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!) R.
Deo
grátias. R.
Thanks be to God.
2023January is the month of the Holy Name of Jesus since 1902; 22,260 lives saved since 2007 The Twelfth Day in the Octave of Christmas THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST Armenian Church CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS Ethiopian and Russian Orthodox Churches treat 6 January as the eve of the festival, which is celebrated on 7 January. January 6 – Epiphany of the Lord – The Adoration of the Magi The Mother of God accepted all this in humble thanksgiving The words of
the Kings—the Magi—and their companions were full of touching simplicity.
Bowing down and offering him their gifts, they said in essence: "We have
seen his star. We know he is the King of all Kings. We just love him and
offer him our homage and our presents…"
They were close
to ecstasy, and—in their naive and loving prayers—they recommended themselves,
their families, their country, their property and anything that was dear
to them on this earth, to the Child Jesus... They were filled with happiness;
they believed that they had reached that star towards which for thousands
of years, their ancestors had directed their gaze and their sights with
such a constant desire. All the joy of the promise fulfilled after so many
centuries was in them.
The Mother of
God accepted all this in humble thanksgiving... She received each present
with such kind and gentle gratitude! She who needed nothing, who had Jesus
with her—humbly welcomed all their offerings of charity… There was such
goodness in Mary and Joseph. They kept little for themselves and distributed
the rest to those in need.
Blessed Anne Catherine
Emmerich Visions, volume 1, Chapter XXV |
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Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List Acts of the Apostles Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque How do I start the Five First Saturdays? Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China whole article here January 6 – Our Lady of Cana Wear the Miraculous Medal visibly around your neck During the German occupation in Belgium, a religious nurse visited a prison camp in Verviers. She told this story: "One day I met a 20 year-old Russian girl, who had been sentenced to death and was plunged into a deep depression. "Are you Catholic?" I asked her. She said that she was, so I gave her a Miraculous Medal (a medal of the Virgin Mary from the chapel of apparitions at the Rue du Bac in Paris). I asked her to wear it visibly around her neck and to put into practice the words of Saint Joan of Arc: Nothing ventured, nothing gained... This gave her the courage to escape. Pursued by a young officer, she ran away terribly frightened, clutching her Miraculous Medal and praying. The officer caught up with her—he was an American! The officer helped her get across the border and took her to the United States, where they were married. I heard the story from her, a year later, at the baptism of their first child." Sister Catherine Notre Dame des Temps Nouveaux, March 1968 Story told by Brother Albert Pfleger, in Fioretti de la Vierge Marie, Ephèse Diffusion The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us that a life of Christian perfection is not impossible.
January 6 - Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord A Sudden Burst of Joy On January 6, 1412, Archbishop Debout wrote
that the residents of Domrémy, France, went home after attending
the services of the great feast of the Epiphany.Suddenly, in every home,
for no apparent reason for it to take place, a burst of joy permeated
people's hearts. Startled, the villagers wondered what was happening, opened
their doors and stood on the threshold of their cottages, looking up
to the sky. Their efforts were in vain: nothing in the sky explained
why they all felt such happiness. And then even animals that cannot
reason began to share the exuberance: roosters flapped their wings
and went cock-a-doodle-doo for two hours.
What was going on? Joan of Arc was
born. She was the divine answer to the supplications
that kings and the people had been making for a century. "I came
to the King of France from the Blessed Virgin Mary," Joan said to
her judges. Her childhood home is a rustic shrine outside Domrémy:
Our Lady of Bermont.The Virgin Mary in the History of France by the
Marquis de la Franquerie
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. Saint John, Son of Mary (VI) January 6 - Our Lady of Cana The discovery of "Meryem Ana," the "Holy House of the Blessed Virgin Mary" in Ephesus following the visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, took place during the reign of Leo XIII (1878-1903). When the pope was informed of the discovery, he openly showed his satisfaction, and after him Pius X, Benedict XV and Pius XI have also shown great interest in this discovery. Since then, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI have made pilgrimages to the shrine, indicating that the contemplative life of John with the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ephesus is a model for all: the Holy Spirit guides the efforts of the Church, urging her to adopt the same behavior as Mary. In the story of the birth of Our Lord, Luke notes that his mother "kept all these things, pondering them in her heart", thus seeking to "put together" in a more profound manner, (in Greek: symballousa), all the events that she was the privileged witness to see. Similarly, God's people are also prompted by the same Spirit to understand in depth what is said about Mary, to better understand the meaning of her mission, so closely tied to the mysteries of Christ. The mystery of Mary urges all Christians, in union with the Church, to meditate in their hearts what the Gospel reveals about the Mother of Christ. (John Paul II) Also in Ephesus, Heraclites popularized the concept of Logos, and certainly with Mary, he must have written the Prologue of his Gospel there too, as well as his other teachings that focus on the mystery of the Incarnation, which the Virgin Mary had disclosed to him in depth and John had such a great desire to transmit. Pope John Paul II Adapted from the General Audience September 13, 1995 "At the end of my novitiate, my superiors showed me the door, and I stayed there for forty years."Bl. Andre Bessette Think of some service you longed to perform for God and God's people, but that you thought was too overwhelming for you. What small bit can you do in this service? If you can't afford to give a lot of money to a cause, just give a little. If you can't afford hours a week in volunteering, try an hour a month on a small task. It is amazing how those small steps can lead you up the mountain as they did for Brother Andre. |
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THE EPIPHANY
OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST EPIPHANY,
which
in Creek signifies appearance or manifestation, is a festival
principally solemnized in honour of the revelation Jesus Christ
made of Himself to the Magi, or wise men; who, soon after His birth,
by a particular inspiration of Almighty God, came to worship
Him and bring Him presents. Two other manifestations of our Lord
are jointly commemorated on this day in the office of the Church that
at His baptism, when the Holy Ghost descended on Him in the visible
form of a dove, and a voice from Heaven was heard at the same time, “This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” and
that of His divine power at the doing of His first miracle, the changing of
water into wine at the marriage of Cana, by which He manifested His glory,
and His disciples believed in Him. Upon all these accounts this
festival lays claim to a more than ordinary regard and veneration
but from none more than us Gentiles, who in the person of the wise
men, our first-fruits and forerunners, were on this day called to the
faith and worship of the true God. The wise men readily
comply with the voice of the Sanhedrin, notwithstanding the little
encouragement these Jewish leaders afford them by their own example
to persist in their search for not one single priest or scribe is
disposed to bear them company in seeking after and paying homage to
their own king. No sooner had they left Jerusalem but, to encourage their
faith, God was pleased again to show them the star which they had seen
in the East, and it continued to go before them untill it conducted them
to the very place where they were to see and worship their Saviour. The star, by ceasing
to advance, tells them in its mute language, “Here shall you find the new-born
King.” The holy men entered the poor place, rendered more glorious by this
birth than the most stately palace in the universe and finding the Child
with His mother, they prostrate themselves, they worship Him, they pour forth
their souls in His presence. St Leo thus extols their faith and devotion
“When a star had conducted
them to worship Jesus, they did not find Him commanding devils
or raising the dead or restoring sight to the blind or speech to
the dumb, or employed in any divine action; but a silent babe, dependent
upon a mother’s care, giving no sign of power but exhibiting a miracle
of humility.” The Magi offer to Jesus as a token of homage the richest
produce their countries afforded—gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold,
as an acknowledgement of His regal power; incense, as a confession of
His Godhead; and myrrh, as a testimony that He was become man for the
redemption of the world. But their far more acceptable presents were the
dispositions they cherished in their souls their fervent charity, signified
by gold; their devotion, figured by frankincense; and the unreserved sacrifice
of themselves, represented by myrrh.
The earliest
mention of a Christian festival celebrated on January 6 seems to
occur in the Stromata (i, 21) of Clement of Alexandria, who died
before 216. He states that the gnostic sect of the Basilidians kept the commemoration
of our Saviour’s baptism with great solemnity on dates held to
correspond with the 10th and 6th of January respectively. The notice
might seem of little importance were it not for the fact that in the
course of the next two centuries there is abundant evidence that January
6 had come to be observed throughout the East as a festival of high importance,
and was always closely associated with the baptism of our Lord. In a
document known as the “Canons of Athanasius”, whose text may in substance belong to the
time of St Athanasius, say AD 370, the writer recognizes only three
great feasts in the year—Easter, Pentecost and the Epiphany. He
directs that a bishop ought to gather the poor together on solemn occasions,
notably upon “the great festival of the Lord” (Easter); Pentecost, “when the Holy Ghost came
down upon the Church” ; and “the feast of the Lord’s Epiphany, which was
in the month Tubi, that is the feast of Baptism” (canon 16) ; and he specifies
again in canon 66, “the feast of the Pasch, and the feast of the Pentecost
and the feast of the Epiphany, which is the 11th day of the month Tubi.”
According
to oriental ideas it was through the divine pronouncement “this
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”
that the Saviour was first manifested to the great world of unbelievers.
