100 Sts. Priscilla & Aquila a Jewish tentmaker. He and his wife Prisca or Priscilla were forced to leave Rome when Emperor Claudius forbade Jews to live there. They went to Corinth, where St. Paul lived with them during his stay there and may have converted them to Christianity. They accompanied Paul to Ephesus and remained there; Paul stayed with them on his third missionary journey.
In Asia minóre sanctórum Aquilæ et Priscíllæ uxóris, de quibus in Actibus Apostolórum scríbitur.
In Asia Minor, the Saints Aquilla and his wife Priscilla, of whom mention is made in the Acts of the Apostles.
They then returned to Rome, where there house was also used as a church and then went back to Ephesus.

They suffered martyrdom in Asia Minor, according to the Roman Martyrology but a tradition has them martyred in Rome.

Aquila und Prisca Orthodoxe Kirche: 13.2. und 14.7. (nur Aquila) Katholische Kirche: 8.7.

Prisca (Priscilla) und Aquila werden mehrmals im Neuen Testament genannt (z. B. Apg. 18, 2). Sie waren Juden, die wahrscheinlich in Rom lebten und die Stadt verlassen mußten, als unter Kaiser Claudius alle Juden aus Rom verbannt wurden. Sie zogen nach Korinth und lernten dort Paulus kennen. Paulus arbeitete bei Aquila als Zeltmacher. Aquila und Prisca zogen dann mit Paulus nach Ephesus und blieben dort, als Paulus nach Jerusalem weiterreiste. Hier lernten sie Apollos kennen und unterrichteten ihn. Nachdem Juden wieder nach Rom ziehen durften, gingen Aquila und Prisca zurück nach Rom (Röm 16, 3 f.). Paulus hat dann Aquila zum Bischof ernannt. Prisca und Aquila haben in Asien, Achaeia und Herakleia gewirkt und sind dort als Märtyrer gestorben.

Ss. Aqulla and Prisca, Or Priscilla First Century What little is known of these two is to be. found in the Holy Scriptures.
They were disciples of St Paul and, like their master, constrained to undertake many journeys and changes of residence; when we first hear of them (Acts xviii 1-3) they had recently left Italy in consequence of the decree of the Emperor Claudius whereby Jews were prohibited to foregather in Rome.
Aquila was a Jew of Pontus, and when he and his wife Prisca left Rome he took a house at Corinth. St Paul coming thither from Athens called on them, and when he found that Aquila was, like himself, a tent-maker (every Jewish rabbi had a trade) he decided to live with them during his stay in Corinth it is possible that they received the faith from him at this time, or they may have been Christians already.
Aquila and Prisca went on with Paul to Ephesus and stopped on there when he continued his voyage in his absence they instructed Apollo, a Jew of Alexandria, mighty in the Scriptures ", who knew of our Lord only through some of the disciples of St John Baptist.
They continued in Ephesus during St Paul's third missionary journey, he using their house as his headquarters, and in it they had a church (i Cor. xvi 19). Later they returned to Rome, and there also had a church in their house, for writing to the Romans, St Paul says : " Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the church which is in their house ", and adds a testimony of gratitude for all they had done: My helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my life laid down their own necks: to whom not I only give thanks but also all the churches of the Gentiles."
But soon the devoted couple were at Ephesus again, and in his second letter to Timothy Paul sends greetings to them there.

The Roman Martyrology states that SS. Aquila and Prisca died in Asia Minor, but there is a tradition that they were martyred in Rome, a late legend associating them with the Titulus Priscae, now the church of St Prisca on the Aventine. Certain alleged "acts" of SS. Aquila and Priscilla dating from the seventh century have been edited by J. Ebersolt (1902). See also R. Schumacher in Theologie and Glaube, vol. iii (1920), pp. 86-89.

130 St. Auspicius Bishop of Trier, Germany, successor of St. Maternus
He might be a first-century bishop of Toul, France, by the same name.

290 Epictetus priest and Astion monastic martyrs lived in Bithynia on the southwest coast of the Black Sea God granted Epictetus gift of wonderworking, he healed many people troubled by unclean spirits, or afflicted with other maladies.
During the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian (284-305). From his youth, St Epictetus had dedicated his life to God, and studied to acquire knowledge of the Gospel. He entered a monastery, and later was found worthy to be ordained to the holy priesthood. Proclaiming the Gospel of Christ, the saint converted many people to Christianity. God granted Epictetus the gift of wonderworking, and he healed many people troubled by unclean spirits, or afflicted with other maladies.
One day while out for a stroll, the illustrious youth Astion met St Epictetus. During a long conversation St Epictetus enlightened Astion, sowing the seed of God's Word in the young man's soul. He spoke to him about the only true God, about the great value of the immortal human soul, and about fleeting worldly pleasures.
   Astion came to believe in Christ and was baptized. Soon after this, he also became a monk. Since Christians were being persecuted in Bithynia, he asked St Epictetus if they might travel together to some distant land where they could dedicate their lives completely to God. Boarding a ship, Sts Epictetus and Astion journeyed to Scythia and settled among the pagan Slavs near the Roman outpost of Halmyris in the province of Histria south of the mouth of the Danube. The city was the site of a military fort and a base for the Roman fleet which patrolled the Danube and the Black Sea.
   When they arrived at Halmyris in 273, St Epictetus was forty-seven years old, and St Astion was only eighteen. During the next seventeen years, the saints spent their lives in prayer and fasting, and performed many miracles.
   The God-pleasing lives of the monks could not remain hidden from others for very long. People afflicted by various illnesses or oppressed by evil spirits came to the saints seeking relief. Even pagans asked the holy ascetics for help, and after being healed of their afflictions, they embraced Christianity.
   St Epictetus once healed a fifteen-year-old deaf and dumb boy by praying and breathing on him three times. More than a thousand people became Christians after witnessing this miracle. St Astion once cured a man whose legs and toes were crushed when he fell from a building.
   Latronianus, the military commander of the district, arrived in Halmyris in 290 on an official visit of inspection. The pagan priests wasted no time in complaining to him about Sts Epictetus and Astion. They denounced the two men from Bithynia, accusing them of converting people to Christianity through sorcery, and persuading them not to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods.
   The saints were arrested and interrogated by Latronianus, who tried to find out their names and where they were from. Their only reply was, "We are Christians." Latronianus had them tortured in an effort to make them abandon their Christian beliefs.
After thirty days in prison without food and water, the holy martyrs Epictetus and Astion were once again brought before Latronianus. They remained steadfast and ready to endure even more suffering for Christ. The commander declared that Epictetus and Astion were traitors, and ordered them to be tortured and beheaded.

Sts Epictetus and Astion received the crown of martyrdom on July 8, 290. At first, they were buried in an unknown spot. Later, their holy relics were transferred into the basilica built in the fourth century by St Constantine the Great (May 21) at Halmyris.
Archaeologists discovered the holy relics of Sts Epictetus and Astion at Halmyris in 2001. The bones were scattered about in two rooms of a burial crypt, indicating that the tomb had been vandalized, perhaps in the sixth century. Scientific tests on the bones revealed that one of the men was approximately sixty-four years old, and the other about thirty-five. This is consistent with the ages of the two saints as given in the written accounts of their martyrdom. The bones also indicate that the two had been beheaded.

The holy relics of Sts Epictetus and Astion were reburied in 2001 by Archbishop Theodosius of Tomis (Romania).

303 Procopius {Neanius} Holy Great Martyr persecution against Christians then, vision of the Lord Jesus, similar to the vision of Saul a radiant Cross appeared in the air. Neanius felt an inexpressible joy and spiritual happiness in his heart and he was transformed from being a persecutor into a zealous follower of Christ
Cæsaréæ, in Palæstína, sancti Procópii Mártyris, qui, sub Diocletiáno Imperatóre, a Scythópoli ductus Cæsaréam, illic, ad primam responsiónum ejus confidéntiam, a Júdice Fabiáno est cápite cæsus.
In Palestine, in the reign of Diocletian, St. Procopius, martyr, who was brought from Scythopolis to Caesarea, and upon his first resolute answer was beheaded by the judge Fabian.
In the world Neanius, a native of Jerusalem, lived and suffered during the reign of the emperor Diocletian (284-305). His father, an eminent Roman by the name of Christopher, was a Christian, but the mother of the saint, Theodosia, remained a pagan. He was early deprived of his father, and the young child was raised by his mother. Having received an excellent secular education, he was introduced to Diocletian in the very first year of the emperor's accession to the throne, and he quickly advanced in government service. Towards the year 303, when open persecution against Christians began, Neanius was sent as a proconsul to Alexandria with orders to mercilessly persecute the Church of God.

On the way to Egypt, near the Syrian city of Apamea, Neanius had a vision of the Lord Jesus, similar to the vision of Saul on the road to Damascus. A divine voice exclaimed, "Neanius, why do you persecute Me?" Neanius asked, "Who are you, Lord?" "I am the crucified Jesus, the Son of God."

At that moment a radiant Cross appeared in the air. Neanius felt an inexpressible joy and spiritual happiness in his heart and he was transformed from being a persecutor into a zealous follower of Christ. From this point in time Neanius became favorably disposed towards Christians and fought victoriously against the barbarians.

The words of the Savior came true for the saint, "A man's foes shall be those of his own household" (Mt. 10:36). His mother, a pagan herself, went to the emperor to complain that her son did not worship the ancestral gods. Neanius was summoned to the procurator Judaeus Justus, where he was solemnly handed the decree of Diocletian. Having read through the blasphemous directive, Neanius quietly tore it up before the eyes of everyone. This was a crime, which the Romans regarded as an "insult to authority." Neanius was held under guard and in chains sent to Caesarea of Palestine, where the Apostle Paul once languished. After terrible torments, they threw the saint into a dank prison. That night, a light shone in the prison, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself baptized the suffering confessor, and gave him the name Procopius.

