the Archbishop of Novgorod, St Niphon (April 8), he raised up many churches, among which were the cathedral of the Great Martyr George at the Yuriev monastery, and the church of St John the Forerunner at Opokakh, built in honor of the "angel" (i.e. patron saint) of his first-born son John, who had died in infancy (+ 1128).

In his Ustav (Law code) the prince granted a special charter of lands and privileges to the cathedral of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) and other churches. During a terrible famine, he exhausted his entire treasury to save people from perishing. Prince Vsevolod was a valiant warrior, he marched victoriously against the Yam and Chud peoples, but he never took up the sword for lucre or power.

In 1132, upon the death of holy Great Prince Mstislav, Vsevolod's uncle Prince Yaropolk of Kiev fulfilled the last wishes of his brother and transferred Vsevolod to Pereyaslavl, then regarded as the eldest city after Kiev itself. But the younger sons of Monomakh, Yuri Dolgoruky and Andrew Dobry, were apprehensive lest Yaropolk make Vsevolod his successor at Kiev, and so they marched out against their nephew. Hoping to avoid internecine strife, St Vsevolod returned to Novgorod, but was received there with disaffection. The Novgorodians felt that the prince had been "raised" by them and should not have left them earlier. "Vsevolod went to Rus, to Pereslavl," noted the Novgorod chronicler, "and kissed the cross against the Novgorodians, saying, 'I will kill you.'"

Striving to restore good relations with Novgorod, the prince undertook a victorious campaign against the Chud people in 1133, and he annexed Yuriev to the Novgorod domain. But a harsh winter campaign in 1135-1136 against Suzdal was unsuccessful. The stubborn people of Novgorod would not heed their chastisement by God, and they could not forgive the prince for their defeat. The assembly decided to summon a prince from the hostile Monomakh line of the Olgovichi, and they condemned St Vsevolod to banishment. "You suffered exile at the hands of your own people," we sing in the troparion to the saint. For a month and a half they held the prince and his family under guard at the archbishop's palace. When Prince Svyatoslav Olgovich arrived on July 15, 1136, Vsevolod was released from his captivity.

Vsevolod went again to Kiev, and his uncle Yaropolk gave him the Vyshgorod district near Kiev, the place where St Olga (July 11) had lived in the tenth century during the rule of her son Svyatoslav, "preferring the cities of Kiev and Pskov." St Olga came to the defense of her descendant in 1137 when the people of Pskov, recalling the campaigns of the Novgorod-Pskov army led by the prince, invited him to the Pskov principality, the native region of St Olga. He was the first Pskov prince, chosen by the will of the Pskov people.
Among the glorious works of St Vsevolod-Gabriel at Pskov was the construction of the first stone church dedicated to the Life-Creating Trinity, replacing a wooden church from the time of St Olga.
On the icons of the saint, he is often depicted holding the church of the Holy Trinity.

St Vsevolod ruled as prince at Pskov for only a year. He died on February 11, 1138 at the age of forty-six. All of Pskov gathered at the funeral of the beloved prince, and the chanting of the choir could scarcely be heard over the people's wailing.
The people of Novgorod sent an archpriest from the Sophia cathedral to take his holy relics back to Novgorod.

The prince, however, did not want his body to rest in Novgorod. He would not allow Novgorod to be deprived of his relics by the people of Pskov, who had driven him out, and the coffin would not move from the spot. The Novgorod people wept bitterly and repented in their misfortune. Then they asked to be given just a small piece of his relics "for the protection of their city." Through their prayers a fingernail fell from the saint's hand. The Pskov people put St Vsevolod into the temple of the holy Great Martyr Demetrius. Beside the grave they placed the military armaments of the prince, a shield and sword, in the shape of a cross, with the Latin inscription, "I will yield my honor to no one."
On November 27, 1192, the relics of holy Prince Vsevolod were uncovered and transferred into the Trinity cathedral, in which a chapel was consecrated in his honor.

The deep spiritual bond of the city of St Olga with the holy Prince Vsevolod was never broken. He always remained a Pskov wonderworker. At the siege of Pskov by Stephen Bathory in 1581, when the walls of the fortress were already breached and the Poles were ready to rush into the city, they brought the holy relics of Prince Vsevolod from the Trinity cathedral to the place of battle, and the enemy withdrew.
On April 22, 1834, on the first day of Pascha, the saint's holy relics were solemnly transferred to a new shrine in the main church of the cathedral.

At the appearance of the wonderworking Pskov-Protection Icon (October 1), holy Prince Vsevolod-Gabriel stood among the heavenly defenders of Pskov.
1392 Saint Demetrius of Priluki, Wonderworker; combined prayer and strict asceticism with kindliness fed the poor and hungry took in strangers conversed with those in need of consolation gave counsel loved to pray in solitude Miracles from the relics began in 1409
Born into a rich merchant's family in Pereyaslavl-Zalessk. From his youth the saint was uncommonly handsome. Receiving monastic tonsure at one of the Pereyaslavl monasteries, the saint later founded the St Nicholas cenobitic monastery on the Sts Boris and Gleb Hill at the shore of Lake Plescheevo near the city, and became its igumen.
In 1534 St Demetrius first met with St Sergius of Radonezh, who had come to Pereyaslavl to see Metropolitan Athanasius.

From that time, he frequently conversed with St Sergius and became close with him. The fame of the Pereyaslavl igumen was so widespread that he became godfather to the children of Great Prince Demetrius Ioannovich. Under the influence of the Radonezh wonderworker, St Demetrius decided to withdraw to a remote place, and went north with his disciple Pachomius.
In the Vologda forests, at the River Velika, near the Avnezh settlement, they built a church of the Resurrection of Christ and they prepared to lay the foundations for a monastery. The local inhabitants were fearful that if a monastery were built there, their village would become monastery property. They demanded that the monks leave their territory, and wishing to be a burden to no one, they moved farther away.

Not far from Vologda, at the bend of a river in an isolated spot, St Demetrius decided to form the first of the cenobitic monasteries of the Russian North. The people of Vologda and the surrounding gladly consented to help the saint. The owners of the land intended for the monastery, Elias and Isidore, even trampled down a grain field, so that a temple might be built immediately. In 1371 the wooden Savior cathedral was built, and brethren began to gather.

Many disciples of the monk came there from Pereyaslavl. St Demetrius combined prayer and strict asceticism with kindliness. He fed the poor and hungry, he took in strangers, he conversed with those in need of consolation, and he gave counsel. He loved to pray in solitude. His Lenten food consisted of prosphora with warm water. Even on feastdays, he would not partake of the wine and fish permitted by the Rule. Both winter and summer he wore an old sheepskin coat, and even in his old age he went with the brethren on common tasks. The saint accepted contributions to the monastery cautiously, so that the welfare of the monastery would not be detrimental to those living nearby.
The Lord granted His servant the gift of clairvoyance, and he attained a high degree of spiritual perfection. St Demetrius died at an advanced age on February 11, 1392.
The brethren approaching found him as though asleep, and his cell was filled with a wondrous fragrance.
Miracles from the relics of St Demetrius began in the year 1409, and during the fifteenth century his veneration spread throughout all Rus.

And no later than the year 1440, the Priluki monk Macarius recorded his Life (Great Reading Menaion, February 11) based on the narratives of St Demetrius's disciple Igumen Pachomius.
1519 Blessed Elisabeth Salviati; Camaldolese nun, abbess , OSB Cam. (AC)
Elisabeth was a Camaldolese nun and abbess of the convent of San Giovanni Evangelista at Boldrone.
Pope Urban VIII allowed pictures of her with the title of beata underneath to be printed in Rome (Benedictines).