In the opinion of the Greek fathers, the Epiphany (showing forth),
which is also called manifestation of the deit) an(illumination),
was identified primarily with the scene beside the Jordan. St John
Chrysostom, preaching at Antioch in 386, asks, “How does it happen
that not the day on which our Lord was born, but that on which He was
baptized, is called the Epiphany?” And then, after dwelling upon certain
details of liturgical observance, particularly the blessing of water
which the faithful took home with them and preserved for a twelvemonth—he
seems to suggest that the fact of the water remaining sweet must be due
to some miracle— the saint comes back to his own question: “We give”,
he says, “the name Epiphany to the day of our Lord’s baptism because
He was not made manifest to all when he was born, but only when He
was baptized; for until that time He was unknown to the people at
large.” Similarly St Jerome, living near Jerusalem, testifies that in his time only one feast
was kept there, that of January 6, to commemorate
both the birth and the baptism of Jesus nevertheless he declares that
the idea of “showing forth” belonged not to His birth in the flesh,
“for then He was hidden and not revealed”, but rather to the baptism
in the Jordan, “when the heavens were opened upon Christ”. With the exception, however,
of Jerusalem, where the pilgrim lady, Etheria (395) bears witness,
like St Jerome, to the celebration of the birth of our Lord together
with the Epiphany on one and the same day (January 6), the Western
custom of honouring our Saviour’s birth separately on December 25 came
into vogue in the course of the fourth century, and spread rapidly from
Rome over all the Christian East.* {* But to
this day the non-Catholic Armenians celebrate Christmas with the Epiphany
on January 6. And it is to be remarked that even in the Western church
the liturgical rank of the Epiphany feast, with Easter and Pentecost,
is above that of Christmas.}
We learn from St Chrysostom that at Antioch December 25 was observed for the first time as a feast somewhere about 376. Two or three years later the festival was adopted at Constantinople, and, as appears from the funeral discourse pronounced by St Gregory of Nyssa over his brother St Basil, Cappadocia followed suit at about the same period. On the other hand, the celebration of January 6, which undoubtedly had its origin in the East, and which from a reference in the passio of St Philip of Heraclea may perhaps already be recognized in Thrace at the beginning of the fourth century, seems by a sort of exchange to have been adopted in most Western lands before the death of St Augustine. It meets us first at Vienne in Gaul, where the pagan historian Ammianus Marcellinus, describing the Emperor Julian’s visit to one of the churches, refers to “the feast-day in January, which Christians call the Epiphany”. St Augustine in his time makes it a matter of reproach against the Donatists that they had not adopted this newer feast of the Epiphany as the Catholics had done. We find the Epiphany in honour at Saragossa C. 380, and in 400 it is one of the days on which the circus games were prohibited. Still, although the day fixed for the celebration was the same, the character of the Epiphany feast in East and West was different. In the East the baptism of our Lord, even down to the present time, is the motif almost exclusively emphasized, and the great blessing of the waters, on the morning of the Epiphany still continues to be one of the most striking features of the oriental ritual. In the West, on the other hand, ever since the time of St Augustine and St Leo the Great, many of whose sermons for this day are still preserved to us, the principal stress has been laid upon the journey and the gift-offerings of the Magi. The baptism of our Lord and the miracle of Cana in Galilee have also, no doubt from an early period, been included in the conception of the feast, but although we find clear references to these introduced by St Paulinus of Nola at the beginning of the fifth century, and by St Maximus of Turin a little later, into their interpretation of the solemnities of this day, no great prominence has ever been given in the Western church to any other feature but the revelation of our Lord to the Gentiles as represented by the coming of the Magi. See H. Leclercq in DAC., vol.
v, pp. 197—201 Vacandard, Études de critique et d’histoire religieuse, vol.
iii, pp. 1-56 Hugo Kehrer, Die heiligen Drei
Könige (1908), vol. i, pp. 46—52 and 22—35 Duchesne, Christian
Worship, pp. 257-265 Usener-Lietzmann,
Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen,
Part I; Kellner, Heortology, pp. 166—173
G. Morin in Revue Bénédictine, vol.
v (1888), pp. 257—264 F. C. Conybeare in Rituale Armenorum,
pp. 165—190;
and especially Dom de Puniet in Rassegna Gregoriana,
vol. v (1906), p. 497-514. See also Riedel and Crum, The Canons of Athanasius, pp. 27, 131 Anecdota Maredsolana,
t. iii, pp. 396—397; Rassegna Gregoriana, vol.
x (1911), pp. 51—58; and Migne, PG., vol. xlix, p. 366 (Chrysostom),
and PL., vol. xxv, CC. 18—19 (Jerome),
vol. xxxvii, c. 1033 (Augustine).
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210 In Africa commemorátio
plurimórum
sanctórum Mártyrum 287 St. Macra Virgin martyr of Reims France 4th v. St. Anastasius VIII Martyr at Syrmium St. Nilammon, anchoret 390 St. Gregory Nazianzen “the Theologian.” 511 St. Melani a monk helped draw up the canons of the Council of Orleans in 511 516 St. Hywyn Welsh founder patron of churches-western England 535 St. Melanius bishop of Rennes France when Franks invaded Gaul 607 St. Peter of Canterbury Benedictine 1st abbot monastery Sts. Peter/Paul - Canterbury 6th v. St. Merinus Titular patron of churches in Wales /Brittany 6th v. St. Schotin hermit disciple of St. David of Wales 6th v. St. Edeyrn hermit patron of a church in Brittany, France 6th v. St. Eigrad Founder of a church in Anglesey Wales 658 St. Diman Abbot-bishop Connor Ireland 986 St. Wiltrudis Widow Benedictine nun wife of Duke Berthold - Bavaria 1121 St. Erminold Benedictine abbot A large number of miracles are recorded at his tomb after death. 1150 ST GUARINUS, OR GUÉRIN, BISHOP of SI0N esteemed by St Bernard 1275 St Raymond of Pennafort canon of Barcelona Dominican, Archbishop 1358 BD GERTRUDE OF DELFT, VIRGIN stigmata knowledge of people’s thoughts, distant and future events 1373 St. Andrew Corsini regarded as a prophet and a thaumaturgus miracles were so multiplied at his death that Eugenius IV permitted a public cult immediately; Feast kept on February 04 1611 St. John de Ribera Archbishop Vice-roy of Valencia deported Moors Many miracles attributed his intercession 1925 BD RAPHAELA MARY, VIRGIN, FOUNDRESS OF THE HANDMAIDS OF THE SACRED HEART her answer to misery was, I see clearly that God wants me to submit to all that happens to me as if I saw Him there commanding it.” Bd Raphaela Mary 1937 Blessed André Bessette (b. 1845) expressed a saint’s faith by a lifelong devotion to St. Joseph. |
Armenian Church CELEBRATE
CHRISTMAS Draper.org 24/12/2006 - The festival generally called Armenian Christmas is a holy day celebrated as the Holy Nativity of Jesus Christ. Christmas is celebrated in the Armenian Church around the main them of the revelation and incarnation of God, "Asdvadz-a-haydnootyoon." The most important observances of the Armenians in the Christmas period are of the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem and his baptism in the Jordan River at the age of thirty. The Holy Nativity of Christ is celebrated in the Armenian Church on 6 January. At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Christ's baptism is celebrated in the Tchrorhnek (Water Blessing) ceremony. A question often asked is why Armenians do not celebrate Christmas on 25 December, as the rest of the world generally does. Just as chronologically there is no clear date for Christ's Holy Nativity, the Gospels also do not contain one. But historically all Christian Churches up until the fourth century celebrated the Festival of Christ's Nativity on 6 January. According to the Roman Catholic Church, the date of 6 January was changed because the pagan traditional festival celebrated on 25 December that marked the birth of the Sun was declared invalid. But Christians continued to hold to those kinds of pagan festivals on that date. In order to break their influence, the Church hierarchy defined 25 December as Christmas, that is, as the Festival of the Holy Nativity of Christ, while 6 January was defined as the visit of the three magi to the newly born Christ. Because the Armenians did not experience the problem of Saturnalia, i.e. the Festival of the Birth of the Sun, and because the Armenian Church was not a satellite of the Roman Church, Armenians were unaffected by this change. According to church traditions, Armenians continue to celebrate Christmas on 6 January. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt carries on with the same tradition together with the Armenians. However, the Ethiopian and Russian Orthodox Churches treat 6 January as the eve of the festival, which is celebrated on 7 January. Armenians greet each other as follows on the Festival of the Holy Nativity: --Christos dzenav yev haydnetsav! (Christ is born and revealed!) --Orhneal eh dzenuntn u haydnuteunn Christosi! (Blessed be Christ's birth and revelation!) |
210
In Africa commemorátio
plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum, qui, in persecutióne
Sevéri, ad palum ligáti sunt et igne consúmpti.
In Africa, the commemoration of many holy
martyrs who were burned at the stake in the persecution of Severus. |
St. Macra Virgin martyr
of Reims France. In território Rheménsi pássio sanctæ Macræ Vírginis, quæ, in persecutióne Diocletiáni, jubénte Rictiováro Præside, cum in ignem esset præcipitáta et permansísset illæsa, dehinc, mamíllis abscíssis et squalóre cárceris afflícta, super testas étiam acutíssimas ac prunas volutáta, tandem orans migrávit ad Dóminum. In the diocese of Rheims, the martyrdom of St. Macra, virgin, who, in the persecution of Diocletian, was cast into the fire by order of the governor Rictiovarus. As she remained uninjured, she had her breasts cut away, was imprisoned in a foul dungeon, rolled upon broken earthenware and burning coals, and finally she gave up her soul while engaged in prayer. tortured cruelly and martyred at Tismes, Champagne, in the persecutions conducted by Emperor Diocletian. |
4th v. St. Anastasius
VIII Martyr at Syrmium Anastasius was a Christian who was arrested, tortured, and slain at Syrmium, Pannonia. |
Geris, in Ægypto, sancti Nilammónis
reclúsi, qui, dum ad Episcopátum traherétur
invítus, in oratióne spíritum Deo réddidit. At Geris in Egypt, St. Nilammon, anchoret, who, while he was carried to a bishopric against his will, gave up his soul to God in prayer. |
390 St. Gregory Nazianzen “the Theologian.” Born 329: After his baptism at 30, Gregory gladly accepted his friend Basil’s invitation to join him in a newly founded monastery. The solitude was broken when Gregory’s father, a bishop, needed help in his diocese and estate. It seems that Gregory was ordained a priest practically by force, and only reluctantly accepted the responsibility. He skillfully avoided a schism that threatened when his own father made compromises with Arianism. At 41, Gregory was chosen suffragan bishop of Caesarea and at once came into conflict with Valens, the emperor, who supported the Arians. An unfortunate by-product of the battle was the cooling of the friendship of two saints. Basil, his archbishop, sent him to a miserable and unhealthy town on the border of unjustly created divisions in his diocese. Basil reproached Gregory for not going to his see. When protection for Arianism ended with the death of Valens, Gregory was called to rebuild the faith in the great see of Constantinople, which had been under Arian teachers for three decades. Retiring and sensitive, he dreaded being drawn into the whirlpool of corruption and violence. He first stayed at a friend’s home, which became the only orthodox church in the city. In such surroundings, he began giving the great sermons on the Trinity for which he is famous. In time, Gregory did rebuild the faith in the city, but at the cost of great suffering, slander, insults and even personal violence. An interloper even tried to take over his bishopric. His last days were spent in solitude and austerity. He wrote religious poetry, some of it autobiographical, of great depth and beauty. He was acclaimed simply as “the Theologian.” Comment: It may be
small comfort, but post-Vatican II turmoil in the Church is a mild storm compared
to the devastation caused by the Arian heresy, a trauma the Church has never
forgotten. Christ did not promise the kind of peace we would love to have—no
problems, no opposition, no pain. In one way or another, holiness is always
the way of the cross.