Repeatedly they led St Procopius to the courtroom, demanding that he renounce Christ, and they subjected him to more tortures. The stolidity of the martyr and his fiery faith brought down God's abundant grace on those who witnessed the execution. Inspired by the example of Procopius, many of the holy martyr's former guards and Roman soldiers went beneath the executioner's sword together with their tribunes Nikostrates and Antiochus. Twelve Christian women received martyr's crowns, after they came to the gates of the Caesarea Praetorium.

Struck by the great faith and courage of the Christians, and seeing the firmness of her son in bearing terrible sufferings, Theodosia became repentant and stood in the line of confessors and was executed. Finally the new procurator, Flavian, convinced of the futility of the tortures, sentenced the holy Great Martyr Procopius to beheading by the sword. By night Christians took up his much-tortured body, and with tears and prayers, they committed it to the earth. This was the first martyrdom at Caesarea (303).

St Procopius, Martyr
An account of the passion of St Procopius, the protomartyr of the persecution of Diocletian in Palestine and one of sevenl martyrs distinguished in the East as "the Great ", was written by a contemporary, Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, who narrates it in the following words:

The first of the martyrs of Palestine was Procopius, a man filled with divine grace, who had ordered his life so well that from childhood he had devoted himself to chastity and the practice of all the virtues. He had reduced his body until he had given it so to speak the appearance of a corpse, but his soul drew from the word of God so great a vigour that the body itself was refreshed by it. He lived on bread and water and only ate every two or three days sometimes he prolonged his fast during a whole week. Meditation on the divine word so filled his being that he remained absorbed in it day and night without fatigue. Filled with goodness and gentleness, regarding himself as the least of men, he edified everyone by his discourses. The word of God was his sole study, and of profane science he had but little knowledge. Born at Aelia [Jerusalem], he had taken up his residence at Scythopolis [Bethsan], where he filled three ecclesiastical offices. He was reader and interpreter in the Syriac language, and cast out evil spirits by the imposition of hands.

Sent with companions from Scythopolis to Caesarea [Maritima] he had scarcely passed the city gates when he was conducted into the presence of the governor, and even before he had had a taste of chains or prison walls he was urged by the judge Flavian to sacrifice to the gods. But he, in a loud voice, proclaimed that there are not sevenl gods, but One alone, the creator and author of all things.
This answer made a vivid impression on the judge. Finding nothing to say in reply, he tried to persuade Procopius at least to sacrifice to the emperors. But the martyr of God despised his entreaties.

"Listen", he said, "to this verse of Homer: It is not good to have several masters; let there be one chief, one king."

(Iliad, II, 294.)

At these words, as though he had uttered imprecations against the emperors, the judge ordered him to be led to execution. They cut off his head, and he passed happily to eternal life by the shortest road, on the 7th of the month of Desius, the day that the Latins call the nones of July, in the first year of our persecution. This was the first martyrdom that took place at Caesarea.

It is hardly believable that this simple and impressive narrative should have been the seed of the incredible legends which afterwards grew up around the name of Procopius: astonishing and absurd fables and trimmings that eventually transformed the austere cleric into a mighty warrior, and even split him into three people, the ascete, the soldier, and a martyr in Persia. In his earlier legend he was made to argue with the judge and to refer to Hermes Trismegistus, Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Galen and Scamandrus in support of the oneness of God, to suffer torture in most ingenious fashions, and to paralyse his executioner; later he becomes a duke of Alexandria and the hero of more legendary marvels (afterwards borrowed for the "acts" of St Ephysius of Cagliari and the unknown martyr John of Constantinople), undergoing a miraculous conversion (combined of the visions of St Paul and of the Labarum), slaying six thousand marauding barbarians with the aid of a wonderworking cross, converting in prison a band of soldiers and twelve noble matrons, and the like. The evolution, if such arbitrary leaps can be called evolution, of the story of St Procopius is a "leading case" in hagiology; but in the dignified account of Eusebius we may be certain that we have what really happened.

Father Delehaye devotes a whole chapter (ch. v) of his book The Legends of the Saints to this transformation of St Procopius into a military saint. The most noteworthy Greek text has been edited by him in Les legendes grecques des saints militaires, pp. 214-233.

Saint Febronia the Ascetic Martyrdom of niece of the superior of a convent that had fifty virgins, in a place called "Ouryana" in Mesopotamia {Coptic}
On this day, St. Febronia, the ascetic virgin, was martyred. This saint was the niece of the superior of a convent that had fifty virgins, in a place called "Ouryana" in Mesopotamia. Her aunt brought her up in the fear of God and taught her the reading of the Holy Books. St. Febronia vowed herself to the Lord Christ, and she fought the good fight by asceticism, fasting for two days at a time, and unceasing in her prayers.
When Emperor Diocletian issued his edict to worship idols, many Christians were martyred by his hands. When the virgins heard that, they were afraid and left the convent and went into hiding. None was left in the convent except St. Febronia, another sister and the abbess.
On the following day, the envoys of the Emperor came, seized the abbess, and humiliated her. St. Febronia said to them, "Take me and set free this old woman." But they took her as well, bound in ropes, and brought them to the Governor. At that time she was twenty years old, and was attractive. The Governor asked her to worship the idols and promised her many things but she refused. He ordered that she be beaten with rods, and her dress to be torn off. The abbess cried out to him saying, "May God rip you up, O wild beast, for you want to put to shame this young orphan girl." The Governor was wrathful, and ordered St. Febronia to be squeezed by the wheel, and to comb her body with an iron comb until her flesh was completely torn. During all that, she prayed to the Lord asking for help. He then cut out her tongue and smashed her teeth so that she could not pray. But the Lord strengthened her and comforted her. Finally, the Governor ordered her head cut off, and she received the crown of martyrdom. A righteous man took her body and shrouded it with costly shrouds, and placed it in a golden box. May her prayers be with us. Amen .

Saints Bioukha and Tayaban (Banayen) the priests. {Coptic}
On this day also, the fighters Sts. Bioukha and Banayen, departed. They were priests in the church of "Tunah" of the diocese of "Tanda". Their father was the steward of this church. It happened when the priest Banayen was celebrating the Divine Liturgy, someone came calling him to see his father who was dying in that instant. He answered him saying, "I cannot take off my priestly vestment before the end of the service. If God is willing, I shall see him before he dies, otherwise it will be the will of God."
His father asked for him three times, and he responded with the same answer. When he finished the mass, he found his father had departed. The church vessels were stored in a place known only by his father. Banayen the priest went to St. Daniel, the priest of the wilderness of Shiheet, who guided him by Divine inspiration, to the place where the vessels were stored. These two saints lived a virtuous life until they departed in peace. May their prayers be with us, and Glory be to God forever. Amen.

326 St. Apollonius Bishop of Benevento, Italy; he went into hiding during the last persecution instituted by Emperor Diocletian.

410 King Mirdat (408–410), the son of Varaz-Bakur, first martyred king of Georgia endowed with great virtues: wisdom, discretion, physical prowess, fearlessness, valor, and courage; liberated Klarjeti from the Byzantines, abolished the tribute system (taxes to Persia), prepared for war against Persians; martyred for the love of Christ
He was raised by his maternal grandfather, King Trdat. The faithful grandfather taught the future king to love God and his nation, and the young prince mindfully preserved his grandfather’s wisdom throughout his life. Mirdat was endowed with the greatest of a nobleman’s virtues: wisdom, discretion, physical prowess, fearlessness, valor, and courage. He liberated Klarjeti from the Byzantines, abolished the tribute system (by which Georgia was required to pay taxes to Persia), and prepared for war against the Persians.
The Persian king gathered an enormous army to punish the Georgian nation, and King Mirdat courageously marched toward Gardabani (in eastern Georgia) with his much smaller army. But the selflessness and bravery of the Georgian soldiers were no match for the multitude of Persian warriors. The Georgians suffered defeat, and the Persian conquerors captured the young king.
The Persian king demanded that Mirdat renounce the Christian Faith, but he was firmly rebuffed. Neither intimidation nor fear of persecution would break the will of the king. After torturing him for his love of Christ, the Persians bound him in chains, tormented him almost to death, and cast him into prison, where he gave up his soul to the Lord.

The martyrdom of King Mirdat took place at the beginning of the 5th century, in the year 410.

475 Auspicius the bishop of Toul B (AC)

Tréviris sancti Auspícii, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
At Treves, St. Auspicius, bishop and confessor.

Sidonius Apollinaris reports that this Saint Auspicius was the bishop of Toul. He was buried at Saint Mansuy (Benedictines) .

689 St. Kilian An Irish monk; consecrated Bishop, went to Rome with eleven companions in 686, and received permission from Pope Conon to evangelize Franconia (Baden and Bavaria)
Herbípoli, in Germánia, sancti Chiliáni Epíscopi, qui, a Románo Pontífice ad prædicándum Evangélium missus, ibi, cum multos ad Christum perduxísset, una cum Sóciis Colománno Presbytero et Totnáno Diácono, trucidátus est.
At Wurtzburg in Germany, St. Kilian, bishop, who was commissioned by the Roman Pontiff to preach the Gospel. After having converted many to Christ, he was put to death along with his companions Colman, a priest, and Totnan, a deacon.
He was successful, with two followers - Colman, a priest, and Totnan, a deacon - in his missionary endeavors until he converted Gosbert, Duke of Wurzburg, who had married Geilana, his brother's widow. According to legend, while Gosbert was away on a military expedition, Geilana is reputed to have had the three missionaries beheaded when she found that Gosbert was going to leave her after Kilian had told him the marriage was forbidden by the Church

Kilian, Kolonat und Totnan Orthodoxe, Katholische und Evangelische Kirche: 8. Juli

Der irisache Wanderbischof Kilian kam um 686 mit seinemn Gefährten, dem Priester Kolonat und dem Diakon Totnan, an den Main. Sie siedelten am Fuße der Würzburg und missionierte von hier aus unter den ansässigen Thüringern im Maintal bis zum Spessar. Als der Herzog der Thüringer die Witwe seines Bruders heiratete, wie es die Stammesgebräuche forderten, überzeugte ihn Kilian, die Ehe aufzulösen, da sie nach christlichem Recht verboten sei. Die verstoßene Witwe ließ daraufhin Kilian, Kolonat und Todtnan ermorden. Ob Kilian zum Bischof von Würzburg geweiht wurde, ist ungewiß. Die Büsten Kilians und seiner Gefährten im Würzburger Dom wurden von Riemenschneider geschaffen.

