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.
January is the month of the Holy Name of Jesus since 1902;
2023
22,600 lives saved since 2007

One in hope.
"On that day you will know that I am in my Father,
and you in me, and I in you" (John 14:20).

Mary Mother of GOD

Mary's Divine Motherhood



Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List
Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday   Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday
   Sorrowful Mystery on Friday Tuesday   Luminous Mystery on Thursday Veterens of War

Acts of the Apostles

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

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

January 25 – Our Lady of Safe Travel (India, 1599)
Translation of the Shroud of the Virgin to Constantinople (452) 
The first Marian shrine of India 
In India, Catholics represent only 1.7% of the total population,
but there are 20% in the state of Kerala, 6% in Tamil Nadu, and 8% in Pondicherry.
The evangelization of India goes back to Saint Thomas the Apostle, whose memory is celebrated at Mount Saint Thomas (Tamil Nadu), home of the shrine of Our Lady of Hope.

The first Marian shrine of India, the church of Our Lady of Kuravilangad, dates back to 335 A.D. The church of Elangulam goes back to 417 A.D. ... Since then, many more Marian shrines have been established throughout the country.  The first Marian Congress was held in 1921 in Madras, the city of the "Mother of God."
The second Congress was held in 1954 in Bombay.

India became independent from the United Kingdom on August 15, 1947, a date that coincides with the feast of the Assumption of Mary. For this reason, Catholics proclaimed Mary "Our Lady of India" in January 1950.  
The people of India are fond of making pilgrimages in general, so places of Marian pilgrimages are also visited by many non-Christians.  www.mariedenazareth.com

 St. Francis de Sales, Bishop, Doctor of the Church (Memorial)
Please pray for those who have no one to pray for them.
Conversion of St. Paul;  Convérsio sancti Pauli Apóstoli, quæ fuit anno secúndo ab Ascensióne Domini.
Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, which occurred in the second year after the Ascension of our Lord.
1st v St. Ananias II the birthday of;  Missionary; martyr; Feb 25 feast day; patron of St. Paul;
1366 St. Peter Thomas Carmelite Latin patriarch and papal legate

January 25 – Our Lady of Safe Travel (India, 1599) –
Transfer of the Shroud of the Virgin to Constantinople (452)
 What happened to the funeral clothes of the Blessed Virgin Mary?
 In the mid-fifth century, the rulers of Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), asked the Archbishop of Jerusalem to send them the holy coffin containing the funerary clothes of the Virgin Mary.
Having received the coffin, they laid it in the church of Blachernae in Constantinople, built in honor of the Holy Theotokos. This church preserved the relics of Mary's mantle until the sacking of the city by the Crusaders in the year 1204.
The church of Chalcoprateia (Constantinople) had the relics of Mary’s belt until the arrival of the Turks in the year 1453. There were other relics of the Virgin in Constantinople as well. This is how, long before the city fell into the hands of the Ottomans, Charlemagne had received three relics of Mary’s veil from the Eastern Emperor, and kept them safe in Aachen.
Unfortunately, his grandson Charles the Bald scattered them—a veil remained in Aachen and is still venerated there; another veil, made of silk, was given in the year 876 to the Cathedral of Chartres, but was then cut up and dispersed in the year 1793. Still another veil was given in the year 876 to the Abbey of Saint Cornelius in Compiegne. This linen veil is visible there today.
Conversion of St. Paul;  Convérsio sancti Pauli Apóstoli, quæ fuit anno secúndo ab Ascensióne Domini.
       The conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, which occurred in the second year after the Ascension of our Lord.
1st v St. Ananias II the birthday of;  Missionary; martyr; Feb 25 feast day; patron of St. Paul;
 363 St. Juventius & Maximus Martyred imperial guards to Emperor Julian the Apostate
 380 St. Bretannion Bishop of Tomi Romania Black Sea
 380 ST PUBLIUS, ABBOT; sold his estate and goods for benefit of poor; he added every day something to his exercises of penance and devotion; remarkably earnest in avoiding sloth, being sensible of inestimable value of time.
 395 St. Apollo Egyptian hermit founder miracle worker
4th v. St. Bretannio, bishop At Tomis in Scythia; wondrous sanctity and zealous devotion to the Catholic faith;
6th v. St. Maurus With Placid, Benedictines, disciples of St. Benedict
 660 St. Racho  First Bishop of Autun, France
 676 St. Amarinus  bishop of Clermont Benedictine martyr
 676 ST PRAEJECTUS, or PRIX, BISHOP OF CLERMONT, MARTYR; many miracles immediately afterwards recorded at his tomb
 697 St.  Eochod The Apostle of the Picts of Galloway
       St. Artemas teenage Martyr of Pozzuoli
       St. Donatus Martyr with Sabinus and Agape
1048 ST POPPO, ABBOT; visited Jerusalem holy places brought many relics, enriched church of our Lady at Deynze;
       St. Dwynwen she is A Welsh saint “Nothing wins hearts like cheerfulness.”
1366 St. Peter Thomas Carmelite Latin patriarch and papal legate