Quote: “God accepts
our desires as though they were a great value. He longs ardently
for us to desire and love him. He accepts our petitions for benefits
as though we were doing him a favor. His joy in giving is greater than
ours in receiving. So let us not be apathetic in our asking, nor
set too narrow bounds to our requests; nor ask for frivolous things
unworthy of God’s greatness.”
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511 St. Melani a monk helped
draw up the canons of the Council of Orleans in 511
Born in Placet Brittany, he was a monk when called
to succeed St. Amand
in the see of Rennes. He wiped out idolatry
in his diocese , helped draw up the canons of the Council of Orleans
in 511 and was highly revered by King Clovis.Rhédonis, in Gállia, sancti Melánii, Epíscopi et Confessóris; qui, post innumerabílium signa virtútum, júgiter cælo inténtus, gloriósus migrávit a sæculo. At Rennes in France, St. Melanius, bishop and confessor, who, after a life remarkable for innumerable virtues, with his thoughts constantly fixed on heaven, gloriously departed from this world. |
516 St. Hywyn Welsh founder
patron of churches-western England He was a disciple of St. Cadfan-founded monasteries in Wales. Hywyn founded Aberdaron in Gwynedd, Wales. He is sometimes called Ewen or Owen. No other details of his Ire extant. |
535 St. Melanius bishop
of Rennes France when Franks invaded Gaul Rhédonis, in Gállia, sancti Melánii, Epíscopi et Confessóris; qui, post innumerabílium signa virtútum, júgiter cælo inténtus, gloriósus migrávit a sæculo. At Rennes in France, St. Melanius, bishop and confessor, who, after a life remarkable for innumerable virtues, with his thoughts constantly fixed on heaven, gloriously departed from this world. Also called Mullion. He was a Breton by birth, much respected by the Frankish ruler Clovis. |
Bl. Andre Bessette
"At the end of my novitiate, my superiors showed me the door, and
I stayed there forty years."
When Alfred Bessette came to the Holy Cross Brothers in 1870, he carried with him a note from his pastor saying, "I am sending you a saint." The Brothers found that difficult to believe. Chronic stomach pains had made it impossible for Alfred to hold a job very long and since he was a boy he had wandered from shop to shop, farm to farm, in his native Canada and in the United States, staying only until his employers found out how little work he could do. The Holy Cross Brothers were teachers and, at 25, Alfred still did not know how to read and write. It seemed as if Alfred approached the religious order out of desperation, not vocation. Alfred was
desperate, but he was also prayerful and deeply devoted to God
and Saint Joseph. He may have had no place left to go, but he believed
that was because this was the place he felt he should have been all
along.
The Holy Cross Brothers took him into the novitiate but soon found out what others had learned -- as hard as Alfred, now Brother Andre, wanted to work, he simply wasn't strong enough. They asked him to leave the order, but Andre, out of desperation again, appealed to a visiting bishop who promised him that Andre would stay and take his vows. After his vows, Brother Andre was sent to Notre Dame College in Montreal (a school for boys age seven to twelve) as a porter. There his responsibilities were to answer the door, to welcome guests, find the people they were visiting, wake up those in the school, and deliver mail. Brother Andre joked later, "At the end of my novitiate, my superiors showed me the door, and I stayed there for forty years." In 1904, he surprised the Archbishop of Montreal if he could, by requesting permission to, build a chapel to Saint Joseph on the mountain near the college. The Archbishop refused to go into debt and would only give permission for Brother Andre to build what he had money for. What money did Brother Andre have? Nickels he had collected as donations for Saint Joseph from haircuts he gave the boys. Nickels and dimes from a small dish he had kept in a picnic shelter on top of the mountain near a statue of St. Joseph with a sign "Donations for St. Joseph." He had collected this change for years but he still had only a few hundred dollars. Who would start a chapel now with so little funding? Andre took
his few hundred dollars and built what he could ... a small wood
shelter only fifteen feet by eighteen feet. He kept collecting money
and went back three years later to request more building. The wary
Archbishop asked him, "Are you having visions of Saint Joseph telling
you to build a church for him?" Brother Andre reassured him. "I have
only my great devotion to St. Joseph to guide me."
The Archbishop granted him permission to keep building as long as he didn't go into debt. He started by adding a roof so that all the people who were coming to hear Mass at the shrine wouldn't have to stand out in the rain and the wind. Then came walls, heating, a paved road up the mountain, a shelter for pilgrims, and finally a place where Brother Andre and others could live and take care of the shrine -- and the pilgrims who came - full-time. Through kindness, caring, and devotion, Brother Andre helped many souls experience healing and renewal on the mountaintop. There were even cases of physical healing. But for everything, Brother Andre thanked St. Joseph. Despite financial troubles, Brother Andre never lost faith or devotion. He had started to build a basilica on the mountain but the Depression had interfered. At ninety-years old he told his co-workers to place a statue of St. Joseph in the unfinished, unroofed basilica. He was so ill he had to be carried up the mountain to see the statue in its new home. Brother Andre died soon after on January 6, and didn't live to see the work on the basilica completed. But in Brother Andre's mind it never would be completed because he always saw more ways to express his devotion and to heal others. As long as he lived, the man who had trouble keeping work for himself, would never have stopped working for God. In His Footsteps: Brother Andre didn't mind
starting small.
Think of some service you
have longed to perform for God and God's people, but that you thought was
too overwhelming for you. What small bit can you do in this service? If you
can't afford to give a lot of money to a cause, just give a little. If you
can't afford hours a week in volunteering, try an hour a month on a small
task. It is amazing how those small steps can lead you up the mountain as
they did for Brother Andre.
Prayer: Blessed Brother Andre, your devotion to Saint Joseph is an inspiration to us. You gave your life selflessly to bring the message of his life to others. Pray that we may learn from Saint Joseph, and from you, what it is like to care for Jesus and do his work in the world. Amen Copyright 1996-2000 by Terry Matz. All Rights Reserved.
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6v St. Merinus Titular
patron of churches in Wales /Brittany. He was a hermit
of Bangor a disciple of Abbot Dunawd. |
6v St. Eigrad Founder
of a church in Anglesey Wales. the brother of St.
Samson
of York, trained by
St. Illtyd. |
6v St. Edeyrn hermit patron
of a church in Brittany, France Tradition states that he was a Briton who was a companion of King Arthur before becoming a recluse in Armonica, an area in Brittany. |
6v St. Schotin hermit
disciple of St. David of Wales Also Scarthin,. Born in Ireland, he left the island to become a student of David. Returning home, he lived for many years as a hermit and is traditionally believed to have established a boy's school in Kilkenny. |
607 St. Peter of Canterbury
Benedictine 1st abbot monastery Sts. Peter/Paul - Canterbury Peter was originally a monk in the monastery of St. Andrew’s, Rome, and was chosen by Pope St. Gregory I the Great {Doctor of the Church; b. Rome 540; d.12 March 604}to embark with St. Augustine of Canterbury and other monks on the missionary enterprise to England in 596. Peter became the first abbot of the monastery of Sts. Peter and Paul at Canterbury in 602. He died by drowning at Ambleteu, near Boulogne while on a mission to France. |
658 St. Diman Abbot-bishop
Connor Ireland also called Diman Dubh or “Diman the Black,” Dimas, or Dima. He was a monk under St. Columba. Diman was one of the bishops who received a letter from the Roman Church in 640, concerning the Easter controversy and the Pelagian heresy. |
986 St. Wiltrudis Widow
Benedictine nun wife of Duke Berthold - Bavaria she became a nun after her husband's death (c. 947) and founded the convent of Bergen, near Neuburg, Germany, on the Danube about 976. She was well-known for her goodness and her abilities as an artisan. 986 ST WILTRUDIS, WIDOW RADERUS in his Bavaria Sancta describes Wiltrudis as a maiden who obtained the consent of her brother, Count Ortulf, to refuse the proposals of marriage, which had been made for her. The truth, however, appears to be that she was the wife of Berthold, Duke of Bavaria, who, after her husband’s death, about the year 947, became a nun. Even in the world she had been renowned for her piety and for her skill in handicrafts. After she gave herself to God her fervour redoubled and she eventually founded, about 976, an abbey of Benedictine nuns that became famous as that of Bergen, or Baring, bei Neuburg. She became the first abbess, and died about 986. See Rietzler, Geschichte Bayerns, vol.
i, pp. 338 and 381 and Raderus, Bavaria
Sancta, vol. iii, p. 137.
|
1121 St. Erminold Benedictine
abbot A large number of miracles are recorded at his tomb after
death. Erminold was given to Hirschau Monastery, in Wurzburg Germany, as a small child. In 1110, he became the abbot of Lorsch, resigning and returning to Hirschau when his election was disputed. In 1117, Erminold became abbot of Pruffening There he was assaulted by a lay brother and slain on January 7. 1121 ST ERMINOLD, ABBOT A large number of miracles are recorded at his tomb after death. THE medieval Life of St Erminold represents a. rather unsatisfactory type of spiritual biography. The writer seems to have been intent only on glorifying his hero, and we cannot be quite satisfied as to his facts. Erminold, brought to the monastery of Hirschau as a child, spent all his life in the cloister. Being conspicuous for his strict observance of rule, he was chosen abbot of Lorsch, but a dispute about his election caused him to resign within a year. In 1114, at the instance of St Otto of Bamberg, he was sent to the newly founded monastery of Prufening, and there he exercised authority, first as prior, and from 1117 onwards as abbot. He is described in local calendars and martyrologies as a martyr, but his death, which took place on January 6, 1121, resulted from the conspiracy of an unruly faction of his own subjects who resented the strictness of his government. One of them struck him on the head with a heavy piece of timber, and Erminold, lingering for a few days, died on the Epiphany at the hour he had foretold. He was famed both for his spirit of prayer and for his charity to the poor. A large number of miracles are recorded at his tomb after death. See Acta Sanctorum, January 6 and also the MCH., Scriptores, vol. xii, pp. 481—500. |
1150
ST GUARINUS, OR GUÉRIN, BISHOP of SION esteemed by St Bernard. No formal
biography of St Guarinus seems to have been left us by any of his
contemporaries, but a considerable local cult has been paid to
him ever since his death. He was originally a monk of Molesmes, but
having been appointed abbot of St John of Aulps (de Alpibus),
in the diocese of Geneva, he some years later wrote to St
Bernard, then at the height of his fame, to ask that he and his community
might be affiliated to Clairvaux. One of St Bernard’s letters in reply
is still preserved, and from this and another letter of his it is
evident how highly he esteemed Guarinus. This second letter was written
to console the community of Aulps when their abbot was taken from
them to be made bishop of Sion in the Valais.