Ss. Kilian and his Companions, Martyrs
Kilian was an Irish monk who, having been consecrated bishop already or later, set out with eleven companions to Rome in 686 and obtained of Pope Conon a commission to preach the gospel in Franconia (Baden and Bavaria). With Colman, a priest, and Totnan, a deacon, he converted and baptized numbers at Wurzburg, and among others Gosbert, the duke of that place.
Circumstances of their martyrdom are given by a medieval life as follows.
The duke had married his brother's widow Geilana and, being told by St Kilian that such a marriage was condemned by the law of the gospel, he promised to leave her. Geilana was furious, and took the opportunity of Gosbert's absence on a military expedition to have the three missionaries beheaded. That Kilian, Colman and Totnan were evangelists in Franconia and East Thuringia is certain, as is their martyrdom: but doubt has been thrown on the authenticity of the details of the above story.
Some writers have attributed the crime to Gosbert and, if the story be true, it must be regretfully admitted, in view of the times and circumstances, that it is very likely that the disappointed man and woman may have conspired together to remove their troublesome teachers. St Kilian is venerated in the dioceses of Wurzburg and Vienna and elsewhere, including the country of his birth.

Two medieval accounts of St Kilian are printed in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. ii. See also Gougaud, Gaelic Pioneers of Christianity, pp. 140-141, and Les saints irlandais hors d'lrlande, pp. 125-129. For more recent references, cf. Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxxi (`953), PP. 450-463 .

690 St. Landrada Benedictine foundress and abbess. She ruled the convent of Munsterbilsen, Belgium.

743 St. Withburga Virgin Benedictine nun youngest daughter of King Anna of East Anglia, England; Her remains were later stolen by monks who enshrined her in Ely. A fresh spring, called Withburga's Well, sprang up at her grave in Dereham.
Following the death of her father in battle, died. 653, she moved to Dereham where she established a nunnery and a church. She died with the church unfinished, on March 17.

Her remains were later stolen by monks who enshrined her in Ely. A fresh spring, called Withburga's Well, sprang up at her grave in Dereham.

St Withburga, Virgin She was the youngest of the holy daughters of Anna, King of the East Angles. Like her sisters, she devoted herself to the divine service, and led an austere life in solitude for several years at Holkham, near the sea-coast in Norfolk, where a church dedicated in her honour was afterwards built. After the death of her father she changed her dwelling to Dereham, now a market-town in Norfolk but then an obscure retired place. Withburga assembled there some devout maidens, and laid the foundation of a church and nunnery, but did not live to finish the buildings. Her death happened on March 17, 743.

Her body was interred in the churchyard at East Dereham, and fifty years after found incorrupt and translated into the church. In 974, Brithnoth, Abbot of Ely, removed it to Ely, and deposited it near the bodies of her two sisters. In 1106 the remains of four saints were translated into the new church and laid near the high altar.

The bodies of SS. Sexburga and Ermenilda were reduced to dust, except the bones.

That of St Etheldreda was entire, and that of St Withburga was not only sound but also fresh, and the limbs flexible.

This is related by Thomas, monk of Ely, in his history of Ely, which he wrote the year following; he also tells us that in the place where St Withburga was first buried, in the churchyard of Dereham, a spring of clear water gushed forth: it is to this day called St Withburga's well.

Thomas of Ely's narrative is printed in Wharton's Anglia Sacra, and there is also a reference to Withburga in Malmesbury's Gesta Pontificum. See Stanton's Menology, pp. 325 and 328 .

800 St. Arnold confessor in the court of Charlemagne; a Greek by birth, entering the service of he was noted for his charity to the poor. A village, Amold-Villiers, was named after him, near Jülich.

835 Sts. Abrahamites Monks and martyrs of the monastery founded by Abraham in Constantinople; During iconoclastic dispute they refused to demolish sacred images of their monastery
Constantinópoli pássio sanctórum Monachórum Abrahamitárum, qui ob cultum sanctárum Imáginum, resisténtes Theóphilo Imperatóri, martyrium consummárunt.
At Constantinople, the holy Abrahamite monks, who resisted Emperor Theophilus by defending the veneration of sacred images, and suffered martyrdom.

Emperor Theophilus had them arrested and executed.

885 St. Adrian III Pope worked to mitigate the rigors of a famine in Rome
Spinæ Lambérti, in Æmília, sancti Hadriáni Papæ Tértii, stúdio conciliándi Románæ Ecclésias Orientáles insígnis, ac miráculis clari; cujus corpus in monastérium Nonantulénse fuit delátum, et in æde sancti Silvéstri honorífice cónditum.
    At Spina Lamberti in Emília, Pope St. Adrian III, famous for his zeal in reconciling the Eastern to the Roman Church, and renowned for his miracles. His body was taken to the monastery of Nonantola and buried with honours in the Church of St. Sylvester.
   Little is known of Adrian III or his pontificate and why he is venerated as a saint, though it is known he worked to mitigate the rigors of a famine in Rome. Of Roman descent, he was elected Pope probably on May 17, 884, opposed the aristocratic faction in Rome led by Formosus, Bishop of Porto, and George of the Aventine, a member of the Formosun group and notorious for several murders he committed.
   He died early in September or on July 8 near Modena while on the way to a diet in Worms, Germany, at the invitation of Emperor Charles the Fat, probably to settle the question of Charles' succession.

   St Adrian III, Pope This pope succeeded Marinus I in 884 during a troubled period in the history of the papacy.   He adopted Carloman, King of France, as his spiritual son, took steps to stop the bishop of Nimes annoying the monks of St Giles's abbey, and, it is alleged, punished with a ferocity that matched their crimes the ex-official George of the Aventine and the wealthy widow of another official, whose husband had been murdered in the forecourt of St Peter's; there were some remarkably bad characters in Rome at that time, In 885 Adrian was invited by the emperor, Charles the Fat, to be present at a diet at Worms; what specific reasons he had for desiring the pope's presence is not known. Whatever they were they came to nothing, for Adrian fell ill on the journey and died near Modena on July 8, or else in September. He was buried in the abbey church of St Silvester at Nonantula. There is nothing in the little that is known of his pontificate of fourteen (or sixteen) months to gauge the grounds on which Adrian was venerated as a saint, but he has received a continual liturgical cultus in the diocese of Modena, which was confirmed in 1891. During his brief reign there was famine in Rome, the hardships of which for the people he tried by every means to avert, and Flodoard, historian of the church of Rheims, praises him as a kind father to his fellow bishops.

See the Liber Pontificalis, vol. ii, p. 223 and Mann, Lives of the Popes, vol. iii, pp. 361-367.

10th v. Sunniva of Bergen & Comp. Irish nun who was shipwrecked in Norway and set up a convent with her companions (AC)
(also known as Sunnifa or Synnöve of Norway)
some show this feast on July 3. Several authorities refer to Saint Sunniva as an Irish nun who was shipwrecked in Norway and set up a convent with her companions. There is no information about her in Ireland, but according to legend (which is similar to that of Saint Ursula), she was a princess, nun, or both, who fled from Ireland with her brother Alban and several other maidens. Some say they were seeking a haven where they could live consecrated lives in exile for Christ. She was shipwrecked off the west coast of Norway and finally reached Selje Island. There they engaged in a devout, communal life, dwelling in caves and subsisting on fish.

The story has two endings. One says that they were killed by people from the mainland. The other relates that the neighboring Jarl Haakon heard about their landing and went to investigate. The community members fled to the caves. Masses of rock crashed down and blocked all the entrances, eventually killing the saints. When the caves were excavated much later, Sunniva's incorrupt body was discovered.

In 995, Olaf Tryggyason built a chapel in her honor. In 1170, their alleged relics were enshrined in Bergen; Selje's church was given to the Benedictines who dedicated it to Saint Alban (her brother?). Five churches or ruins of churches still survive on the island (Benedictines, Farmer, Montague).

Ss. Sunniva and her companions
THIS popular Norse legend is a sort of local version of the story of St Ursula. Sunniva, daughter of an Irish king, in order to avoid marriage or to escape dishonourable intentions or flying before an invader, put to sea with a number of followers in a boat without rudder, sail or oats.   They were cast up on the island of Seije, off the coast of Norway, where they lived in caves and fed upon fish presumably they got tired of this diet, for the inhabitants of the neighbouring mainland began to miss beasts from among their cattle left to graze on the island. Suspecting that the strangers were responsible they sent an armed party across to see about it; but when they arrived they found that the caves occupied by the refugees had been blocked up and the occupants entombed by a landslide- miraculously closed against their pursuers at the prayer of Sunniva.
       Some time afterwards passers-by in boats noticed a strange light streaming from the spot where the strangers had died.   This story reached King Olaf Tryggvason (then engaged on an attempt to christianize the land), and he went to investigate, accompanied by a bishop. The caves were opened and bones found; but the body of Sunniva was intact and incorrupt. Olaf built a church there to shelter the body. This was in 995.
   In 1170 her relics were translated to the cathedral of Bergen, and the feast of the Seijemen was celebrated every year on this day during the middle ages. What truth lies behind the story it is impossible to tell. The bones discovered have been speculated to be those of slain sea-rovers; but why did King Olaf trouble to disinter them and build a church there?