Mary, Daughter of Both David and Aaron? (I) -
Translation of Our Lady's Shroud and Tomb to Constantinople (455)

The Scriptures strongly emphasize that Christ is of royal descent and the "son of David," but how are we to understand this repeated affirmation? As Julius Africanus, quoted by Eusebius of Caesarea, recalls, "in Israel, the names of generations were recorded according to nature or according to the law: according to nature by the succession of blood lineage, and according to the law, when a man had children in the name of his brother who died without offspring" (Church History I, I, VII).
This explains the two different genealogies in Matthew and Luke, who each consider either the legal ascendance (Luke) or the blood line (Matthew): because the two were equally significant. By distinguishing both, it is clear that Christ is of Davidic ascendance according to the Law, through his foster father Joseph who descended from David both legally (the son of), and by his blood line (begotten by).
Julius Africanus also explains that Joseph's paternal grandmother had two children by two different husbands (Melchi and Mathat), who were consequently uterine brothers: Heli, son of Melchi, who married and died without children, and Jacob, son of Mathat, who married his brother's wife, according to the Levirate law, to give him descendants.
Following this hypothesis, the divergence between the two genealogies in Matthew and Luke is easy to understand.
But what about the blood line of Jesus through his mother Mary?
"He took flesh of the Virgin Mary," says the Creed, but was the Mother of God, whose cousin was Elizabeth,
herself a "descendant of Aaron" (Lk 1: 5), of the line of David, Aaron, or both?
The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”,
showing us that a life of Christian perfection is not impossible. 
January 25 - Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle  
Some people tell you that you cannot pray to the Virgin Mary…
Some people tell you that you cannot pray to the Virgin Mary, no matter how blessed she is, because she died, and that the dead cannot do anything. Notice the contradiction: In this life, everyone agrees that we can pray for one another, but after this life is over, we can’t do that anymore!

Have you not read that on Mount Tabor the transfigured Jesus talked with Moses and Elijah? And have you not read in the Gospel that Jesus said to the Good Thief: “This very night you will be with me in paradise?”

So it was possible for Moses, Elijah and the Good Thief, but not for Mary who is “full of grace”?
The one that all generations must proclaim blessed should not be in God's heaven, only the Good Thief should be? And in the book of Revelation, shouldn't she be in the cortege of those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes?
Hervé Marie Catta La Vierge Marie et les Protestants (The Virgin Mary and Protestants)
www.1000questions.net/fr/chroniq/les-protestants.


Conversion of St. Paul;  Convérsio sancti Pauli Apóstoli, quæ fuit anno secúndo ab Ascensióne Domini.
       The conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, which occurred in the second year after the Ascension of our Lord.
34 THE CONVERSION OF ST PAUL
THE Apostle of the Gentiles was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin. At his circumcision on the eighth day after his birth he received the name of Saul, and being born at Tarsus in Cilicia he was by privilege a Roman citizen. His parents sent him when young to Jerusalem, and there he was instructed in the law of Moses by Gamaliel, a learned and noble Pharisee. Thus Saul became a scrupulous observer of the law, and he appeals even to his enemies to bear witness how conformable to it his life had always been. He too embraced the party of the Pharisees, which was of all others the most severe, even while it was, in some of its members, the most opposed to the humility of the gospel. It is probable that Saul learned in his youth the trade, which he practised even after his apostleship—namely, that of making tents. Later on Saul, surpassing his fellows in zeal for the Jewish law and traditions, which he thought the cause of God, became a persecutor and enemy of Christ. He was one of those who took part in the murder of St Stephen, and by looking after the garments of those who stoned that holy martyr he is said by St Augustine to have stoned him by the hands of all the rest. To the martyr’s prayers for his enemies we may ascribe Saul’s conversion. “If Stephen”, St Augustine adds, “had not prayed, the Church would never have had St Paul.”
As our Saviour had always been represented by the leading men of the Jews as an enemy to their law, it was no wonder that this rigorous Pharisee fully persuaded himself that “he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth”, and his name became everywhere a terror to the faithful, for he breathed nothing but threats and slaughter against them. In the fury of his zeal he applied to the high priest for a commission to arrest all Jews at Damascus who confessed Jesus Christ, and bring them bound to Jerusalem. But God was pleased to show forth in him His patience and mercy. Saul was almost at the end of his journey to Damascus when, about noon, he and his company were on a sudden surrounded by a great light from Heaven. They all saw this light, and being struck with amazement fell to the ground. Then Saul heard a voice which to him was articulate and distinct, though not understood by the rest: “Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?” Saul answered, “Who art thou, Lord?” Christ said, “Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the goad.” In other words, by persecuting My church you only hurt yourself.
Trembling and astonished, he cried out, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do Christ told him to arise and proceed on his journey to his destination, where he would learn what was expected of him. When he got up from the ground Saul found that though his eyes were open he could see nothing. He was led by the hand like a child to Damascus, and was lodged in the house of a Jew named Judas, and there he remained three days, blind, and without eating or drinking.