See
Acta Sanctorum,
January
6 and J. F. Gonthier, Vie de St Guérin (1896). |
1275 St Raymond
of Pennafort canon of Barcelona Dominican, Archbishop Barcinóne,
in Hispánia, item natális sancti Raymúndi
de Pénafort, ex Ordine Prædicatórum, Confessóris,
doctrína et sanctitáte célebris. Ipsíus
vero festum décimo Kaléndas Februárii celebrátur.
At Barcelona in Spain, St. Raymond of Pennafort, of the Order of Preachers, celebrated for sanctity and learning. His festival is kept on the 23rd of this month. 1175-1275) encouraged assisted and confessor for Peter Nolasco -- requested by the Blessed Virgin in a vision to found an order especially devoted to the ransom of captives from the Moors. St. Raymond of Peñafort Born at Villafranca de Benadis, near Barcelona, in 1175; died at Barcelona, 6 January, 1275. He became professor of canon law in 1195, and taught for fifteen years. He left Spain for Bologna in 1210 to complete his studies in canon law. He occupied a chair of canon law in the university for three years and published a treatise on ecclesiastical legislation which still exists in the Vatican Library. Raymond was attracted to
the Dominican Order by the preaching of Blessed Reginald, prior of the Dominicans
of Bologna, and received the habit in the Dominican Convent of Barcelona,
whither he had returned from Italy in 1222. At Barcelona he was co-founder
with St. Peter Nolasco of the Order of Mercedarians. He also founded institutes
at Barcelona and Tunis for the study of Oriental languages, to convert the
Moors and Jews.
At the request of his superiors Raymond published the Summa Casuum, of which several editions appeared in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In 1229 Raymond was appointed theologian and penitentiary to the Cardinal Archbishop of Sabina, John of Abbeville, and was summoned to Rome in 1230 by Gregory IX, who appointed him chaplain and grand penitentiary. The reputation of the saint for juridical science decided the pope to employ Raymond of Peñafort's talents in re-arranging and codifying the canons of the Church. He had to rewrite and condense decrees that had been multiplying for centuries, and which were contained in some twelve or fourteen collections already existing. We learn from a Bull of Gregory IX to the Universities of Paris and Bologna that many of the decrees in the collections were but repetitions of ones issued before, many contradicted what had been determined in previous decrees, and many on account of their great length led to endless confusion, while others had never been embodied in any collection and were of uncertain authority. The pope announced the new publication in a Bull directed to the doctors and students of Paris and Bologna in 1231, and commanded that the work of St. Raymond alone should be considered authoritative, and should alone be used in the schools. When Raymond completed his work the pope appointed him Archbishop of Tarragona, but the saint declined the honour. Having edited the Decretals he returned to Spain. He was not allowed to remain long in seclusion, as he was elected General of the Order in 1238; but he resigned two years later. During his tenure of office he published a revised edition of the Dominican Constitutions, and it was at his request that St. Thomas wrote the Summa Contra Gentiles. St. Raymond was canonized by Clement VIII in 1601. His Summa de Poenitentia et Matrimonio is said to be the first work of its kind. His feast is 23 January. |
MUCH interest attaches
to the life of this mystic, who was first a servant-maid and afterwards
a béguine
at Delft
in Holland. Béguines are not, strictly speaking, members
of a religious order, though they dwell in a settlement apart, perform
their religious exercises in common, and make profession of chastity
and obedience. But they are not vowed to poverty, and they live in little
separate houses, each with one or two companions, occupied for the most
part in active good works in her early days Gertrude had been engaged to
be married to a man who left her for another girl, causing great anguish
of mind to the betrothed he had forsaken. Seeing the providence of God
in this disappointment, she turned her thoughts to other things, and afterwards
generously befriended the rival who had somewhat treacherously stolen
her lover.
As the crown of a life now spent in contemplation
and austerity, our Lord was pleased to honour her, on Good Friday
1340, with the marks of His
sacred wounds. We read that a holy friend named Lielta had already
foretold this privileged state to her, and also that she had experienced
a very curious bodily manifestation in the Christmas season of the
previous year. When the stigmata were thus given her, apparently as
a permanent mark of God’s favour, they used to bleed seven times every
day. She confided to her fellow béguine Diewerdis the news of
this strange wonder. Naturally the tidings
spread, and very soon crowds came, not only from Delft, but from all the
country round to behold the marvel. This destroyed all privacy and recollection,
and so Gertrude implored our Lord to come to her aid. The stigmata
consequently ceased to bleed, but the marks persisted. For the eighteen
years she remained on earth she led a very suffering life, but she
seems, like other mystics who have been similarly favoured with these
outward manifestations, to have possessed a strange knowledge of people’s
thoughts and of distant and future events, of which her biographer
gives instances. The name “van Oosten”, by which
she is known in the place of a surname, is stated to have come
to her from her fond repetition of an old Dutch hymn beginning, Het daghet in den Oosten
(“The day is breaking
in the east”). There seems a curious appropriateness in the
fact that she died (1358) on the feast of the Epiphany when the wise
men came from the east to greet their infant Saviour. “I am longing”,
she said a few minutes before her death, “I am longing to go home.” See
the life in the Acts Sanctorum, January 6. A short Dutch text was
published at Amsterdam in 1879 by Alberdingk Thijm in
Verspreide Verhalen
in Prosa, vol.
i, pp. 54—60. The hymn, Het daqhet in den
Oosten, has
been printed by Hoffmann von Fallersieben in his Horae
Belgicae. |
1373 St. Andrew
Corsini regarded as a prophet
and a thaumaturgus; miracles were so multiplied
at his death that Eugenius IV permitted a public cult immediately His feast is kept on 4
February. Floréntiæ natális sancti Andréæ Corsíni, civis Florentíni, ex Ordine Carmelitárum, Epíscopi Fæsuláni et Confessóris; quem, miráculis clarum, Urbánus Papa Octávus in Sanctórum númerum rétulit. Ejus autem festívitas recólitur prídie nonas Februárii. At Florence, St. Andrew Corsini, a Florentine Carmelite and bishop of Fiesole. Being celebrated for miracles, he was ranked among the saints by Urban VIII. His festival is kept on the 4th of February. He was born in Florence on November 30, 1302, a member of the powerful Corsini family. Wild in his youth, Andrew was converted to a holy life by his mother and became a Carmelite monk. He studied in Paris and Avignon, France, returning to his birthplace. There he became known as the Apostle of Florence. He was called a prophet and miracle worker. Named as the bishop of Fiesole in 1349, Andrew fled the honor but was forced to accept the office, which he held for twelve years. He was sent by Pope Urban V to Bologna to settle disputes between the nobles and commoners, a mission he performed well. Andrew died in Fiesole on January 6, 1373. So many miracles took place at his death that Pope Eugenius IV permitted the immediate opening of his cause. 1373 ST ANDREW CORSINI, BISHOP OF FIESOLE THIS saint was called Andrew after the apostle of that name, upon whose festival he was born in Florence in 1302. He came of the distinguished family of the Corsini, and we are told that his parents dedicated him to God before his birth; but in spite of all their care the first part of his youth was spent in vice and extravagance, amongst bad companions. His mother never ceased praying for his conversion, and one day in the bitterness of her grief she said, “I see you are indeed the wolf I saw in my sleep,” and explained that before he was born she dreamt she had given birth to a wolf which ran into a church and was changed into a lamb. She added that she and his father had devoted him to the service of God under the protection of the Blessed Virgin, and that they expected of him a very different sort of life from that which he was leading. These rebukes
made a very deep impression. Overwhelmed with shame, Andrew next
day went to the church of the Carmelite friars, and after having
prayed fervently before the altar of our Lady he was so touched by
God’s grace that he resolved to embrace the religious life in that convent.
All the artifices of his former companions, and the solicitations of
an uncle who tried to draw him back into the world, were powerless to change
his purpose: he never fell away from the first fervour of his conversion.