The Latin legend, not older than the eleventh century seems to have been written by an Anglo-Saxon missionary bishop, Sigurd or Sigward. The text has been printed by G. Storm, Monumenta Historiae Norvegiae, pp. 147-152. See also the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xvii (1898), p. 347, and S. Undset, Saga of Saints (1934), pp. 68-86. For further references, see Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lii (1934), pp. 120.121.

901 St. Grimbald Benedictine abbot invited to England by King Alfred in 885 credited with restoring learning to England Also called Grimwald, invited to England by King Alfred in 885. Grimbald arrived in England and declined the see of Canterbury, preferring to remain a monk. He became the abbot of New Minster Abbey at Winchester appointed by King Edward the Elder. Grimbald is credited with restoring learning to England.

St Grimbald 903
This holy man was born at Saint-Omer in Flanders and became a monk at Saint-Bertin, where he met King Alfred of England when that prince was going to Rome. The king afterwards, by the advice of Eldred, Archbishop of Canterbury, invited Grimbald over into England, where he arrived in the year 885. Upon the death of Eldred, Alfred pressed Grimbald to accept the see of Canterbury, but was not able to get his consent, and was obliged to allow him to retire to the church of Winchester.
King Alfred's son and successor, Edward, in compliance with his father's will, built the New Minster there, close to the old, in which he placed secular canons and appointed St Grimbald superior over them (later they were replaced by Benedictine monks, and King Henry I removed this monastery of Newminster outside the walls of the city to the place called Hyde, which still continued sometimes to be called St Grimbald's monastery).
Grimbald in his last sickness, though extremely feeble, gathered strength when the sacred viaticum was brought, rose out of bed, and received it prostrate on the ground. Among the few things recorded of St Grimbald is that he was a very good singer.

There are slight references to Grimbald in Malmesbury's Gesta Regunz and Gesta Pontificum as well as in Simeon of Durham; see Stanton's Menology, pp. 325 and 658, and D. Knowles, The Monastic Order in England (1949), pp. 33, 551.

975 Saint Edgar the Peaceful, King distinguished by a strong religious revival in England. (PC)
Saint Edgar was wise in his choice of friends and advisors: Saint Dunstan. His reign was distinguished by a strong religious revival in England. Though he enjoyed a local cultus at Glastonbury, he would not now be thought to be a likely candidate for canonization (Benedictines).

1118 St. Raymond of Toulouse a chanter and canon renowned for generosity; native of Toulouse, France many miracles were reported at his tomb He was known originally as Raymond Gayrard. After the death of his wife, he became a canon of St. Sernin, Toulouse, helping to rebuild the church which became a popular place for pilgrims. After his death on July 3, many miracles were reported at his tomb.
St Raymund Of Toulouse Raymund Gayrard was born at Toulouse about the middle of the eleventh century and was put by his parents in the service of the church of St Sernin. Here he became a chorister, and married a woman with whom he lived happily until her death. He then devoted himself and his goods to the relief of the poor, the suffering and the unfortunate, in the true Christian spirit of withholding his charity from none who required it; he caused comment by extending it even to the Jews, not only because the Jews are well known to look after their own people with care and efficiency, but also because the common people of those days by no means followed the example of the Apostolic See in its generally benevolent and protective attitude towards that people.
He also founded and endowed an almshouse for thirteen poor clerics, in memory of our Lord and His twelve apostles, and built two stone bridges. Raymund was at length accepted as a canon of the collegiate church of St Sernin, where he was a model of canonical discipline and the observance of common life under a rule; but he is remembered best for his enthusiasm and industrious labours in carrying on the building of St Sernin's church (the number and nature of whose relics of saints made it one of the most famous shrines of the middle ages). St Raymund died on July 3, 1118 (the Canons Regular of the Lateran keep his feast today, the 8th), and was buried in the almshouse which he had founded.

His tomb was the scene of many miraculous cures, and his ancient cultus was approved in 1652

Most of what we know concerning this saint is derived from the Latin lessons of an office compiled a century or more after his death. See the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. i; and M. Aubert, L'eglise Saint-Sernin de Toulouse (1933) .

1153 Bd Eugenius III, Pope Cistercian monk at Clairvaux; he took in religion the name of Bernard, his great namesake being his superior at Clairvaux
Romæ beáti Eugénii Papæ Tértii, qui, postquam cœnóbium sanctórum Vincéntii et Anastásii ad Aquas Sálvias magna sanctimóniæ ac prudéntiæ laude rexísset, Ecclésiam univérsam, Póntifex Máximus renuntiátus, sanctíssime gubernávit. Cultum autem, ab immemorábili témpore ipsi exhíbitum, Pius Papa Nonus ratum hábuit et confirmávit.
    At Rome, blessed Eugene III, pope. Having gained a great reputation for sanctity and prudence in his government of the monastery of Saints Vincent and Anastasius, he was raised to the Sovereign Pontificate and ruled the universal Church in much holiness. Pope Pius IX approved and confirmed the veneration paid to him.
    Eugenius III, called by St Antoninus "one of the greatest and one of the most afflicted of the popes", was born at Montemagno between Pisa and Lucca, probably of the noble family of Paganelli, and was baptized Peter. While holding office in the episcopal curia of Pisa he was moved, in 1135, to become a Cistercian monk at Clairvaux; he took in religion the name of Bernard, his great namesake being his superior at Clairvaux.
When Pope Innocent II asked for some Cistercians for Rome, St. Bernard sent the other Bernard in charge of a band who occupied the monastery of St Anastasius (Tre Fontane), where the new abbot earned the love and admiration of all. One of his difficulties was the unhealthy situation of the monastery, and St Bernard in one of his letters to the community expresses his sympathy, but warns them against excessive use of medicines, which excess was both contnry to their vocation and bad for their health.
   On the death of Pope Lucius II in 1145 the cardinals elected Bernard, Abbot of St Anastasius, to the supreme pontificate; the election was a surprise to the abbot and to everybody else, and the reasons which moved the cardinals are not known: it may be suggested that they knew a saint when they saw one.
Not the least surprised was St Bernard of Clairvaux, who wrote to the electors: "May God forgive you for what you have done...You have involved in cares and thrown among the multitudes of men a man who had fled from both...Was there no wise and experienced man among you more fitted for such things? It seems indeed absurd that a humble and ill-kempt man should be taken to preside over kings, to govern bishops, to dispose realms and empires. Is it ridiculous or miraculous?"

And he wrote plainly to the new pope:

"If Christ has sent you, you will feel that you are come not to be served but to serve...(the Lord] will allow me to see before I die the Church of God as in the days of old, when the Apostles let down their nets for a draught, not of silver and gold, but of souls."

   Bernard, the Pope, took the name of Eugenius, but before he could be consecrated the Roman senate threatened to challenge his election unless he recognized their usurped sovereign rights over the city. He was powerless to oppose them, and fled to the abbey of Farfa, where he was consecrated, and then to Viterbo.
   There came to him Arnold of Brescia, the opponent of St Bernard and critic of the higher clergy, who had been condemned with Peter Abelard. He recanted his errors and promised obedience, and Bd Eugenius absolved him, sending him on a penitential pilgrimage to Rome-unfortunately. Unfortunately because the atmosphere of Rome speedily destroyed Arnold's good resolutions, and he became a leader in the faction opposed to Eugenius.
   The pope had to leave Rome a second time, and in January 1147 gladly accepted an invitation from King Louis VII to go to France to forward a crusade. In the summer the Second Crusade began under Louis, and was a dismal failure. Eugenius was intimidated by its lack of success and disturbed by the loss of life involved, and refused to back St Bernard and the Abbot Suger, regent of France, when they wanted it promoted with renewed vigour.
   He continued in France until news of the lost crusade raised popular feeling against him, and during the time held synods at Paris, Trier and Rheims; these dealt chiefly with promoting Christian life; and he concerned himself about the reorganization of the schools of philosophy and theology.
   At the suggestion of St Bernard he encouraged the mystical writer St Hildegard, to whom he wrote: "We congratulate ourselves in this grace of God [her revelations] and we congratulate you: but we would have you remember that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Take good care of this grace that is within you, so that what you are spiritually urged to proclaim may be set out with caution."

    In May 1148 he returned to Italy and, as negotiations were unavailing, excommunicated Arnold of Brescia (who at his worst was the prototype of later ethical democratic demagogues and doctrinaires), and prepared to use force against the Romans.   They suddenly got frightened and came to terms, and at the end of 1149 the pope re-entered his city.
    It was at this time that St Bernard wrote for Bd Eugenius that ascetical treatise entitled De consideratione, one of the writer's most famous works. Its argument was that the pope must not allow the "accursed activities" in which he was necessarily involved (e.g. dealing with the litigation of "ambitious, avaricious, simoniacal, sacrilegious, lecherous, incestuous men, and all sorts of human monsters") get in the way of his principal business, the consideration of spiritual things.
The pope is "watchman over all", "chief of ministers", head of "the Universal Church throughout the world"; on the other hand, he is also only a human man and must be humble, yet no respecter of persons, industrious, yet not relaxing amid the achievements of industry.
He must not lord it over men, or use the sword when spiritual weapons failed --that was the emperor's office justice and punishment of injustice must rule in the papal courts and virtue in the papal household. But chiefly and above all God must be directly sought, and that by prayer rather than by arguments.
    A pope who followed such counsel as this could hardly fail to attain sanctity, and perhaps it was under its direct influence that in the summer of 1150 Eugenius again left Rome, and lived for two and a half years in Campania, while he negotiated for help with the Emperor Conrad III and his successor Frederick Barbarossa.

Some of the minor troubles of Eugenius's pontificate were concerned with the Church in England.