There was a Christian in Damascus much respected for his life and virtue, whose name was Ananias. Christ appeared to this disciple and commanded him to go to Saul, who was then in the house of Judas at prayer. Ananias trembled at the name of Saul, being no stranger to the mischief he had done in Jerusalem, or to the errand on which he had travelled to Damascus. But our Redeemer overruled his fears, and charged him a second time to go, saying, “Go, for he is a vessel of election to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel: and I will show him how much he has to suffer for my name.”
  Saul in the meantime saw in a vision a man entering, and laying his hands upon him to restore his sight. Ananias arose, went to Saul, and laying his hands upon him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to thee on thy journey, hath sent me that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he recovered his sight. Ananias went on, “The God of our fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldst know His will and see the Just One and hear the voice from His mouth: and thou shalt be His witness to all men of what thou hast seen and heard. Why dost thou tarry? Arise, be baptized and washed from thy sins, invoking the name of the Lord.”
Saul arose, was baptized, and ate. He stayed some days with the disciples at Damascus, and began immediately to preach in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God, to the great astonishment of all that heard him, who said, “Is not this he who at Jerusalem persecuted those who called on the name of Jesus, and who is come hither to carry them away prisoners?”
 Thus a blasphemer and a persecutor was made an apostle, and chosen to be one of the principal instruments of God in the conversion of the world.
St Paul can never have recalled to mind this his conversion without the deepest gratitude and without extolling the divine mercy. The Church, in thanksgiving to God for such a miracle of His grace and to propose to penitents a perfect model of true conversion, has instituted this festival, which was for some time a holiday of obligation in most churches in the West; and we find it particularly mentioned as such in England in the thirteenth century, an observance possibly introduced by Cardinal Langton.
It is difficult to assign any reason for the keeping of a feast of the conversion of St Paul on this particular day. The earliest text of the “Hieronymianum” mentions on January 25, not the conversion, but the “translation of St Paul”. The translation in question could hardly be other than the bringing of the relics of the apostle to his own basilica after their sojourn of nearly a century in their resting-place ad Catacumbas. But this commemoration of St Paul on January 25 does not appear to be a Roman feast. There is no mention of it either in the early Gelasian or Gregorian sacramentaries. On the other hand, we find a proper Mass in the Missale Gothicum, and the festival is entered in the martyrologies of Gellone and Rheinau. Some texts, like the Berne MS. of the Hieronymianum, show traces of a transition from “translation” to “conversion”. The calendar of the English St Willibrord, written before the year 717, has the entry, Conversio Pauli in Damasco; while the Martyrologies of Oengus and Tallaght (both early ninth century) refer explicitly to baptism and conversion.
See the Acts of the Apostles, chaps. ix, xxii and xxvi. For the translation of St Paul’s remains from St Sebastian’s to his basilica, see De Waal in the Römische Quartalschrift, 1901, pp. 244 seq., and Styger, Il monumento apostolico della Via Appia (1917). For a reference to the feast, see Christian Worship (1919), p. 281, where Mgr Duchesne points out that the Mass for Sexagesima Sunday is really in honour of St Paul. And cf. CMH., pp. 61—62, and Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xlv (1927), pp. 306—307.  

Paul’s entire life can be explained in terms of one experience—his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus. In an instant, he saw that all the zeal of his dynamic personality was being wasted, like the strength of a boxer swinging wildly. Perhaps he had never seen Jesus, who was only a few years older. But he had acquired a zealot’s hatred of all Jesus stood for, as he began to harass the Church: “...entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment” (Acts 8:3b). Now he himself was “entered,” possessed, all his energy harnessed to one goal—being a slave of Christ in the ministry of reconciliation, an instrument to help others experience the one Savior.
One sentence determined his theology: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5b). Jesus was mysteriously identified with people—the loving group of people Saul had been running down like criminals. Jesus, he saw, was the mysterious fulfillment of all he had been blindly pursuing.

From then on, his only work was to “present everyone perfect in Christ. For this I labor and struggle, in accord with the exercise of his power working within me” (Colossians 1:28b-29). “For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and [with] much conviction”
(1 Thessalonians 1:5a).