In the year 1328 Andrew was ordained; but to escape the feasting and music which his family had prepared according to custom for the day on which he should celebrate his first Mass, he withdrew to a little convent seven miles out of the town, and there, unknown and with wonderful devotion, he offered to Almighty God the first fruits of his priesthood. After some time employed in preaching in Florence he was sent to Paris, where he attended the schools for three years. He continued his studies for a while at Avignon with his uncle, Cardinal Corsini, and in 1332, when he returned to Florence, he was chosen prior of his convent. God honoured his virtue with the gift of prophecy, and miracles of healing were also ascribed to him. Amongst miracles in the moral order and conquests of hardened souls, the conversion of his cousin John Corsini, a confirmed gambler, was especially remarkable. When the bishop of Fiesole died in 1349 the chapter unanimously chose Andrew Corsini to fill the vacant see. As soon, however, as he was informed of what was going on, he hid himself with the Carthusians at Enna: the canons, despairing of finding him, were about to proceed to a second election when his hiding-place was revealed by a child. After his consecration
as bishop he redoubled his former austerities. Daily he gave himself
a severe discipline whilst he recited the litany, and his bed was
of vine branches strewed on the floor. Meditation and reading the
Holy Scriptures he called recreation from his labours. He avoided talking
with women as much as possible, and refused to listen to flatterers
or informers. His tenderness and care for the poor were extreme, and
he was particularly solicitous in seeking out those who were ashamed to
make known their distress: these he helped with all possible
secrecy. St Andrew had, too, a talent for appeasing quarrels,
and he was often successful in restoring order where popular disturbances
had broken out. For this reason Bd Urban V sent him to Bologna,
where the nobility and the people were miserably divided. He pacified
them after suffering much humiliation, and they remained at peace during
the rest of his life. Every Thursday he used to wash the feet of the
poor, and never turned any beggar away without alms.
St Andrew was taken ill whilst singing
Mass on Christmas night in 1373 and died on the following Epiphany at the age
of seventy-one. He was immediately proclaimed a saint by the voice
of the people, and Pope Urban VIII formally canonized him in 1629.
Andrew was buried in the Carmelite church at Florence; and Pope Clement
XII, who belonged to the Corsini family, built and endowed a chapel
in honour of his kinsman in the Lateran basilica. The architect of this
chapel, in which Clement himself was buried, was Alexander Galilei,
who lived for some years in England. The same pope added St Andrew Corsini
to the general calendar of the Western church, in 1737.
|
1611 St. John de Ribera Archbishop
Vice-roy of Valencia deported Moors Many miracles attributed
to his intercession Spain. He was the son of the duke of Alcala, and was born in Seville, Spain. Ordained a priest in 1557, he became archbishop in 1568, serving for more than four decades until he died on January 6, in Valencia. John ordered the Moors deported from his see. He was revered by Pope Pius V and King Philip II of Spain. Pope John XXIII canonized him in 1959. 1611 ST JOHN DE RIBERA, archbishop of Valencia PETER DE RIBERA, the father of Don John, was one of the highest grandees in Spain; he was created duke of Alcalá, but already held many other titles and important charges. Among the rest, he for fourteen years governed Naples as viceroy. But above all, he was a most upright and devout Christian. His son, therefore, was admirably brought up, and during a distinguished university career at Salamanca and elsewhere, divine Providence seems perceptibly to have intervened to shield his virtue from danger. Realizing the perils to which he was exposed, he gave himself up to penance and prayer in preparation for holy orders. In 1557, at the age of twenty-five, Don John was ordained priest; and after teaching theology at Salamanca for a while, he was preconized bishop of Badajoz, much to his dismay, by St Pius V in 1562. His duties as bishop were discharged with scrupulous fidelity and zeal, and six years later, by the desire both of Philip II and the same holy pontiff, he was reluctantly constrained to accept the dignity of archbishop of Valencia. A few months later, filled with consternation at the languid faith and relaxed morals of this province, which was the great stronghold of the Moriscos, he wrote begging to be allowed to resign, but the pope would not consent; and for forty-two years, down to his death in 1611, St John struggled to support cheerfully a load of responsibility which almost crushed him. In his old age the burden was increased by the office of viceroy of the province of Valencia, which was imposed upon him by Philip III.The archbishop viewed with
intense alarm what he regarded as the dangerous activities of the Moriscos
and Jews, whose financial prosperity was the envy of all. Owing
to the universal ignorance of the principles of political economy,
which then prevailed, the Moriscos seemed to Ribera to be “the sponges
which sucked up all the wealth of the Christians”. At the same time,
it is only fair to note that this was the view of nearly all his Christian
countrymen, and that it was shared even by so enlightened a contemporary
as Cervantes. In any case, it is beyond dispute that St John de Ribera
was one of the advisers who were mainly responsible for the edict of 1609
that enforced deportation of the Moriscos from Valencia. We can only
bear in mind that a decree of beatification pronounces only upon the personal
virtues and miracles of the servant of God so honoured, and that it does
not constitute an approbation of all his public acts or of his political
views. The archbishop did not long survive the tragedy of the deportation.
He died, after a long illness most patiently borne, at the College of
Corpus Christi, which he himself had founded and endowed, on January
6, 1611. Many miracles were attributed to his intercession, He was beatified
in 1796 and canonized in 1960. See V. Castillo, Vita del B. Giovanni de
Ribera (1796); M. Belda, Vida del B. Juan de Ribera
(1802) and P. Boronat
y Barrachina, Los Moriscos españoles
y su Expulsion (1901). |
1925 BD RAPHAELA
MARY, VIRGIN, FOUNDRESS OF THE HANDMAIDS OF THE SACRED
HEART her answer to misery was, I see clearly that God wants me to submit to all that happens
to me as if I saw Him there commanding it.” RAPHAELA P0IRAS was born
in the small Spanish town of Pedro Abad, some way from Cordova,
in 1850.
When she was four she lost her father, the mayor of the place, who died of cholera Caught when looking after the sick during an epidemic; at nineteen her mother followed, and Raphaela was left with her elder sister, Dolores, in charge of the household, which included several brothers and sisters. In 1873 both announced that they wished to become nuns. Their retiring way of life had already provoked opposition from the family; but it was eventually arranged for them to be received as novices by the nuns of Marie Réparatrice who had been invited to Cordova at the suggestion of a priest named Joseph Antony Ortiz Urruela (he had at one time studied in England under Bishop Grant of Southwark). Difficulties, however, at once arose— partly because the nuns were “foreign”, partly because of the high-handed behaviour of Don Ortiz Urruela—and the bishop asked the nuns to leave, Sixteen novices, including the two Porras girls, were given permission to remain in Cordova, and carry on as best they could under the headship of Sister Raphaela Mary-of-the-Sacred-Heart. Early in 1877, just before
Sister Raphaela and five others were to take their vows, Bishop
Ceferino Gonzalez informed them that he had drawn up an entirely
new rule for the community. This put the novices in an awkward position.
The new rule was quite different from that in which they had been trained;
on the other hand, if they refused it they all would be sent back
to their homes. The course they decided on was a surprising one—no
less than flight. And they carried it
out. Leaving Cordova by night, they went to Andujar, where Don Ortiz
Urruela had arranged for them to be sheltered by the nuns at the hospital.
Naturally, there was great excitement. The civil authorities took
a hand, and the bishop declared Don Ortiz Urruela “suspended”;
but that enterprising priest was already in Madrid, seeing what
he could do for his protegees there, and the bishop
could really do little, as the fugitives were not a canonically-erected
community. That was the startling beginning of the
congregation of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart, whose work was to be the
education of children and helping with retreats. It soon began to develop
and spread, and houses were opened at Jerez, Saragossa, Bilbao and Cordova—this
last with the full approval of Bishop Ceferino. To-day its sisters are found
in a dozen other countries besides Spain, including England and the United
States. But troubles did not end with the difficulty of its birth, nor even
with the granting of approval by the Holy See in 1877, when Bd Raphaela
was elected mother general. Unhappily her sister Dolores, now Mother Mary-del-Pilar,
did not see eye-to-eye with Raphaela in matters of administration,
and there were others who supported Mother Mary: in 1893 the foundress resigned
from her office as mother general, and Mary-del-Pilar was elected in her
place. For the remaining thirty-two years of her life Bd Raphaela filled
no office whatever in her congregation, but lived in obscurity in the Roman
house, doing the housework. It cannot be doubted that it was in these
years that she earned her halo of holiness.