King Stephen forbade English bishops to attend the Synod of Rheims in 1148, and Theobald of Canterbury was banished for disobeying; the king narrowly escaped excommunication. At the same synod was deposed William, Archbishop of York, for irregularities in connection with his election and consecration and the indiscreet zeal of his supporters; William took his misfortunes in such good part that he was canonized after his death; his feast is still kept in several English dioceses (June 8).
Eugenius approved the rule drawn up for the order founded by St Gilbert of Sempringham in Norfolk, and in 1152 sent as legate to Scandinavia Cardinal Nicholas Breakspear, who was to return with the title of "the Apostle of the North" and be his second successor in the papacy as Adrian IV, the only English pope. Eugenius had a high opinion of the ability of the English, but thought they spoiled it by levity.
When he sent a legate to the synod of Kells, with pasha for the metropolitans of Armagh, Dublin, Cashel and Tuam, the pope confirmed an arrangement that endures to this day.
Bd Eugenius survived his final return to Rome by only 7 months, dying July 8, 1153, at Tivoli; his cultus was approved in 1872.

Roger of Hoveden, a contemporary English chronicler, writes of him that "he was worthy of the highest dignity of the popedom. His mind was always kindly disposed, his discretion always to be relied on, his looks always not only cheerful but even joyous" -which, considering what he went through, was no small matter. Under the dignity of the pontiff there was always the heart of the monk; he never put off his monastic habit or Cistercian austerities.
Peter of Cluny wrote of him to St Bernard: "Never have I known a more true friend, a more trustworthy brother, a more kind father. His ear is ever ready to hear, and his tongue is quick and capable in speech. And he carries himself not as one's superior, but rather as an equal or even as an inferior. There is in him no arrogance, no domineering, no regality: justice, humility and reason claim the whole man."

The contemporary Cardinal Boao wrote a short life, preserved in the Liber Pontificalis: (ed. Duchesne, ii, 236), and there is further information in the Historia Pontificalis by John of Salisbury (in MGH., Scriptores, vol. xx, pp. 526-545. Also there is much material in the chronicles, particularly those concerned with Arnold of Brescia. See further Mann, The Lives of the Popes, vol. ix, pp. 127-220; G. Sainati, Vita del B. Eugenio III (1874) and H. Gleber, Papa Eugen III (1936), for his politics.

Novgorod_Theotokos

1239 St. Albert of Genoa Cistercian hermit; born in Genoa and entered the nearby Cistercian abbey of Sentri da Ponente as a lay brother. He lived as a hermit on the abbey grounds. Also called Lambert. Albert was born in Genoa and entered the nearby Cistercian abbey of Sentri da Ponente as a lay brother. He lived as a hermit on the abbey grounds.

1268 Blessed Benedict d'Alignan became a Franciscan after making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, OFM B (PC)
Benedict was a Benedictine abbot when he was selected to become the bishop of Marseilles. He resigned his see and became a Franciscan after making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (Benedictines).
1337 Novgorod_Theotokos The Tenderness icon of the Mother of God belongs to the Eleousa (Umilenie) type floating in the air, and tears were flowing On July 8, 1337 a caretaker in Holy Trinity Church in Novgorod heard a noise inside the church and went to investigate. He was astonished to see that the icon of the Mother of God from the second tier of icons above the northern door of the iconostasis had left its place and was floating in the air, and tears were flowing from the eyes of the Virgin. Archbishop Alexis was notified, and he and his clergy came to the church with a large crowd of people. A special shrine was built for the icon, and July 8 was appointed as its date of commemoration.

That same year, a plague appeared in Novgorod. People flocked to pray before the wonderworking icon, and the plague was stopped. In 1352, Archbishop Basil ordered that an annual procession be made from the church of Holy Wisdom to Holy Trinity Church. In the summer of 1366 Holy Trinity Church burned down, and the "Tender Feeling" Icon floated in the air above the flames. Archbishop Alexis came to the church to serve a Molieben, and the icon descended into his hands. The fire went out, but a burn mark seven inches long was left on the back of the icon. Great Prince John III took the icon to Moscow in 1397, where it remained until 1508. At that time, the Mother of God appeared to Princess Maria in a dream and ordered that the icon be returned to Novgorod. The "Tender Feeling" Icon is of the Umilenie, or Eleousa type.

1336 St. Elizabeth of Portugal exercises of piety, including daily Mass, but also through her exercise of charity, by which she was able to befriend and help pilgrims, strangers, the sick, the poor—in a word, all those whose need came to her notice
Stremótii, in Lusitánia, natális sanctæ Elísabeth Víduæ, Lusitanórum Regínæ, quam, virtútibus et miráculis claram, Urbánus Octávus, Póntifex Máximus, in Sanctórum númerum rétulit. Ejus tamen celébritas octávo Idus mensis hujus recólitur, ex dispositióne Innocéntii Papæ Duodécimi.
At Estremos in Portugal, the birthday of St. Elizabeth the Widow, queen of Portugal, whom Pope Urban VIII, mindful of her virtues and miracles, placed among the number of the saints. Pope Innocent XII ordered her feast to be kept on the 8th of July.

ST ELIZABETH OF PORTUGAL, WIDOW (A.D. 1336)

THIS Elizabeth was daughter of Peter III, King of Aragon. She was born in 1271, and received at the font the name of Elizabeth, from her great-aunt, St Elizabeth of Hungary, but she is known in her own country by the Spanish form of that name; Isabella. Her birth was an omen of that title of "the Peacemaker" which she was to earn in after-life, for by it was established a good understanding between her grandfather James, who was then on the throne, and her father, whose quarrelling had divided the whole kingdom. The young princess was of a sweet disposition, and from her early years had relish for anything that was conducive to devotion and goodness. She desired to emulate every virtue which she saw practised by others, for she had been already taught that mortification of the will is to be joined with prayer to obtain the grace which restrains our tendency to sin. This is often insufficiently considered by those parents who excite the wilfulness and self-indulgence of their children by teaching them a love of worthless things and giving in to every whim and want. Certainly, fasting is not good for them; but submission of the will, obedience, and consideration for others are never more indispensable than at this time; nor is any abstinence more fruitful than that by which children are taught not to drink or eat between meals, to bear little denials without impatience, and never to make a fuss about things. The victory of Elizabeth over herself was owing to this early training.

At twelve years of age she was married to Denis, King of Portugal. That prince admired her birth, beauty, riches and personality more than her virtue; yet he allowed her an entire liberty in her devotion, and esteemed her piety without feeling called on to imitate it. Elizabeth therefore planned for herself a regular distribution of her time, which she never interrupted unless extraordinary occasions of duty or charity obliged her. She rose early every morning, and recited Matins, Lauds and Prime before Mass; in the afternoon she had other regular devotions after Vespers. Certain hours were allotted to her domestic affairs, public business, or what she owed to others. She was abstemious in her food, modest in her dress, humble and affable in conversation, and wholly bent upon the service of God. Frequent attempts were made to induce her to modify her life, but without success. Charity to the poor was a distinguishing part of her character. She gave orders to have pilgrims and poor strangers provided with lodging and necessaries, and made it her business to seek out and relieve persons who were reduced to necessity. She provided marriage dowries for girls, and founded in different parts of the kingdom charitable establishments, particularly a hospital at Coimbra, a house for penitent women at Torres Novas, and a refuge for foundlings. Nor with it all did Elizabeth neglect any of her immediate duties, especially those of respect, love and obedience to her husband, whose neglect and infidelity she bore with much patience.
For Denis, though a good ruler, was a bad subject: just, brave, generous and compassionate in public life, devoted to his realm, but in his private relations selfish and sinful. The queen used all her endeavours to reclaim him, grieving deeply for the offence to God and the scandal given to the people; she never ceased to pray for his conversion. She strove to gain him by courtesy and constant sweetness, and cheerfully cherished his natural children and took care of their education.
St Elizabeth had two children, Alfonso, who afterwards succeeded his father, and a daughter, Constance. This son when he grew up showed a very rebellious spirit, partly due to the favour in which his father held his illegitimate sons. Twice he rose in arms and twice his mother brought about a reconciliation, riding out between the opposing forces. But evil tongues suggested to the king that she secretly favoured her son and for a time she was banished from the court. Her love for concord and qualities as a peacemaker were indeed very notable; she stopped or averted war between Ferdinand IV of Castile, and his cousin, and between that prince and her own brother, James II of Aragon.
Her husband Denis became seriously ill in 1324, and Elizabeth gave all her attention to him, scarcely ever leaving his room unless to go to the church. During his long and tedious illness the king gave marks of sincere sorrow for the disorders of his life, and he died at Santarem on January 6, 1325. After his burial the queen made a pilgrimage to Compostela, after which she wished to retire to a convent of Poor Clares which she had founded at Coimbra. However, she was dissuaded, and instead she was professed in the third order of St Francis, and lived in a house which she built near to her convent, leading a life of great simplicity.
The cause of peace that had been so dear to her all her life was the occasion of Elizabeth's death, which came about on July 4, 1336 at Estremoz, whither she had gone on an errand of reconciliation in spite of her age and the great heat. She was buried in the church of her monastery of Poor Clares at Coimbra, and honoured by miracles; and eventually in 1626 her cultus was crowned by canonization.

The Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. ii, have printed a life of the queen which seems to be of almost contemporary date, and a good deal of information may also be found in the chronicles of the period. See also P; de Moucheron, Ste Elisabeth d'Aragon (1896); and a short sketch by Fr V. McNabb (1937). The story (told by Butler in company with many others) of the innocent page saved miraculously from death in a lime-kiln is a mere fiction which can be traced back to the folk-lore of ancient India. See Cosquin in the Revue des Questions historiques, vol. lxxiii (1903), pp, 3-12, with vol. lxxiv, pp, 207-217; and Formichi in Archivio delle tradizioni popolari, vol. xxii (1903), pp. 9-30. It is only in 1562 that we find it christianized and told in connection with St Elizabeth.