Paul’s life became a tireless proclaiming and living out of the message of the cross: Christians die baptismally to sin and are buried with Christ; they are dead to all that is sinful and unredeemed in the world. They are made into a new creation, already sharing Christ’s victory and someday to rise from the dead like him. Through this risen Christ the Father pours out the Spirit on them, making them completely new.
So Paul’s great message to the world was: You are saved entirely by God, not by anything you can do. Saving faith is the gift of total, free, personal and loving commitment to Christ, a commitment that then bears fruit in more “works” than the Law could ever contemplate.
Comment:  Paul is undoubtedly hard to understand. His style often reflects the rabbinical style of argument of his day, and often his thought skips on mountaintops while we plod below. But perhaps our problems are accentuated by the fact that so many beautiful jewels have become part of the everyday coin in our Christian language (see quote, below).
Quote:  “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”
(1 Corinthians 13:4-7). 
1st v St. Ananias II the birthday of; Missionary; martyr Feb 25 feast day; patron of St. Paul;
 Apud Damáscum natális sancti Ananíæ, qui fuit discípulus Dómini, et eúndem Paulum Apóstolum baptizávit.  Ipse autem, cum Damásci, et Eleutherópoli, alibíque Evangélium prædicásset, tandem, sub Licínio Júdice, nervis cæsus et laniátus, ac lapídibus oppréssus, martyrium consummávit.
       At Damascus, the birthday of St. Ananias, who was a disciple of our Lord, and baptized the apostle Paul.  After he had preached the Gospel at Damascus, Eleutheropolis, and elsewhere, he was scourged under the judge Licinius, had his flesh torn, and lastly being overwhelmed with stones, ended his martyrdom. 

A Christian in the city of Damascus, Ananias was commanded by Christ in a vision to seek out Saul, the future Paul, who had staggered his way into the city following his dramatic encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus. Finding Saul blind, Ananias cured him and baptized him. After seeing Paul start his missionary work, Ananias went to Eleutheropolis, where he was martyred for the faith.
363 St. Juventius & Maximus Martyred imperial guards to Emperor Julian the Apostate
 Antiochíæ sanctórum Mártyrum Juventíni et Máximi, qui, sub Juliáno Apóstata, martyrio coronáti sunt; in quorum die natáli sanctus Joánnes Chrysóstomus sermónem ad pópulum hábuit.
      At Antioch, in the time of Julian the Apostate, the holy martyrs Juvenius and Maximus, who were crowned with martyrdom.  On their birthday, St. John Chrysostom preached a sermon to his people.
When they protested the emperor’s edicts on the veneration of relics, they were arrested, scourged, and beheaded at Antioch, Syria. St. John Chrysostom wrote their eulogy.
363 SS. JUVENTINUS AND MAXIMINUS, MARTYRS
THESE martyrs were two officers of distinction in the foot-guards of Julian the Apostate. When he was on the march in his campaign against the Persians, they let fall at table certain free reflections on the impious laws made against the Christians, wishing rather for death than to see the profanation of holy things. The emperor being informed of this, sent for them, and finding that they could not be prevailed upon to retract what they had said or to sacrifice to idols, he confiscated their estates, ordered them to be scourged, and some days after had them beheaded in prison at Antioch, January 25, 363. Christians, at the risk of their lives, stole away the bodies, and after the death of Julian, who was slain in Persia on June 26 following, erected a magnificent tomb to do them honour. On their festival Chrysostom delivered a panegyric, in which he says of these martyrs: “They support the Church as pillars, defend it as towers and are as unyielding as rocks. Let us visit them frequently, let us touch their shrine and embrace their relics with confidence, that we may obtain from thence some benediction. For as soldiers, showing to the king the wounds which they have received in his battles, speak with confidence, so they, by a humble representation of their past sufferings for Christ, obtain whatever they ask of the King of Heaven.”
The scanty details recorded concerning these martyrs are mainly furnished by St John Chrysostom’s panegyric. In the above quoted passage, which Butler has translated very freely, the orator rather quaintly pictures them pleading before the throne of God by holding up before Him in their hands the heads which had been cut off. Severus of Antioch, in a hymn composed in their honour, mentions a third martyr, Longinus, who perished in their company (Patrologia Orientalis, vol. vii, p. 611). See also the Acta Sanctorum for January 25 and cf. Delehaye, Les origines du culte… (1933), p. 196, and Les passions des martyrs pp. 228 and 230.   