In English
there is a good summary in pamphlet form, In Search of the Will
of God (1950), by Fr William Lawson. |
1937 Blessed
André Bessette (b. 1845) expressed a saint’s
faith by a lifelong devotion to St. Joseph. Sickness and weakness dogged André from birth. He was the eighth of 12 children born to a French Canadian couple near Montreal. Adopted at 12, when both parents had died, he became a farmhand. Various trades followed: shoemaker, baker, blacksmith—all failures. He was a factory worker in the United States during the boom times of the Civil War. At 25, he applied for entrance into the Congregation of the Holy Cross. After a year’s novitiate, he was not admitted because of his weak health. But with an extension and the urging of Bishop Bourget (see Marie-Rose Durocher, October 6), he was finally received. He was given the humble job of doorkeeper at Notre Dame College in Montreal, with additional duties as sacristan, laundry worker and messenger. “When I joined this community, the superiors showed me the door, and I remained 40 years.” In his little room near the door, he spent much of the night on his knees. On his windowsill, facing Mount Royal, was a small statue of St. Joseph, to whom he had been devoted since childhood. When asked about it he said, “Some day, St. Joseph is going to be honored in a very special way on Mount Royal!” When he heard someone was ill, he visited to bring cheer and to pray with the sick person. He would rub the sick person lightly with oil taken from a lamp burning in the college chapel. Word of healing powers began to spread. When an epidemic broke out at a nearby college, André volunteered to nurse. Not one person died. The trickle of sick people to his door became a flood. His superiors were uneasy; diocesan authorities were suspicious; doctors called him a quack. “I do not cure,” he said again and again. “St. Joseph cures.” In the end he needed four secretaries to handle the 80,000 letters he received each year. For many years the Holy Cross authorities had tried to buy land on Mount Royal. Brother André and others climbed the steep hill and planted medals of St. Joseph. Suddenly, the owners yielded. André collected 200 dollars to build a small chapel and began receiving visitors there—smiling through long hours of listening, applying St. Joseph’s oil. Some were cured, some not. The pile of crutches, canes and braces grew. The chapel also grew. By 1931 there were gleaming walls, but money ran out. “Put a statue of St. Joseph in the middle. If he wants a roof over his head, he’ll get it.” The magnificent Oratory on Mount Royal took 50 years to build. The sickly boy who could not hold a job died at 92. He is buried at the Oratory and was beatified in 1982. André Bessette, also called Blessed Brother Andre, (French: Frère André, born Alfred Bessette) (9 August 1845 – 6 January 1937) was a Holy Cross Brother and a significant figure of the Roman Catholic Church among French-Canadians, credited with thousands of reported miraculous healings. Early life Bessette was born in Saint-Grégoire d'Iberville, Quebec (then Canada East), a small town situated 40 kilometers east of Montreal. His was a working class family — his father, Isaac Bessette, was a carpenter and lumberman and his mother, Clothilde Foisy Bessette, saw to the education of her ten children (two others died in infancy). When Bessette was nine years old, Isaac was killed in a lumbering accident. Clothilde died of tuberculosis just a few years later, and Bessette was orphaned at age twelve. He was sent to live with his mother's sister, Rosalie Nadeau and her husband Timothée, who attempted to establish Bessette in various trades, but the boy's fragile health (which would afflict him throughout his life) made sustained manual labor difficult. From his earliest days, Bessette exhibited an unusually intense spirituality. He would often spend his scant free time praying before a crucifix or evangelizing his friends, and his many self-imposed penances drew the admiring rebuke of his gentle aunt, who was concerned that the boy was endangering his already poor health. When Bessette was twenty years old, he joined many Canadians who were emigrating to the United States to work in the mills of New England. When, in 1867, the Canadian Confederation was formed, he returned to his native country. He was given the task of doorkeeper at Notre Dame College in Côte-des-Neiges, Quebec. He fulfilled this function for some 40 years while at the same time doing innumerable odd jobs for the community. Call to devotion The Pastor of his parish, Fr. André Provençal, noticed the devotion and generosity of the young man. He decided to present Bessette to the Congregation of Holy Cross in Montreal, writing a note to the superior, "I'm sending you a saint." Although he was initially rejected by the order because of frail health, Archbishop Ignace Bourget of Montreal intervened on his behalf, and in 1872, Bessette was accepted, made his temporary vows, and became known as Brother André. He made his final vows on 2 February 1874, at the age of twenty-eight. Bessette's great confidence in Saint Joseph inspired him to recommend this saint's devotion to all those who were afflicted in various ways. Many claimed that they were cured through the prayers of Bessette and Saint Joseph, and they were grateful that their prayers had been heard. Bessette steadfastly refused to take any credit for these cures, and although usually a gentle man, he was known to become enraged at those who suggested that he possessed any healing powers. Because he wanted Saint Joseph to be honoured, in 1904 Bessette began the construction of a small chapel on the side of Mount Royal, facing the College. Bessette's reputation grew and soon he was known as the miracle-worker of Mount Royal. He had to face the attacks and the criticism of numerous adversaries. He had the strong support, however, of the diocesan Church, and thousands of cures without apparent medical explanation made him the object of popular acclaim. In 1924 construction
of Saint Joseph's Oratory began on the side of the mountain, near
Bessette's chapel.
Friday,
January 06, 2012St. André Bessette (1845-1937) Brother André expressed a saint’s faith by a lifelong devotion to St. Joseph. Sickness and weakness dogged André from birth. He was the eighth of 12 children born to a French Canadian couple near Montreal. Adopted at 12, when both parents had died, he became a farmhand. Various trades followed: shoemaker, baker, blacksmith—all failures. He was a factory worker in the United States during the boom times of the Civil War. At 25, he applied for entrance into the Congregation of the Holy Cross. After a year’s novitiate, he was not admitted because of his weak health. But with an extension and the urging of Bishop Bourget (see Marie-Rose Durocher, October 6), he was finally received. He was given the humble job of doorkeeper at Notre Dame College in Montreal, with additional duties as sacristan, laundry worker and messenger. “When I joined this community, the superiors showed me the door, and I remained 40 years,” he said. In his little room near the door, he spent much of the night on his knees. On his windowsill, facing Mount Royal, was a small statue of St. Joseph, to whom he had been devoted since childhood. When asked about it he said, “Some day, St. Joseph is going to be honored in a very special way on Mount Royal!” When he heard someone was ill, he visited to bring cheer and to pray with the sick person. He would rub the sick person lightly with oil taken from a lamp burning in the college chapel. Word of healing powers began to spread. When an epidemic broke out at a nearby college, André volunteered to nurse. Not one person died. The trickle of sick people to his door became a flood. His superiors were uneasy; diocesan authorities were suspicious; doctors called him a quack. “I do not cure,” he said again and again. “St. Joseph cures.” In the end he needed four secretaries to handle the 80,000 letters he received each year. For many years the Holy Cross authorities had tried to buy land on Mount Royal. Brother André and others climbed the steep hill and planted medals of St. Joseph. Suddenly, the owners yielded. André collected 200 dollars to build a small chapel and began receiving visitors there—smiling through long hours of listening, applying St. Joseph’s oil. Some were cured, some not. The pile of crutches, canes and braces grew. The chapel also grew. By 1931 there were gleaming walls, but money ran out. “Put a statue of St. Joseph in the middle. If he wants a roof over his head, he’ll get it.” The magnificent Oratory on Mount Royal took 50 years to build. The sickly boy who could not hold a job died at 92. He is buried at the Oratory. He was beatified in 1982 and canonized in 2010. At his canonization in October 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said that St. Andre "lived the beatitude of the pure of heart." Comment: Rubbing ailing limbs with oil or a medal? Planting a medal to buy land? Isn’t this superstition? Aren’t we long past that? Superstitious people rely only on the “magic” of a word or action. Brother André’s oil and medals were authentic sacramentals of a simple, total faith in the Father who lets his saints help him bless his children. Quote: “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures,” said St. André Bessette. Death and
beatification
Bessette
died in 1937, at the age of 91. A million people filed before his
coffin.The remains of Bessette lie in the oratory he helped build. His body lies in a tomb built below the oratory's main chapel, except for his heart, which is preserved in a monstrance in the oratory. The heart was stolen in March 1973, but recovered in December 1974. Brother André was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 23 May 1982. The miracle cited in the beatification was the healing in 1958 of Giuseppe Carlo Audino, who suffered from cancer. In the dioceses of the United States, he is commemorated by an optional memorial on 6 January. On 19 December 2009, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated a decree recognizing a second miracle at Bessette's intercession. The Church and the Oratory decline requests for interviews from the press until the decree is announced officially in 2010. |
THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 227 O Lady, may thy light be the splendor of my countenance: and let the serenity of thy grace shine upon my mind. Raise up my head: and I will sing a psalm to thy name. Turn not away thy face from me: for from my youth up I have greatly desired thy beauty and thy grace. I have loved thee and sought after thee, O Queen of Heaven: withdraw not thy mercy and thy grace from thy servant. I will give praise to thee in the nations: and I will honor the throne of thy glory. Let every spirit praise Our Lady For thy spirit is kind: thy grace fills the whole world. Thunder, ye heavens, from above, and give praise to her: glorify her, ye earth, with all the dwellers therein. Rejoice, ye Heavens, and be glad, O Earth: because Mary will console her servants and will have mercy on her poor. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning and will always be.
God
loves
variety.
He doesn't
mass-produce
his saints.
Every
saint
is unique,
for each
is the
result
of
a new idea.
As the
liturgy
says:
Non
est
inventus
similis
illis--there
are no
two exactly
alike.
It
is we with
our
lack of
imagination,
who
paint
the same
haloes
on all
the saints.
Dear Lord, grant us a
spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences. Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven: only saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed
NOT for the benefit of the recipients so
much as FOR the benefit of others.
There
are over 10,000 named saints beati
from history
and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources Patron_Saints.html Widowed_Saints html Indulgences The Catholic Church in China LINKS: Marian Shrines India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East Lourdes 1858 China Marian shrines 1995 Kenya national Marian shrine Loreto, Italy Marian Apparitions (over 2000) Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798 Links to Related MarianWebsites Angels and Archangels Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell Widowed Saints html Doctors_of_the_Church Acts_Of_The_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates Chalcedon |
|
Mary the
Mother
of
Jesus
Miracles_BC Lay Saints
Miraculous_Icons
Miraculous_Medal_Novena
Patron
Saints
Miracles by Century 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 Miracles 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 Lay Saints |
|
The
great
psalm
of
the
Passion,
Chapter
22,
whose
first
verse
“My
God,
my God,
why
hast
thou forsaken
me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him” For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought. |
|
Pope
Benedict
XVI
to
The
Catholic
Church
In China
{whole
article
here}
2000
years of the Catholic Church
in China The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible. Join us on CatholicVote.org. Be part of a new
movement
committed
to
using
powerful
media
projects
to create
a Culture
of Life.
We can
help
shape
the
movement
and
have a voice
in its
future.
Check
it out
at www.CatholicVote.org
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible. 4. Say the rosary every day. 5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament; toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour, 6. Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day. 7. Every month make a review of the month in confession. 8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue. 9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion. 10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love
Thee.
I
beg pardon
for
those
who
do not
believe,
do not
adore,
do not
O most Holy trinity, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.
I offer Thee the most
precious
Body,
Blood,
Soul
and
Divinity
of Jesus
Christ,
present
in all the
Tabernacles
of
the world, in reparation
for the
outrages,
sacrileges
and indifference
by which
He is offended,
and by the
infite
merits
of
the Sacred
Heart
of Jesus
and
the Immaculate
Heart
of
Mary.
I beg the conversion of poor sinners, Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The
voice
of the
Father
is heard,
the Son
enters
the
water,
and
the
Holy
Spirit
appears
in the
form
of a dove.
THE
spirit
and
example
of the
world
imperceptibly
instil
the
error
into
the
minds
of
many
that there
is a kind
of middle
way of
going
to Heaven;
and so,
because
the
world
does not
live
up to
the gospel,
they
bring
the gospel
down
to the
level
of the world.
It is not
by this
example
that we
are to
measure
the
Christian
rule,
but words
and
life of
Christ.
All
His followers
are commanded
to labour
to
become
perfect
even
as our
heavenly
Father
is perfect,
and to bear
His image
in
our hearts
that we may
be His
children.
We
are obliged
by
the gospel
to die
to ourselves
by fighting
self-love
in our
hearts,
by the
mastery
of our passions,
by taking
on the
spirit
of our
Lord.