Elizabeth is usually depicted in royal garb with a dove or an olive branch. At her birth in 1271, her father, Pedro III, future king of Aragon, was reconciled with his father, James, the reigning monarch. This proved to be a portent of things to come. Under the healthful influences surrounding her early years, she quickly learned self-discipline and acquired a taste for spirituality. Thus fortunately prepared, she was able to meet the challenge when, at the age of 12, she was given in marriage to Denis, king of Portugal. She was able to establish for herself a pattern of life conducive to growth in God’s love, not merely through her exercises of piety, including daily Mass, but also through her exercise of charity, by which she was able to befriend and help pilgrims, strangers, the sick, the poor—in a word, all those whose need came to her notice. At the same time she remained devoted to her husband, whose infidelity to her was a scandal to the kingdom.
He too was the object of many of her peace endeavors. She long sought peace for him with God, and was finally rewarded when he gave up his life of sin. She repeatedly sought and effected peace between the king and their rebellious son, Alfonso, who thought that he was passed over to favor the king’s illegitimate children. She acted as peacemaker in the struggle between Ferdinand, king of Aragon, and his cousin James, who claimed the crown. And finally from Coimbra, where she had retired as a Franciscan tertiary to the monastery of the Poor Clares after the death of her husband, she set out and was able to bring about a lasting peace between her son Alfonso, now king of Portugal, and his son-in-law, the king of Castile.
Third Order of St. Francis.

Elizabeth was a Spanish princess who was given in marriage to King Denis of Portugal at the age of twelve. She was very beautiful and very lovable. She was also very devout, and went to Mass every day. Elizabeth was a holy wife, but although her husband was fond of her at first, he soon began to cause her great suffering. Though a good ruler, he did not imitate his wife's love of prayer and other virtues. In fact, his sins of impurity gave great scandle to the people.
Later, to make matters worse, the King believed a lie told about Elizabeth and one of her pages by another page, who was jealous of his companion. In great anger the King ordered the one he believed guilty, to be sent to a lime-burner. The lime-burner was commanded to throw into his furnace the first page who came. The good page set out obediently, not knowing death was waiting for him. On his way he stopped for Mass, since he had the habit of going daily. The first Mass had begun, so he stayed for a second one. In the meantime, the King sent the wicked page to the lime-burner to find out if the other had been killed. And so it was this page who was thrown into the furnace! When the King learned what had happened, he realized that God had saved the good page, punished the liar, and proven Queen Elizabeth to be innocent.
This amazing event helped greatly to make the King live better. He apologized to his wife in front of everyone and began to have a great respect for her. In his last sickness, she never left his side, except for Mass, until he died a holy death. St. Elizabeth lived for eleven more years, doing even greater charity and penance. She was a wonderful model of kindness toward the poor and a successful peacemaker between members of her own family and between nations.
Because St. Elizabeth was faithful to daily Mass, she found strength to carry her many great crosses. And because her page was faithful to daily Mass, he escaped death. We should try our best to make it a habit to go to Mass daily.
Comment: The work of promoting peace is anything but a calm and quiet endeavor. It takes a clear mind, a steady spirit and a brave soul to intervene between people whose emotions are so aroused that they are ready to destroy one another. This is all the more true of a woman in the early 14th century. But Elizabeth had a deep and sincere love and sympathy for humankind, almost a total lack of concern for herself and an abiding confidence in God. These were the tools of her success.

Elisabeth von Portugal Katholische Kirche: 4. Juli

Elisabeth, Tochter des Königs Pedro von Aragon, wurde um 1270 geboren. In der Taufe erhielt sie nach ihrer Großtante den Namen Elisabeth. Sie wird auch Isabella von Aragon genannt. 1282 heiratete sie König Dionysius von Portugal. Ihr Sohn Alfons lag laufend mit seinem Vater und anderen Königen im Streit und Elisabeth konnte mehrmals erfolgreich vermitteln. Bei ihrer letzten Mission starb sie am 4.7.1336 in Estremoz. Elisabeth unterstütze zahlreiche kirchloche Einrichtungen. Nach dem Tod ihres Mannes 1325 zog sie sich in ein von ihr errichtetes Kloster zurück und wurde später Franziskaner-Tertiarin. Elisabeth ist Patronin von Portugal, Coimbra, Estremoz und Saragossa.

Procopius_of_Usya

Ustiug Annunciation Icon of the Mother of God

Ustiug Annunciation Icon of the Mother of God
The "Ustiug Annunciation" is a venerable icon, before which St Procopius, Fool - for - Christ (+ 1303) prayed with intense fervor on June 25, 1290 for the salvation of the city of Ustiug from the wrath of God.
The icon was painted by a Novgorod iconographer when the holy Prince Vsevolod-Gabriel (Feb 11) ruled in the city.
In 1567, under Metropolitan Philip (January 9), the holy icon was transferred from Great Ustiug to Moscow and placed in the Dormition cathedral. At the present time it is located in the state Tretyakov gallery.

1300 Blessed Procopius of Usya (Vologda diocese), Fool-for-Christ incorrupt relics for 200 years remained in open view; source of numerous healings
The incorrupt relics of St Procopius were uncovered during the eighteenth century near the Entry of the Theotokos parish church in Ustya (Vologda diocese) and placed in the church, where for two hundred years they remained in open view, a source of numerous healings. No account of the origin and life of the holy saint of God has been preserved. His name became known when he himself revealed it in a vision to a pious local inhabitant named Savela.

In connection with an increase in the number of miraculous healings, the relics of St Procopius were examined in 1696 (or 1645) and in 1739. After this a chapel in honor of the saint was consecrated in the church where his relics rest. His icon was painted, and a Service to him was composed.

In 1818 the universal celebration of the saint was established.

1579 Copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, Wonderworking
Found in 1579, is in the Kazan cemetery church named for the holy Prince Theodore and his sons David and Constantine. The holy icon is venerated by the residents of the city.
The Appearance of the Icon of the MostHoly Mother of God in the City of Kazan (1579): On 1 October 1552, on the feastday of the Pokrov-Protection of the MostHoly Mother of God, at night, tsar Ivan IV in heading the Russian forces made ready for a decisive assault against the Tatar city of Kazan, and suddenly he heard the peeling of the Moscow bells. The tsar realised that this was a sign of the mercy of God:

that through the prayers of the mighty commander-in-chief, the Lord deigned that the Kazan people should be converted to Him.

The surrender of Kazan on the feast of the Pokrov-Protection of the MostHoly Mother of God completed a course of events, initiated way back centuries earlier in the year 1164 by holy Prince Andrei Bogoliubsky (+ 1174, Comm. 4 July), against the Moslem Volga Bulgars. With the taking of Kazan, the Volga -- the chief waterway route of the land, became finally a Russian river. And from Tatar servitude were liberated 60,000 Russian people. The enlightenment of the Tatars with the light of the Gospel truth was started. There were the first martyrs -- Saints Peter and Stephen (Comm. 24 March). The newly established Kazan diocese entered into the complexion of the Russian Church and was soon illustrious in its own archbishops: Sainted Gurii (+ 1563, Comm. 5 December) and Sainted German (+ 1567, Comm. 6 November).
But the advance of Orthodoxy was especially enabled amongst the Volga Mahometans by the appearance, on 8 July 1579, of the wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God in the city of Kazan. Preaching the Gospel had been a difficult matter in this conquered kingdom amongst the incorrigible Moslems and pagans. The MostHoly Mother of God, Mediatrix of preachers of the Word of God, Who even during Her earthly life shared in the evangelic work of the holy Apostles, -- in looking down upon the efforts of the Russian missionaries, She did not hesitate to send them Heavenly help, manifest through Her wonderworking Icon.

Kazan wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God: Of the plethora of icons of the Mother of God venerated in the Russian Orthodox Church, none is more widespread in number than the Kazan Icon

The Copy of the Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God, Situated amidst the Russian Military, before which the patriots Minin and Pozharsky prayed in 1612, was placed in the Moscow Kazan cathedral in 1636.
At present this holy image is situated in the Patriarch's Theophany cathedral. At Moscow are known likewise other venerable copies of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God: in the Kremlin Ascension monastery (1701), in the Simonov monastery (XIX), in the Vysoko-Petrovsk monastery (1849), in Christ-Nativity church on Povarsky Street, in the church of the Kazan Mother of God at the Kaluzhsk gates and in the Entry of the Mother of God church.

The Wonderworking Copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, found in 1579, is situated in the Kazan cemetery church named for the holy nobleborn Prince Theodore (Feodor) and his sons David and Konstantin. The holy image is reverently venerated by the residents of the city.

A Copy of the Wonderworking Kazan Icon of the Mother of God at Peterburg in 1721 was placed in the Trinity cathedral on the orders of the emperor Peter I, and in 1811 it was transferred to the newly constructed Kazan cathedral, on the day of its consecration.

The Ancient Copy of the Wonderworking Kazan Icon of the Mother of God at Shlissel'burg: In 1611 a copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, located in a church in the fortress of Oreshek, was mortared over in a wall prior to the surrender of the fortress to the Swedes. In 1702 the fortress again passed over to Russia and was named Shlissel'burg.
One time a sentry noticed a light issuing from the wall and reported this. In the morning a crack had appeared in the wall and the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God could be seen. From the holy icon began to occur healings.

The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, named the Yaroslavsk, was found in the year 1588 in a journey to Kazan by Gerasim, whose hand had become crippled. The Mother of God, appearing to him, gave orders at a directed place to take up Her icon, transport it to the city of Romanov, and put it within a church. The invalid fulfilled these directions precisely and his hand was healed. The holy icon was 21 years at Romanov, but in 1609 during the time of the Polish intervention it was taken to Yaroslavl'. The Yaroslavsk people installed the icon in a church, and from it occurred miracles. Nearby the church arose a women's monastery. A copy of the holy icon was sent back to Romanov.

The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, named the Vyaznikovsk, was situated in the cathedral church of the city of Vyaznika in Vladimir diocese. From this icon happened many an healing. In 1624 was made an investigation of it with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Philaret. All the instances of healing were corroborated, and the icon was acknowledged as wonderworking.