380 St. Bretannion Bishop of Tomi Romania Black Sea
He was exiled by Emperor Valens  for opposing the Arian heresy. The people of Tomi, however, forced the emperor to restore him to his see.
380 ST PUBLIUS, ABBOT; sold his estate and goods for benefit of poor; he added every day something to his exercises of penance and devotion. He was also remarkably earnest in avoiding sloth, being sensible of the inestimable value of time.
ST Publius is honoured principally by the Greeks. He was the son of a senator in Zeugma upon the Euphrates, and sold his estate and goods for the benefit of the poor. Though he lived at first as a hermit, he afterwards became the ruler of a numerous community. He allowed his monks no other food than vegetables and very coarse bread; they drank nothing but water, and he forbade cheese, grapes, vinegar and even oil, except from Easter to Whitsuntide. To remind himself of the need of a continual advance in fervour, he added every day something to his exercises of penance and devotion. He was also remarkably earnest in avoiding sloth, being sensible of the inestimable value of time. Theodoret tells us that the holy abbot founded two congregations, the one of Greeks, the other of Syrians, each using their own tongue in the divine offices and Holy Mysteries. St Publius seems to have died about the year 380.
We know little or nothing of St Publius beyond what is recorded of him by Theodoret in his book Philotheus. See the Acta Sanctorum for January 25; and Delehaye, Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, pp. 423—424. 
395 St. Apollo Egyptian hermit; founder; miracle worker
Apollo was born in Egypt and spent forty years in the desert region around Thebes. He then founded a community of monks in Hermopol, Egypt, ultimately numbering five hundred, and became their abbot. Apollo was eighty years old when he made this foundation. He was noted for his miracles.
395 ST APOLLO, ABBOT
AFTER passing many years in a hermitage, Apollo, who was then close upon eighty years old, formed and governed a community of many monks near Hermopolis. They all wore the same coarse white habit, all received holy communion every day, and the venerable abbot made them also a daily exhortation for the profit of their souls. In these he insisted often on the evils of melancholy and sadness, saying that cheerfulness of heart is necessary amidst our tears of penance as being the fruit of charity, and requisite to maintain the spirit of fervour. He himself was known to strangers by the joy of his countenance. He made it his constant petition to God that he might know himself and be preserved from the subtle illusions of pride. It is said that on one occasion, when the devil quitted a possessed person at his command, the evil spirit cried out that he was not able to withstand his humility. Many astonishing miracles are recorded of him, of which perhaps the most remarkable was a continuous multiplication of bread, by which in a time of famine not only his own brethren but the whole surrounding population were sustained for four months. The saint received a visit from St Petronius, afterwards bishop of Bologna, in 393, but this, it would seem, must have been at the very end of his life, when he was over ninety years old.
For our knowledge of St Apollo we are mainly indebted to a long section of the Historia Monachorum, which was formerly regarded as forming part of the Lausiac History of Palladius, but which is now recognized as a separate work, probably written in Greek by the Archdeacon Timotheus of Alexandria. An English translation from the ancient Syriac version has been published by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge in the work entitled The Book of Paradise of Palladius (1904), vol. i, pp. 520—538. The Greek text had been edited by Preuschen in his Palladius und Rufinus (1897). See also the Acta Sanctorum for January 25; and P. Cheneau, Les Saints d’Égypte (1923), vol. i, pp. 218—225. 
4th v. St. Bretannio, bishop At Tomis in Scythia; wondrous sanctity and zealous devotion to the Catholic faith;
 Tomis, in Scythia, sancti Bretanniónis Epíscopi, qui mira sanctitáte et cathólicæ fídei zelo, sub Ariáno Imperatóre Valénte, cui fórtiter réstitit, in Ecclésia flóruit.
       At Tomis in Scythia, St. Bretannio, bishop, who worked in the Church shewing great sanctity and zeal for the Catholic faith, and was at the same time bravely opposed to the Arian emperor Valens.
In the reign of the Arian Emperor Valens, whom he fearlessly opposed, he flourished in the Church in wondrous sanctity and zealous devotion to the Catholic faith.  Saint Bretannio (Bretanion, Vetranio, Vetranion) a bishop of Tomi (today Constanţa, Romania) during the fourth century. Of Cappadocian origin, he occupied the see of Tomi from 360.