These
are
the
conditions
under
which
Christ
makes
His
promises
and numbers
us
among
His
children,
as is manifest
from
His
words
which
the apostles
have
left
us in
their
inspired
writings.
Here
is no distinction
made or
foreseen
between
the apostles
or clergy
or religious
and secular
persons.
The former,
indeed,
take upon
themselves
certain
stricter
obligations,
as a means
of
accomplishing
these
ends
more
perfectly;
but the
law of
holiness
and
of disengagement
of the
heart
from
the world
is general
and binds
all
the followers
of
Christ.
|
|
God loves variety.
He
doesn't
mass-produce
his
saints.
Every
saint
is unique
each
the
result
of a new
idea.
As the liturgy says: Non
est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences. Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors
responded
to God's
invitation
to use
his or
her
unique
gifts.
|
|
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite
the
Rosary
)
Revealed
to
St.
Dominic
and Blessed
Alan)
1. Whoever
shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive
signal graces. 2.
I promise my special
protection
and the greatest
graces to all those who
shall recite the Rosary.
3.
The
Rosary shall be a powerful
armor against
hell, it will destroy
vice, decrease
sin, and defeat heresies.
4.
It will
cause virtue and
good works to flourish;
it will obtain for souls the
abundant mercy of God; it
will withdraw the hearts
of people from the love
of the world and its vanities,
and will lift them
to the desire of eternal things.
Oh, that soul
would sanctify them by
this means. 5.
The
soul that recommends
itself to me by the recitation
of the Rosary shall
not perish. 6.
Whoever shall recite
the Rosary devoutly,
applying themselves to
the consideration of its
Sacred Mysteries shall
never be conquered by misfortune.
God will not
chastise them in His justice,
they shall not perish
by an unprovided
death; if they be just, they
shall remain in the grace
of God, and become worthy of
eternal life. 7.
Whoever shall have
a true devotion for the Rosary
shall not die without
the Sacraments
of the Church. 8.
Those who are faithful
to recite the Rosary
shall have during their life
and at their death the light
of God and the plentitude
of His graces; at the moment of death
they shall participate in the
merits of the Saints in Paradise.
9.
I shall deliver from purgatory
those who have been devoted
to the Rosary. 10.
The faithful
children of the Rosary shall
merit a high degree of glory
in Heaven. 11.
You shall
obtain all you ask of me by the
recitation of the Rosary.
12.
I shall aid all those
who propagate the Holy Rosary
in their necessities.
13.
I have obtained from my Divine
Son that all the advocates
of the Rosary shall have for
intercessors the entire
celestial court during
their life and at the hour
of death. 14.
All who recite the Rosary
are my children, and
brothers and sisters of
my only Son, Jesus Christ.
15.
Devotion to my Rosary
is a great sign of predestination.
|
|
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013)
Catholicos of Cilicia of
Armenians, whose
See is
located
in
Lebanese
town
of
Antelias.
The Catholicosate
was founded
in Sis,
capital
of Cilicia,
in the
year 1441
following
the move
of
the Catholicosate
of All
Armenians
back
to its
original
See of
Etchmiadzin
in Armenia.
The Catholicosate
of
Cilicia
enjoyed
local
jurisdiction,
though
spiritually
subject
to the
authority
of Etchmiadzin.
In 1921
the See was
transferred
to Aleppo
in Syria,
and
in 1930
to Antelias.
Its
jurisdiction
currently
extends
to Syria,
Cyprus,
Iran
and
Greece. |
|
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction
of Christianity
into
Edessa
{Armenian
Ourhaï
in Arabic
Er Roha,
commonly
Orfa
or Urfa,
its present
name}
is
not
known.
It is certain,
however,
that
the
Christian
community
was at
first
made
up from
the
Jewish
population
of the
city.
According
to an
ancient
legend,
King
Abgar
V, Ushana,
was
converted
by
Addai,
who
was one
of the seventy-two
disciples.
In fact,
however,
the
first
King of
Edessa
to embrace
the Christian
Faith
was
Abgar
IX
(c. 206)
becoming
official
kingdom
religion.
Christian
council
held
at
Edessa
early
as 197
(Eusebius,
Hist.
Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated
by a great
flood,
and the
Christian
church
was
destroyed
(“Chronicon
Edessenum”,
ad.
an.
201).
In 232 the relics of the
Apostle St. Thomas were
brought from India,
on which
occasion
his
Syriac
Acts
were
written.
Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian. In the meanwhile Christian
priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia,
established
the first
Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides.
Atillâtiâ,
Bishop of Edessa,
assisted
at
the Council
of Nicæa
(325).
The
“Peregrinatio
Silviæ”
(or Etheriæ)
(ed.
Gamurrini,
Rome,
1887,
62 sqq.)
gives
an
account
of the
many
sanctuaries
at
Edessa
about
388.
Although Hebrew had been
the
language
of the
ancient
Israelite
kingdom,
after
their
return
from
Exile
the Jews
turned
more
and
more
to Aramaic,
using
it for
parts
of the
books
of Ezra
and Daniel
in the
Bible.
By the
time
of
Jesus,
Aramaic
was the
main
language
of Palestine,
and
quite
a number
of
texts
from
the
Dead
Sea Scrolls
are also
written
in
Aramaic.
Aramaic
continued
to be
an
important
language
for
Jews,
alongside
Hebrew,
and parts
of the
Talmud
are
written
in
it.
After Arab conquests of
the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language
of those who converted
to Islam, although
in out of the way
places, Aramaic
continued as a vernacular
language of
Muslims.
Aramaic, however, enjoyed
its greatest
success
in
Christianity.
Although
the
New
Testament
wins
written
in
Greek,
Christianity
had
come
into
existence
in
an Aramaic-speaking
milieu,
and
it was the
Aramaic
dialect
of Edessa,
now known
as Syriac,
that
became
the
literary
language
of a large
number
of Christians
living
in the
eastern
provinces
of the
Roman
Empire
and
in the
Persian
Empire,
further
east.
Over
the
course
of the centuries
the
influence
of the Syriac
Churches
spread
eastwards
to China
(in
Xian,
in western
China,
a
Chinese-Syriac
inscription
dated
781
is
still
to be seen);
to
southern
India
where the
state
of Kerala
can
boast
more
Christians
of Syriac
liturgical
tradition
than anywhere
else in
the world.
680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints. Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine. The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches. The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice." According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates. Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor. Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims. |
|
Meeting
of
the
Saints
walis
(saints
of
Allah) Great men covet to embrace
martyrdom
for
a cause
and
principle.
So
was
the
case
with
Hazrat
Ali.
He could
have
made
a
compromise
with
the evil
forces
of
his time
and,
as
a result,
could
have led a very comfortable,
easy
and
luxurious
life.
But
he was
not
a person
who
would
succumb
to
such
temptations.
His
upbringing,
his
education
and
his
training
in the
lap
of the holy
Prophet
made him
refuse
such an offer.Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country. Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.” Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA) 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life. |
|
801 Rabi'a
al-'Adawiyya
Sufi
One of
the most
famous
Islamic
mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions. Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq. She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186). Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186). She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218). Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching. As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director. She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222). A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid. The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218) Rabi'a was of this second kind. She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca: "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God. She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker. Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219). During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything. "...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?' I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them. I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162) When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said, "O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me? Is it not God Who wills it? When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will? It is not well to oppose one's Beloved." (221) She was an ascetic. It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187). She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world. A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill. Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied, "I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?" (186-7) A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold. She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him. And she added an ethical concern as well: "...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187) She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance. She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did. For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself. The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other. When they asked her to explain, she said: "I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188) She was once asked where she came from. "From that other world," she said. "And where are you going?" she was asked. "To that other world," she replied (219). She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end. Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love. In this quest, logic and reason were powerless. Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220). Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition. Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved. Through this communion, she could discover His will for her. Many of her prayers have come down to us: "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart, But my body is available for those who seek its company, And my body is friendly towards its guests, But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul." [224] |
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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
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;
Affiliations
and
Indulgences
Litany of Loretto in Stained glass
windows
here.
Nave
Sacristy
and Residence
Here
Member -- St. Paul Seminary
faculty.
Sanctuary spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's
earliest
Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history. The only replicas ever made: in order from
west
to
east
{1932}.
Saints Simon
(saw), Bartholomew
(knife),
James
the
Lesser
(book),
John
(eagle),
Andrew
(transverse
cross),
Peter
keys),
Paul
(sword), James
the Greater (staff), Thomas (carpenter's
square),
Philip
(serpent),
Matthew
(book),
and
Jude
sword
It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD |
|
THE BLESSED
MOTHER
AND
ISLAM
By Father
John
Corapi.
June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under
Pope
John
Paul
II;
By Father John Corapithen 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so. THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.
June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under
Pope
John
Paul
II;
By Father John Corapithen 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
Among
the
most
important
titles
we
have in
the Catholic
Church
for
the Blessed
Virgin
Mary
are
Our
Lady
of Victory
and
Our
Lady of
the
Rosary.
These
titles
can be traced
back
to one
of the most
decisive
times
in the history
of the world
and Christendom.
The
Battle
of Lepanto
took
place
on October
7 (date
of feast
of
Our Lady
of Rosary),
1571.
This proved
to be the
most crucial
battle
for the
Christian
forces
against
the
radical
Muslim
navy of Turkey.
Pope
Pius V led
a procession
around
St. Peter’s
Square
in
Vatican
City praying
the
Rosary.