The Kazan Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God, named the Nizhnelomovsk, appeared in 1643 at a spring near the city of Nizhni Lomov in Penzensk district. The icon was placed in a chapel, and here in 1648 was built a church. Before the Icon of the Mother of God, by Divine mercy, the sick received healing. And nearby the church was built a monastery.

The Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God appearing in the City of Tobol'sk in 1661 was under the following circumstances:
a clerk of the Tobol'sk Znamenie-Sign monastery named Ioannikii reported that in a dream there had been a thrice-repeated appearance of a sainted-hierarch, whom he recognised as the holy Metropolitan Philip, telling him in the name of the Mother of God to take the Kazan Icon, carelessly left in a stateroom of the Three Saints church, and put it in a new temple, which should be built in three days, and on the fourth day consecrated. "Then, -- said the appeared saint, -- in the city wilt cease the prolonged rain and the harmful bugs will disappear". Ioannikii was afraid at first to tell the monastery head about these visions. At Matins, during the reading about an account of the appearance of the Mother of God at Kazan, he fell into a deep stupor. Regaining his senses, the clerk told everything to his priest-confessor, and that one in turn told the monastery head. And the commands of the All-Pure Virgin were fulfilled. The constant rain in that locale at once ceased and the nasty insects disappeared. And from the Icon of the Mother of God from that time began miraculous healings.

The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, named the Kaplunovsk, appeared in the year 1689 in the village of Kaplunovka in Khar'kov diocese. At the icon prayed emperor Peter I before the Poltava Battle (1709), and through the prayers of the Mother of God, he gained a brilliant victory over the Swedes. (The account about the appearance of the holy icon is located under 11 September).

The Tambovsk Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God is located in the Transfiguration temple of the Tambov cathedral church. The first miracle from it occurred on 6 December 1695, when during the time of the all-night vigil it shed tears. From that time constantly the holy icon has provided healing to the infirm. The icon was written in the Kazan form.

The Kazan Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God, named the Vysochinsk, is situated in the Mikhailo-Arkhangel'sk church of the men's monastery near the city of Zmiev in Khar'kov district. The holy icon appeared in the XVIII Century to a forest warden in a pine woods at the bank of the River Mzha. The warden saw standing on a marsh hillock the icon, from which shone bright rays of light. When he took hold the holy icon to put it in his sentry-hut, below the hillock welled up a spring of pure water.
One time, when the warden's father was in the sentry-hut (a decrepit blind old man, getting about on crutches) with his ten year old grandson, the boy saw bright light emit from the icon. The boy became frightened and told his grandfather, lying at the stove, that in the corner something was burning. The old man with difficulty got up from the stove and made his way to the corner, where stood the holy icon. Suddenly his eyes could see and he beheld the holy Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and he sensed himself completely healed. With tears he gave thanks to the Mother of God for the wondrous miracle.
On the following morning the warden's entire family set off to church in the nearest village to give thanks to God for the healing of the old man and to report everything to the local priest. The holy icon was put into the church, and the family returned home. To the astonishment of everyone, on the following morning the holy icon was at its place in the sentry-hut. Three times the holy icon was taken to the church and thrice it returned back to its place. Then they decided to leave the icon there, where the MostHoly Mother of God wanted it. And many people came hither, beseeching the help of the Mother of God.
After the Poltava Battle the emperor Peter I rewarded with a parcel of land a company commander, named Vasilii Vysochinov, who had distinguished himself in the fight. Vasilii thus became owner of the place, where the wonderworking icon stood in the sentry-hut. Learning about the appearance of the holy icon, Vysochinov made request to transfer the parish church of the village of Artiukhovka to the place of the appearance of the holy icon.
In 1795 a stone church was built, and in 1886 at Vysochinovka was founded a men's monastery, in which was installed the wonderworking icon.

The Venerable Vyshensk Copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God:
At the time of the 1812 War, whilst fleeing the French, the Moscow nun Mironia Dankova set off to the Tambovsk Ascension monastery. She took with her a Kazan Icon -- given her in parental blessing. Along the way the coachman intended to murder Mironia. Mironia turned to the Mother of God, and from the Icon resounded the Voice: "Fear not, I am thine Mediatrix". The coachman suddenly went blind and only after repenting did he regain his sight. Mironia kept the icon with her in her cell. Before her death she bequeathed it to the Vyshensk monastery, whither the icon was transported on 7 March 1827. Here many a miracle occurred from the holy icon. Sometimes by night they saw a wondrous light, coming from the icon. In 1841 by the intercession of the MostHoly Mother of God the city of Tambov was saved from cholera. In memory of this event the Vyshensk Icon annually was carried in Tambov in church procession.

A Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was given by tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676) to the city of Penza at its founding in 1666.
Those resorting with faith to this icon always received help in various needs. On the eve of 4 August 1717 during a time of incursion of the Nogai Tatars (the so-called "Kuban pogrom"), when no help remained in saving the city, all the people gathered in the cathedral for vigil, which did not cease the whole night. In the morning they carried out the icon to the fortress ramparts and began to sing an akathist. When the Nogai Tatars came in assault, the face of the Mother of God grew dim and the holy icon repulsed the enemy. During the time of the reading of prayers, in the Tatar camp there ensued confusion, and they fled. At the end of the XIX Century a feastday on 4 August was established to this icon. And in the all-night vigil was put the magnification: "We magnify Thee, O Most Holy Virgin, and thine holy image we do venerate, that by which we art delivered from the horrors of invasion".
On 28 June 1579 there occurred a terrible conflagration which had started around the church of Sainted Nikolai of Tula. This fire destroyed part of the city and turned to ashes half of the Kazan Kremlin. The adherents of Mahomet gloated, supposing, that God had become angered against the Christians. "The faith of Christ, -- says the chronicler, -- is rendered a fable and an outrage". But the conflagration at Kazan was the foreboding of the ultimate fall of Islam and affirmation of Orthodoxy throughout all the land of the Golden Horde, the future East portion of the Russian realm.

The city began quickly to rise up from its ruins. Together with others who had been burned out, and not far from where the conflagration had started, -- was built the house of the musketeer Daniil Onuchin. The Mother of God appeared in a dream to his nine year old daughter Matrona and commanded her to find Her icon, hidden in the ground by secret confessors of Orthodoxy way back still in the time of Moslem rule. But to the words of a mere girl they paid no attention. Thrice the Mother of God appeared and pointed out the spot, where the wonderworking icon had been concealed. Finally, Matrona with her mother began to dig in the indicated place and they found the sacred icon. To this place of the miraculous discovery there came archbishop Jeremii at the head of his clergy and transported the holy image into a church of Saint Nicholas situated nearby. From there, after a molieben, amidst a church procession they transferred it to the Annunciation cathedral -- the first Orthodox temple in the city of Kazan, erected by tsar Ivan the Terrible. During the time of the procession there occurred the healing of two blind men -- Iosif and Nikita.

A copy of the Icon, which had appeared at Kazan, together with an account of the circumstances of its discovery and descriptions of the miracles was dispatched in 1579 to Moscow. Tsar Ivan the Terrible gave orders to build at the place of its appearance a temple in honour of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, to install therein the holy icon, and to found there also a women's monastery. Matrona and her mother, instrumental in finding the sacred icon, accepted monastic tonsure at this monastery.

At the Nikol'sk (Nicholas) church, where the first molieben had been made before the Kazan Icon, was serving at this time as priest the future Sainted Ermogen, Patriarch of Moscow (+ 1612, Comm. 17 February).
Fifteen years later, in 1594, now as Metropolitan of Kazan, he compiled a report of the holy events to which he had been an eyewitness and participant: "Account and Miracles of the MostPure Mother of God from Her Venerable and Gloriously Manifest Image at Kazan". In this account are descriptions with great factual precision regarding many an instance of healing, from the wonderworking Icon through the prayers of believers. The "Account" manuscript -- written by His Holiness Patriarch Ermogen -- was in its entirety reproduced in facsimile edition: "Report about the Wonderworking Kazan Icon of the MostHoly Mother of God", with an introduction by A. I. Sobolevsky, M(oscow) 1912.

The not-large Icon, discovered by the girl Matrona in the then recently annexed foreign frontier of the Russian realm, soon became a national sacred item, a sign of the Heavenly protection of the Mother of God, manifest for all the Russian Church, since the soul of the Orthodox nation sensed the special participation of the All-Pure Lady Mother of God in the historical destiny of its "Rodina" native-land. Not by mere chance was the Kazan Image a copy of the ancient Blakhernae Icon (Comm. 7 July) written by the holy Evangelist Luke, and considered in its iconographic type to be of icons named "Hodegetria" ("Putevoditel'nitsa", "Way-Guide"). Many a time the "Kazan Mother" showed the way to victory for Russian Orthodox soldiers in the fulfilling of their sacred duty for God and Country.

In the year of its appearance at Kazan (in other sources two years afterwards) there began the remarkable onward march "Beyond Kazan" (beyond the Ural Mountains) envisioned by Blessed German (+ 1567, Comm. 6 November), and taken by the Cossack ataman Ermak Timofeevich Povol'sky (+ 1584), an effort crowned finally with the annexation of Siberia. With a graced energy and coursing about in miraculous manner it proved sufficient, that for some several decades Russian explorer-missionaries should proceed to the East, " to meet the sun", going many thousands of kilometers. On the feastday of the Pokrov (Protection, 1 October) in 1639 they sailed out on their first voyage along the Pacific Ocean, preaching salvation to the surrounding peoples.

Orthodox soldiers and missionaries went east, while apostates fled to the West. Jesuits seemingly attempted to drown Rus' at the beginning XVII Century with tumultuous waves of sovereign-imposters and "rapacious people". It was indeed through Divine Providence, during the period of the Polish Occupation (1605-1612), which the nation termed the "Time of Troubles", that the Russian Church was headed by a great confessor of Orthodoxy -- the PriestMartyr Ermogen, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', who had been among those first to venerate the Kazan Icon of the MostHoly Mother of God, becoming the author of the "Account" about it and the Service to it.