According to Sozomen, during the campaign against the Goths in this region, the emperor Valens stopped at Tomi and urged the populace to convert to Arianism and reject the Nicene Creed. Bretannio spoke out against this and for this he was exiled. However, due to public outcry over the bishop’s exile, he was allowed to return.

Basil the Great requested of the ruler of Scythia Minor, Junius Soranus (Saran), that he should send him the relics of saints of that region. Basil was sent the relics of Sabbas the Goth in Caesarea, Cappadocia, in 373 or 374 accompanied by a letter, the 'Epistle of the Church of God in Gothia to the Church of God located in Cappadocia and to all the Local Churches of the Holy Universal Church'. The sending of Sabbas' relics and the writing of the actual letter has been attributed to Bretannio. This letter is the oldest known writing to be composed on Romanian soil and was written in Greek.

He may have represented Tomi at the council held in Constantinople in 381, but his name may have been confused with the name of the bishop Gerontius (Terentius) of Tomi, who may have been the actual participant at this council. Baronio, in compiling his martyrology, seems to have arbitarirly assigned him the feast day of January 25.
6th v. St. Maurus With Placid, Benedictines, disciples of St. Benedict
Maurus was the son of a Roman noble. At the age of twelve he became St. Benedict’s assistant and possibly succeeded him as abbot of Subiaco Abbey in 525 . Pope St. Gregory I the Great wrote of Maurus and Placid in his Dialogues. In liturgical art, Maurus is depicted saving Placid from drowning. Their cult is now restricted to local calendars.
660 St. Racho  First Bishop of Autun, France
under the Franks. He is also listed as Ragnobert. It is believed that St. Leodegarius was his successor
676 St. Amarinus  bishop of Clermont Benedictine martyr.
companion of St. Priest, or Praejectus. Amarinus was bishop of Clermont, France.
The valley of Saint Amarian in Alsace, France, is named in his honor.
676 ST PRAEJECTUS, or PRIX, BISHOP OF CLERMONT, MARTYR; many miracles immediately afterwards were recorded at his tomb
 Arvérnis, in Gállia, sanctórum Præjécti Epíscopi, et Amaríni, Abbátis Cloroangiénsis; qui ambo a procéribus ejúsdem urbis passi sunt.
       In the Auvergne in France, the Saints Praejectus, bishop, and Amarinus, abbot of Doroang, who were murdered by the leading men of that city.
THE episcopal see of Auvergne in the early days was honoured with many holy bishops, of whom the Christian poet, St Sidonius Apollinaris, was one of the most famous. Later on the title of bishops of Auvergne was changed into that of Clermont, from the city of this name. St Praejectus (called in France variously Priest, Prest, Preils and Prix) was a native of Auvergne, trained up in the service of the Church under the care of St Genesius, Bishop of Auvergne, well skilled in plainsong, in Holy Scripture and church history. About the year 666 he was called by the voice of the people, seconded by Childeric II, King of Austrasia, to the episcopal dignity, upon the death of Felix, Bishop of Auvergne.
Partly by his own ample patrimony, and partly through the liberality of Genesius, Count of Auvergne, he was enabled to found several monasteries, churches and hospitals; so that distressed persons in his extensive diocese were provided for, and a spirit of religious fervour reigned. This was the fruit of the unwearied zeal, assiduous exhortations and admirable example of the holy prelate, whose learning, eloquence and piety are greatly extolled by his contemporary biographer. Praejectus restored to health St Amarin, the abbot of a monastery in the Vosges, who was afterwards his companion in martyrdom.
As the result of an alleged outrage by Hector, the Patricius of Marseilles—an incident very differently recounted by writers of different sympathies—Hector, after a visit to court, was arrested and executed by Childeric’s orders. One Agritius, imputing his death to the complaints carried to the king by St Praejectus, thought to avenge him by organizing a conspiracy against him. With twenty armed men he met the bishop as he returned from court at Volvic, two leagues from Clermont, and first slew the abbot St Amarin, whom the assassins mistook for the bishop. St Praejectus, perceiving their design, courageously stepped forward, and was stabbed by a Saxon named Radbert. The saint, receiving this wound, said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge, for they know not what they do”. Another of the assassins clove his head with a sword, and scattered his brains. This happened in 676, on January 25. The veneration Gallican churches paid to the memory of this martyr began from the time of his death, and many miracles immediately afterwards were recorded at his tomb.
The text of the Life of St Praejectus has in modern times been edited and carefully annotated by B. Krusch in MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. v, pp. 212—248. Krusch is of opinion that, though the author does not seem to have known the saint personally, he was a contemporary, and probably a monk of Volvic in Puy-de-Dome. It is one of the most trustworthy and interesting of Merovingian hagiographical documents. The greater part of the relics of St Praejectus were afterwards translated to the abbey of Flavigny in Burgundy. See also Acta Sanctorum for January 25; and Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. ii, pp. 37—38.  
697 St.  Eochod The Apostle of the Picts of Galloway.
Scotland. He was one of the twelve chosen by St. Columba to evangelize northern Britain.
St. Artemas teenage Martyr of Pozzuoli  
Italy. He is traditionally described as a teenage boy in the Roman Empire who was stabbed to death with iron pens by pagan school classmates.  This legend is doubtful, but Artemas was martyred at Pozzuoli, near Capua, in the fifth century, perhaps earlier.
ST ARTEMAS, MARTYR
WE may fairly be satisfied that St Artemas has a just claim to be honoured as a saint, He was depicted and his name was inscribed in the mosaics which adorned the cupola of the ancient basilica of San Prisco near Capua. These mosaics, now unfortunately destroyed, were believed to date from about the year 500. We know also from the “Hieronymianum” that St Artemas was venerated, and is supposed to have suffered, at Pozzuoli, which is not very far from Capua. Beyond this we have no trustworthy information. But at a late date a story seems to have been connected with his name that Artemas, though hardly more than a boy himself, was teaching other boys, that he was denounced as a Christian, and that he was stabbed to death by his pupils with their styluses (sharp-pointed instruments used for writing on wax tablets).