He showed
true pastoral
leadership
in recognizing
the danger
posed
to Christendom
by the
radical
Muslim
forces,
and in
using the
means necessary
to defeat
it. Spiritual
battles
require spiritual
weapons,
and this
more than
anything
was
a battle
that had
its origins
in the spiritual
order—a
true battle
between
good and
evil. Today we have a similar spiritual battle in progress—a battle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, life and death. If we do not soon stop the genocide of abortion in the United States, we shall run the course of all those that prove by their actions that they are enemies of God—total collapse, economic, social, and national. The moral demise of a nation results in the ultimate demise of a nation. God is not a disinterested spectator to the affairs of man. Life begins at conception. This is an unalterable formal teaching of the Catholic Church. If you do not accept this you are a heretic in plain English. A single abortion is homicide. The more than 48,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in the United States constitute genocide by definition. The group singled out for death—unwanted, unborn children. No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion. As we watch the spectacle of the world seeming to self-destruct before our eyes, we can’t help but be saddened and even frightened by so much evil run rampant. Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia, North Korea—It is all a disaster of epic proportions displayed in living color on our television screens. These are not ordinary times and this is not business as usual. We are at a crossroads in human history and the time for Catholics and all Christians to act is now. All evil can ultimately be traced to its origin, which is moral evil. All of the political action, peace talks, international peacekeeping forces, etc. will avail nothing if the underlying sickness is not addressed. This is sin. One person at a time hearts and minds must be moved from evil to good, from lies to truth, from violence to peace. Islam, an Arabic word that has often been defined as “to make peace,” seems like a living contradiction today. Islam is a religion of peace. As we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady, I am proposing that each one of us pray the Rosary for peace. Prayer is what must precede all other activity if that activity is to have any chance of success. Pray for peace, pray the Rosary every day without fail. There is a great love for Mary among Muslim people. It is not a coincidence that a little village named Fatima is where God chose to have His Mother appear in the twentieth century. Our Lady’s name appears no less than thirty times in the Koran. No other woman’s name is mentioned, not even that of Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima. In the Koran Our Lady is described as “Virgin, ever Virgin.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophetically spoke of the resurgence of Islam in our day. He said it would be through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Islam would be converted. We must pray for this to happen quickly if we are to avert a horrible time of suffering for this poor, sinful world. Turn to our Mother in this time of great peril. Pray the Rosary every day. Then, and only then will there be peace, when the hearts and minds of men are changed from the inside.
|
|
Father John Corapi goes
to the heart of the contemporary world's
many
woes
and wars,
whether
the wars
in Afghanistan,
Iraq,
Lebanon,
Somalia,
or
the Congo,
or the
natural
disasters
that seem
to
be increasing
every
year,
the moral
and
spiritual
war is at
the basis
of everything.
“Our
battle
is not against
human
forces,”
St.
Paul asserts,
“but
against
principalities
and powers,
against
the
world
rulers
of this
present
darkness...”
(Ephesians
6:12).
The “War to end all wars” is the moral and spiritual combat that rages in the hearts and minds of human beings. The outcome of that unseen fight largely determines how the battle in the realm of the seen unfolds. The title talk, “With the Moon Under Her Feet,” is taken from the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and deals with the current threat to the world from radical Islam, and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the ultimate victory that will result in the conversion of Islam. Few Catholics are aware of the connection between Islam, Fatima, and Guadalupe. Presented in Father Corapi's straight-forward style, you will be both inspired and educated by him. About Father John Corapi. Father Corapi is a Catholic
priest
.
The pillars of father's
preaching
are
basically:
Love
for
and
a relationship
with
the
Blessed
Virgin
Mary
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church God Bless
you on
your journey
Father
John
Corapi
|
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Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life. Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification. Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization. Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint. Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970. Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor. Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century. Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War. Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran. The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church. Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.” Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8. Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer. Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’ Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor. Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification. Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism. Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan. Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions. Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life. Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life. Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification. Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization. Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint. Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970. Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor. Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century. Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War. Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran. The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church. Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.” Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8. Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer. Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’ Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor. Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification. Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism. Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan. Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions. Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life. |
|
8
Martyrs
Move
Closer to
Sainthood
8 July,
2016
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 8 July, 2016 The angel appears to Saint Monica This morning, Pope Francis received Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato. During the audience, he authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes: *** MIRACLES: Miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Luis Antonio Rosa Ormières, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Guardian Angel; born July 4, 1809 and died on Jan. 16, 1890 MARTYRDOM: Servants of God Antonio Arribas Hortigüela and 6 Companions, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart; killed in hatred of the Faith, Sept. 29, 1936 Servant of God Josef Mayr-Nusser, a layman; killed in hatred of the Faith, Feb. 24, 1945 HEROIC VIRTUE: Servant of God Alfonse Gallegos of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Titular Bishop of Sasabe, auxiliary of Sacramento; born Feb. 20, 1931 and died Oct. 6, 1991 Servant of God Rafael Sánchez García, diocesan priest; born June 14, 1911 and died on Aug. 8, 1973 Servant of God Andrés García Acosta, professed layman of the Order of Friars Minor; born Jan. 10, 1800 and died Jan. 14, 1853 Servant of God Joseph Marchetti, professed priest of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles; born Oct. 3, 1869 and died Dec. 14, 1896 Servant of God Giacomo Viale, professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, pastor of Bordighera; born Feb. 28, 1830 and died April 16, 1912 Servant of God Maria Pia of the Cross (née Maddalena Notari), foundress of the Congregation of Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist; born Dec. 2, 1847 and died on July 1, 1919 |
|
Sunday,
November
23
2014 Six
to Be Canonized
on
Feast of Christ
the King. On the List Are Lay Founder of a Hospital and Eastern Catholic Religious VATICAN CITY, June 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Today, the Vatican announced that during the celebration of the feast of Christ the King on Sunday, November 23, an ordinary public consistory will be held for the canonization of the following six blesseds, who include a lay founder of a hospital for the poor, founders of religious orders, and two members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See: -Giovanni Antonio Farina (1803-1888), an Italian bishop who founded the Institute of the Sisters Teachers of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts -Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871), a Syro-Malabar priest in India who founded the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate -Ludovico of Casoria (1814-1885), an Italian Franciscan priest who founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth -Nicola Saggio (Nicola da Longobardi, 1650-1709), an Italian oblate of the Order of Minims -Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877-1952), an Indian Carmelite of the Syro-Malabar Church -Amato Ronconi (1238-1304), an Italian, Third Order Franciscan who founded a hospital for poor pilgrims |
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CAUSES
OF SAINTS
July
2015. Pope Recognizes Heroic Virtues of Ukrainian Archbishop Recognition Brings Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky Closer to Beatification By Junno Arocho Esteves Rome, July 17, 2015 (ZENIT.org) Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky. According to a communique released by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father met this morning with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The Pope also recognized the heroic virtues of several religious/lay men and women from Italy, Spain, France & Mexico. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is considered to be one of the most influential 20th century figures in the history of the Ukrainian Church. Enthroned as Metropolitan of Lviv in 1901, Archbishop Sheptytsky was arrested shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 by the Russians. After his imprisonment in several prisons in Russia and the Ukraine, the Archbishop was released in 1918. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate was also an ardent supporter of the Jewish community in Ukraine, going so far as to learn Hebrew to better communicate with them. He also was a vocal protestor against atrocities committed by the Nazis, evidenced in his pastoral letter, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." He was also known to harbor thousands of Jews in his residence and in Greek Catholic monasteries. Following his death in 1944, his cause for canonization was opened in 1958. * * * The Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees regarding the heroic virtues of: - Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky, O.S.B.M., major archbishop of Leopolis of the Ukrainians, metropolitan of Halyc (1865-1944); - Servant of God Giuseppe Carraro, Bishop of Verona, Italy (1899-1980); - Servant of God Agustin Ramirez Barba, Mexican diocesan priest and founder of the Servants of the Lord of Mercy (1881-1967); - Servant of God Simpliciano della Nativita (ne Aniello Francesco Saverio Maresca), Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (1827-1898); - Servant of God Maria del Refugio Aguilar y Torres del Cancino, Mexican founder of the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1866-1937); - Servant of God Marie-Charlotte Dupouy Bordes (Marie-Teresa), French professed religious of the Society of the Religious of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1873-1953); - Servant of God Elisa Miceli, Italian founder of the Rural Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1904-1976); - Servant of God Isabel Mendez Herrero (Isabel of Mary Immaculate), Spanish professed nun of the Servants of St. Joseph (1924-1953) |
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October
01,
2015
Vatican
City,
Pope Authorizes
following
Decrees (ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God Pope Authorizes Decrees Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees: MARTYRDOM - Servant of God Valentin Palencia Marquina, Spanish diocesan priest, killed in hatred of the faith in Suances, Spain in 1937; HEROIC VIRTUES - Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963); - Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987); - Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991); - Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996); - Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917); - Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913); - Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973). |
|
March
06
2016 MIRACLES
authorised
the
Congregation
to promulgate
the following
decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees: MIRACLES – Blessed Manuel González García, bishop of Palencia, Spain, founder of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth (1877-1940); – Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity (née Elisabeth Catez), French professed religious of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (1880-1906); – Venerable Servant of God Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus (né Henri Grialou), French professed priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, founder of the Secular Institute “Notre-Dame de Vie” (1894-1967); – Venerable Servant of God María Antonia of St. Joseph (née María Antonio de Paz y Figueroa), Argentine founder of the Beaterio of the Spiritual Exercise of Buenos Aires (1730-1799); HEROIC VIRTUE – Servant of God Stefano Ferrando, Italian professed priest of the Salesians, bishop of Shillong, India, founder of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (1895-1978); – Servant of God Enrico Battista Stanislao Verjus, Italian professed priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, coadjutor of the apostolic vicariate of New Guinea (1860-1892); – Servant of God Giovanni Battista Quilici, Italian diocesan priest, founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Crucified (1791-1844); – Servant of God Bernardo Mattio, Italian diocesan priest (1845-1914); – Servant of God Quirico Pignalberi, Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1891-1982); – Servant of God Teodora Campostrini, Italian founder of the Minim Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Sorrows (1788-1860); – Servant of God Bianca Piccolomini Clementini, Italian founder of the Company of St. Angela Merici di Siena (1875-1959); – Servant of God María Nieves of the Holy Family (née María Nieves Sánchez y Fernández), Spanish professed religious of the Daughters of Mary of the Pious Schools (1900-1978). April 26 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees: Here is the full list of decrees approved by the Pope: MIRACLES – Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910); – Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933); MARTYRDOM – Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974; – Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936; HEROIC VIRTUES – Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861); – Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952); – Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921); – Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Paqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900); – Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917); – Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923); – Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977); – Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959). |
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