During the difficult days when Moscow was occupied by the Polish, and discord and disorder having spread throughout all the land, this resolute sufferer for the Holy Faith and Fatherland was held under guard, and he managed secretly to send off to Nizhni Novgorod an appeal: "Write to Kazan to metropolitan Emphrem, and let there be sent a document of direction to the regiments for the boyars and to the Cossack forces, that they should rise up in force for the faith, put an end to the plundering and preserve brotherhood, and should vow to pledge their souls for the house of the All-Pure and the wonderworkers and for the faith, let there be done. And in every city... write thus in my name". The Nizhni Novgorod people responded to the appeal of the archpastor. Prince Dimitrii Mikhailovich Pozharsky headed the gathered militia.
The Kazan forces, joining in with the militia, brought with them a copy of the wonderworking Kazan Icon, which they gave to prince Dimitrii at Yaroslavl'. The MostHoly Lady Mother of God took the militia under Her protection, and by Her intercession Russia was saved. The Russian forces experienced tremendous difficulties: inward hostilities, and insufficient armament and supplies. In the bad weather of Autumn the Russian army moved on to storm Moscow, situated in the hands of the Polish.

A three day fast and fervent prayer before the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God inclined the Lord to mercy. Within the besieged Kremlin at this time was held captive the Hellas Archbishop Arsenios (Arsenii, afterwards Suzdal' archbishop, + 1626, 13 April), who had arrived from Greece and was grievously ill from his journeying and being shaken about. By night the cell of Sainted Arsenii was suddenly lit up by a Divine light, and he beheld the Monk Sergei of Radonezh (Comm. 5 July and 25 September), who said: "Arsenii, our prayers are heard; through the intercession of the Mother of God the Divine judgement of the Fatherland is changed to mercy; on the morrow Moscow wilt be in the hands of its besiegers and Russia saved".

As though in proof of the veracity of this prophecy, the archbishop received healing from his sickness, and then this joyful occurrence became known to the Russian forces. On the following day, 22 October 1612, Russian forces, inspired by the vision, seized a sweeping victory and took the Chinese-quarter, and 2 days later -- the Kremlin itself.

On Sunday, 25 October, Russian forces triumphantly in church procession made entry into the Kremlin, bearing the Kazan Icon. At the Skull-Place ("Lobnoe mesto", i.e. the public execution spot), the church procession was met by Archbishop Arsenii emerging from the Kremlin, bearing the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, saved by him in his captivity. Moved by the effect of the meeting of the two wonderworkings icons of the Mother of God, the people with tears made prayer to the Heavenly Mediatrix.

With the expulsion of the Polish from Moscow, -- according to the Nikonov chronicle, prince Dimitrii Pozharsky had the holy Kazan Icon placed in his own parish church of the Entry in the Temple of the MostHoly Mother of God, at Lubyanka in Moscow. Afterwards, at the expense of the prince-patriot, there was erected the Kazan cathedral on Red Square. The holy icon, which had been with the armies of Pozharsky during the liberation of Moscow, was transferred in 1636 into the newly constructed temple, the Kazan cathedral. At present, this holy image is situated in the Patriarch's Theophany cathedral in Moscow.
In commemoration of the liberation of Moscow from the Polish, a special feastday in honour of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was established under 22 October. At first this celebration was made only at Moscow, but from 1649 it became an all-Russian celebration.
In 1709, before the Poltava Battle, Peter the Great prayed with his soldiery in front an icon of the Kazan Mother of God (that from the village of Kaplunovka). In 1721 Peter transferred one of the copies of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God from Moscow to Peterburg, where at first the icon was placed in a chapel, then at the Alexandro-Nevsky Lavra monastery, and from 1737 it was in the church of the Nativity of the Mother of God on Nevsky Prospekt. In 1811, before the Fatherland War, the holy icon of the Heavenly Mediatrix was transferred into the newly constructed Kazan cathedral.
In 1812 the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God provided blessing for Russian soldiers in repulsing the French invasion. On the feast of the Kazan Icon, 22 October 1812, Russian detachments under the command of Miloradovich and Platov destroyed the Davu rearguard. This was the first outstanding blow against the French after their departure from Moscow, and in which the enemy lost seven thousand men. And on this day snow fell, bitter frosts began, and the army that had subdued Europe began to falter.

...The Kazan cathedral at Peterburg was built in the years 1801-1811 -- as though especially for this, to be a commemorative temple of Russian glory in the 1812 Fatherland War. The iconostas of the main altar was an elaborately wrought work, made of an hundred pud-weight [pud = 36 lbs] of silver: of this, forty puds were an offering to the temple by the Don Cossacks, having taken this silver in 1812 from the French. The walls of the cathedral were adorned with trophies, taken from the French in 1812. Buried at the cathedral and with enemy standards draped over his holy tomb was prince Mikhail Kutuzov-Smolensky, saviour of the Fatherland. Bronzen sculptures of Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolli stand before the temple at the end of the colonnades, in the hemisphere circling upon the cathedral square...

Numerous wonderworking copies of the Kazan Icon in Rus' glorify the All-Pure Mother of God, Protectress of the Orthodox Russian people. Of the plethora of icons of the Mother of God venerated in the Russian Orthodox Church, none is more widespread in number than the Kazan Icon. For all Orthodox Rus' it is esteemed as holy, and to it oftenest of all do they turn their gaze in misfortunes and illnesses, crying out: "O fervent Mediatrix, Mother of the Lord MostHigh, for all pray Thine Son Christ our God... with everything grant benefit and save all, O Virgin Birthgiver of God, and be Thou the Divine protection for Thine servant".

With blessings of grace are dispersed icons of the All-Pure Mother of God throughout the extent of the Russian land, truly imaging the Heavenly protection, with Her constant intercession sent down by Her Divine Son, having offered Himself in sacrifice for the salvation of mankind. The ancient Vladimir holy Image of the Mother of God preserves and blesses the Northern bounds, the Smolensk and Pochaev Icons guard the West, and in the East, to the ends of the land shine the rays of the inexhaustible grace of the wonderworking Kazan Image of our All-Pure Mother.

1626 Bl. Mancius Araki Martyr of Japan; a Japanese brother of Blessed Matthew Araki, who sheltered missionaries. Arrested and held in Omura prison, Japan, Mancius died there
His body was burned at Nagasaki on July 12. He was beatified in 1867.

19th v. Sitka Icon of the Mother of God Located at the Cathedral of St Michael the Archangel in Sitka, Alaska; Miracles have been attributed to her gaze
One of the most revered Icons in North America: the Sitka Mother of God.
This Icon has been attributed to a famous Iconographer, Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky (1758-1826), a protégé of the Empress Catherine II who was instructed at the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg, Russia. In addition to being a great portrait painter, Borovikovsky also painted many of the Icons for the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon in St Petersburg.
Painted in the style of the Kazan Mother of God Icon, on canvas, the Sitka Mother of God Icon is 36 x 17½ inches in size. An exceptionally beautiful and detailed riza of silver covers the Icon of the Theotokos and Christ child, and the Image of God the Father blessing from above.
The Cathedral received the Icon as a gift from the laborers of the Russian American Company in 1850, two years after the Cathedral was completed. Even with their meager wages, these men generously made their contribution to the Church.
Miracles have been attributed to the Sitka Mother of God Icon over the years. It is believed that the gaze of the eyes of the Theotokos have led to the restored health of those who prayed before the Icon.
Because of the peaceful gaze of the Theotokos, the Icon has been described as a "pearl of Russian ecclesiastical art of ineffable gentleness, purity and harmony…." And "…the most beautiful face of the Mother of God with the Divine Child in her arms is so delicately and artistically done that the more one looks at it the more difficult it is to tear one’s gaze away."
Originally part of the main Iconostasis at the Cathedral of St Michael the Archangel in Sitka, Alaska, the Icon is now permanently located on the far left side of the Iconostasis in a special place of honor.

1900 7 Martyrs of Shanxi were beheaded on this day in Members of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, they went to China to open orphanages. [SEE JULY 09 LINKED HERE]
They were arrested when the government decided to eliminate foreign missionaries

To Save A Life is Earthly; To Save A Soul is Eternal

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 169

Deliver me from mine enemies, O Lady of the world: arise to meet me, O Queen of piety.

The purest gold is thy ornament: the sardine stone and the topaz are thy diadem.

The jasper and the amethyst are in thy right hand: the beryl and the chrysolite in thy left.

The hyacinths are on thy breast: shining carbuncles are the jewels of thy bracelets.

Myrrh, frankincense, and balsam are on thy hands: the sapphire and the emerald on thy fingers.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning and will always be.

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea. As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences. Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven: only saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.

There are over 10,000 named saints beati from history
and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources
Patron_Saints.html Widowed_Saints html Indulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East Lourdes 1858 China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine Loreto, Italy Marian Apparitions (over 2000) Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related MarianWebsites Angels and Archangels Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell
Widowed Saints html
Doctors_of_the_Church Acts_Of_The_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates Chalcedon

Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BC Lay Saints Miraculous_Icons Miraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
Miracles by Century 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Miracles 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000
1100   1200   1300   1400 1500 1600 1700 1800   1900 Lay Saints

The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him” For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.

Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here} 2000 years of the Catholic Church in China
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

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

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 Nizamuddi n 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

Index to Part I and Part II 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}.

Saints Simon (saw), Bartholomew (knife), James the Lesser (book), John (eagle), Andrew (transverse cross), Peter keys), Paul (sword), James the Greater (staff), Thomas (carpenter's square), Philip (serpent), Matthew (book), and Jude sword

Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD

THE 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 Pasqualina 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, PSALTER BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 169 2023