But this story is also told of St Cassian of Imola, and still earlier of St Mark of Arethusa; and there can be little doubt that it has been borrowed from these sources and adapted to St Artemas in default of any more authentic details concerning him.
See the Acta Sanctorum for January 25; and Pio Franchi de’ Cavalieri in Studi e Testi, vol. ix, p. 68. 
St. Donatus Martyr with Sabinus and Agape;
 Item sanctórum Mártyrum Donáti, Sabíni et Agapis.       Also, the holy martyrs Donatus, Sabinus, and Agape.
Nothing is known of their martyrdom.
1048 ST POPPO, ABBOT; visited holy places at Jerusalem brought away many relics, enriched the church of our Lady at Deynze;
 Marciánis, in Gállia, sancti Poppónis, Presbyteri et Abbátis, miráculis clari.
       At Marchiennes in France, St. Poppo, priest and abbot, renowned for his miracles.
ST Poppo was born in Flanders in 978, and was brought up by a most virtuous mother, who died a nun at Verdun. In his youth he served for some time in the army; but even in the world he found meditation and prayer to be sweeter than all the delights of the senses, and he renounced his profession and the marriage arranged for him. He previously visited the holy places at Jerusalem and brought away many relics, with which he enriched the church of our Lady at Deynze. He also made a pilgrimage to Rome, and some time after took the monastic habit at St Thierry’s, near Rheims. Richard, Abbot of Saint-Vanne, one of the great monastic reformers of the age, met Poppo about the year 1008, and found in him a man singularly well fitted to assist him in this work. Not without great difficulty he managed to get Poppo transferred to his own monastery, and then used him to restore observance in several abbeys, Saint-Vaast at Arras, Beaulieu, and others. St Poppo, who gradually became independent of Richard of Saint-Vanne, seems, on being appointed abbot of Stavelot, to have acted as a sort of abbot general to a whole group of monasteries in Lotharingia. In these he was revered and preserved admirable discipline. He was much esteemed by the emperor, St Henry II, and he seems in many political matters to have given him prudent counsel. He died at Marchiennes on January 25 in 1048, at seventy. St Poppo received the last anointing at the hands of Everhelm, Abbot of Hautmont, who afterwards wrote his life, or, more correctly, revised the longer biography composed by the monk Onulf.
A critical edition of the life which we owe to Onulf and Abbot Everhelm is to be found in the folio series of MGH., Scriptores, vol. xi, pp. 291—316. See also the Acta Sanctorum for January 25 Cauchie in the Biographie Nationale, vol. xviii, pp. 43 seq.; and a sketch by M. Souplet, St Poppon de Deynse (1948).  
St. Dwynwen she is A Welsh saint “Nothing wins hearts like cheerfulness.”
credited with the saying: “Nothing wins hearts like cheerfulness.” A member of the family of Brychan of Brecknock, she is venerated throughout Wales and Cornwall, England.
1366 St. Peter Thomas b.1305  Carmelite Latinpatriarch and papal legate.
Peter was born in Gascony, France and joined the Carmelites while still a young man. In 1342 he was appointed procurator of the order and, from Avignon, he oversaw the organization and government of the Carmelites. As Avignon was then the seat of the popes, he entered into their service, attracting papal attention because of his skills as a preacher and his elo­quence. Named to the papal diplomatic service, he held the post of papal legate to Genoa, Milan, and Venice, and was appointed bishop of Patti and Lipari in 1354, bishop of Coron in 1359, archbishop of Candia in 1363, and titular Patriarch of Constantinople in 1364.
At the behest of Pope Urban V, he journeyed to Serbia, Hungary, and Constantinople in an effort to organize a crusade against the Turks. He took part in a military operation against Alexandria, Egypt, in 1365 during which he was severely wounded. He died from his injuries at Cyprus a few months later. While never formally canonized, his feast was permitted to the Carmelites in 1608.



THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 245

O Lady, thou art our refuge in all our needs: and a most powerful force bruising and crushing our enemy.

The world is full of thy benefits: they surpass the heavens and penetrate the depths.

By the fullness of thy grace those who were in the abyss rejoice to find themselves liberated.

By the power of thy virginal fecundity, those who were above this world: rejoice to find themselves freed.

By the glorious Son of thy most holy virginity: men are made companions and fellow-citizens of the angels.

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.

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos  Practical Guide to Holiness
1. Go to Mass with deepest devotion. 2. Spend a half hour to reflect upon your main failing & make resolutions to avoid it.
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible.  4. Say the rosary every day.
5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament; toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour, 6.  Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day.
7.  Every month make a review of the month in confession.
8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue.
9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion. 10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary
My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
   These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.
Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)
1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.
Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).
In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian. 
In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides.  Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicæa (325). The “Peregrinatio Silviæ” (or Etheriæ) (ed. Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq.) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.
Although Hebrew had been the language of the ancient Israelite kingdom, after their return from Exile the Jews turned more and more to Aramaic, using it for parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel in the Bible. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the main language of Palestine, and quite a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are also written in Aramaic.
Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.
After Arab conquests of the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language of those who converted to Islam, although in out of the way places, Aramaic continued as a vernacular language of Muslims.
Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen); to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.  Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine.  The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches.  The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice."  According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates.  Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor.  Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.
Meeting of the Saints  walis (saints of Allah)
Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.
So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life.  But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat 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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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey  Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

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

Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America
Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement 1362-1950 (1952);
The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and Indulgences  Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon
Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.
The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}.
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi. 
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi. 
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

Father Corapi's academic credentials are quite extensive. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Pace University in the seventies. Then as an older man returned to the university classrooms in preparation for his life as a priest and preacher. He received all of his academic credentials for the Church with honors: a Masters degree in Sacred Scripture from Holy Apostles Seminary and Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctorate degrees in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre in Spain.
Father John Corapi goes to the heart of the contemporary world's many woes and wars, whether the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, or the Congo, or the natural disasters that seem to be increasing every year, the moral and spiritual war is at the basis of everything. “Our battle is not against human forces,” St. Paul asserts, “but against principalities and powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness...” (Ephesians 6:12). 
The “War to end all wars” is the moral and spiritual combat that rages in the hearts and minds of human beings. The outcome of that  unseen fight largely determines how the battle in the realm of the seen unfolds.  The title talk, “With the Moon Under Her Feet,” is taken from the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and deals with the current threat to the world from radical Islam, and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the ultimate victory that will result in the conversion of Islam. Few Catholics are aware of the connection between Islam, Fatima, and Guadalupe. Presented in Father Corapi's straight-forward style, you will be both inspired and educated by him.

About Father John Corapi.
Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .
The pillars of father's preaching are basically:
Love for and a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary 
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ
Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.
 
Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

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

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.
 
Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”
 
Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

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

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.
 
Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.
 
Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.
 
Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.
 
Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

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

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

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

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

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.
 
Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

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

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.
 
Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”
 
Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

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

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.
 
Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.
 
Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.
 
Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.
 
Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.
8 Martyrs Move Closer to Sainthood 8 July, 2016
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 8 July, 2016

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

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

Servant of God Alfonse Gallegos of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Titular Bishop of Sasabe, auxiliary of Sacramento; born Feb. 20, 1931 and died Oct. 6, 1991
Servant of God Rafael Sánchez García, diocesan priest; born June 14, 1911 and died on Aug. 8, 1973
Servant of God Andrés García Acosta, professed layman of the Order of Friars Minor; born Jan. 10, 1800 and died Jan. 14, 1853
Servant of God Joseph Marchetti, professed priest of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles; born Oct. 3, 1869 and died Dec. 14, 1896
Servant of God Giacomo Viale, professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, pastor of Bordighera; born Feb. 28, 1830 and died April 16, 1912
Servant of God Maria Pia of the Cross (née Maddalena Notari), foundress of the Congregation of Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist; born Dec. 2, 1847 and died on July 1, 1919
Sunday, November 23 2014 Six to Be Canonized on Feast of Christ the King.

On the List Are Lay Founder of a Hospital and Eastern Catholic Religious
VATICAN CITY, June 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Today, the Vatican announced that during the celebration of the feast of Christ the King on Sunday, November 23, an ordinary public consistory will be held for the canonization of the following six blesseds, who include a lay founder of a hospital for the poor, founders of religious orders, and two members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See:
-Giovanni Antonio Farina (1803-1888), an Italian bishop who founded the Institute of the Sisters Teachers of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts
-Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871), a Syro-Malabar priest in India who founded the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate
-Ludovico of Casoria (1814-1885), an Italian Franciscan priest who founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth
-Nicola Saggio (Nicola da Longobardi, 1650-1709), an Italian oblate of the Order of Minims
-Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877-1952), an Indian Carmelite of the Syro-Malabar Church
-Amato Ronconi (1238-1304), an Italian, Third Order Franciscan who founded a hospital for poor pilgrims
CAUSES OF SAINTS July 2015.
Pope Recognizes Heroic Virtues of Ukrainian Archbishop
Recognition Brings Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky Closer to Beatification
By Junno Arocho Esteves Rome, July 17, 2015 (ZENIT.org)
Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky. According to a communique released by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father met this morning with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

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

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate was also an ardent supporter of the Jewish community in Ukraine, going so far as to learn Hebrew to better communicate with them. He also was a vocal protestor against atrocities committed by the Nazis, evidenced in his pastoral letter, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." He was also known to harbor thousands of Jews in his residence and in Greek Catholic monasteries.
Following his death in 1944, his cause for canonization was opened in 1958.
* * *
The Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees regarding the heroic virtues of:
- Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky, O.S.B.M., major archbishop of Leopolis of the Ukrainians, metropolitan of Halyc (1865-1944);
- Servant of God Giuseppe Carraro, Bishop of Verona, Italy (1899-1980);
- Servant of God Agustin Ramirez Barba, Mexican diocesan priest and founder of the Servants of the Lord of Mercy (1881-1967);
- Servant of God Simpliciano della Nativita (ne Aniello Francesco Saverio Maresca), Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (1827-1898);
- Servant of God Maria del Refugio Aguilar y Torres del Cancino, Mexican founder of the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1866-1937);
- Servant of God Marie-Charlotte Dupouy Bordes (Marie-Teresa), French professed religious of the Society of the Religious of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1873-1953);
- Servant of God Elisa Miceli, Italian founder of the Rural Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1904-1976);
- Servant of God Isabel Mendez Herrero (Isabel of Mary Immaculate), Spanish professed nun of the Servants of St. Joseph (1924-1953)
October 01, 2015 Vatican City, Pope Authorizes following Decrees
(ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter
Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God
Pope Authorizes Decrees
Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees:

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

HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963);
- Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987);
- Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991);
- Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996);
- Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917);
- Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913);
- Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973).
March 06 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
MIRACLES

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

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

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

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Paqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).
LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000)  India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858 
China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798  
Links to Related Marian Websites  Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  Uniates, 245 2023