Mary Mother of GOD
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
RDeo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
July is the month of the Precious Blood since 1850;
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July is the month of the Precious Blood since 1850;

St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin (Memorial)


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



"A spiritual joy is the greatest sign of the divine grace dwelling in a soul ".
Sancti Bonaventúræ

1st v. ST THOMAS, APOSTLE (72 A.D. Dec 21 feast day kept by Malabar and Syria)
  St_Thomas_by_Caravaggio

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

Acts of the Apostles

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

How do I start the Five First Saturdays?
                                         
We are the defenders of true freedom.
  May our witness unveil the deception of the "pro-choice" slogan.
40 days for Life Campaign saves lives Shawn Carney Campaign Director www.40daysforlife.com
Please help save the unborn they are the future for the world

It is a great poverty that a child must die so that you may live as you wish -- Mother Teresa

 Saving babies, healing moms and dads, 'The Gospel of Life'

Mary Mother of GOD

 
15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary
It Makes No Sense Not To Believe In GOD
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin (Memorial)
THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST  

Saint Aquila, Apostle of the 70: a disciple of the Apostle Paul native of Pontus a Jew, living in the city of Rome with his wife Priscilla
      St Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, in Rome Martyrdom of . {Coptic}
 117 St. Phocas Martyred bishop of Sinope, a diocese on the Black Sea. martyred during reign of Trajan.
247 St. Heraclas Patriarch, St. Plutarch Martyr brother; succeeded Origen head of Alexandria school 231
390 Sancti Felícis, Novocómiqui fuit primus ejúsdem civitátis Epíscopus St. Felix, first bishop of Como
5th v. Idus of Leinster disciple of Saint Patrick, who he baptized. Patrick appointed him bishop Alt-Fadha in Leinster.
664 St. Deusdedit of Canterbury the first Anglo-Saxon primate succeeding Saint Honorius as archbishop of Canterbury 653
762 St. Marcellinus of Oldensee Anglo-Saxon monk who followed Saint Willibrord to the Netherlands.
1053 Procopius of Sazaba one of the patrons of Czechoslovakia, OSB Abbot (RM)
1263 Bl. Humbert studied at Paris; received doctorate in law joined Dominicans 224;
1274 Sancti Bonaventúræ, ex Ordine Minórum, Cardinális et Epíscopi Albanénsis, Confessóris et Ecclésiæ Doctóris; qui sequénti die migrávit ad Dóminum.
1406  Saint Stephen of Makhra (Makhrishche) Kiev native accepted monasticism at monastery of  Caves,
1610 St. Francis Solano At Lima in Peru, , a priest and confessor of the Order of Friars Minor; passed to the Lord in West Indies, renowned for preaching, miracles and virtues. Pope Benedict XIII placed him on canon of the saints
1614 Camillus de Lellis, Priest To him the only people that mattered were the sick, for in serving them he was serving God for the first time the patients were separated into different wards according to the nature of their maladie RM
1680 Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Virgin daughter of a Mohawk warrior; teenage convert suffered greatly for her Faith; care for sick and aged; devoted to the Eucharist and to Jesus Crucified first Native American declared a Blessed
1809 St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountian Greek Monk and writer; entered monastery of Athos in 1775
1866 John Keble Er schrieb Bücher mit Gedichten und Hymnen
The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary's side
 
In the spiritual journey of the Rosary, based on the constant contemplation – in Mary's company – of the face of Christ, this demanding ideal of being conformed to him is pursued through an association which could be described in terms of friendship. We are thereby enabled to enter naturally into Christ's life and as it were to share his deepest feelings. In this regard Blessed Bartolo Longo has written:

“Just as two friends, frequently in each other's company, tend to develop similar habits, so too, by holding familiar converse with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, we can become, to the extent of our lowliness, similar to them and can learn from these supreme models a life of humility, poverty, hiddenness, patience and perfection.”

In this process of being conformed to Christ in the Rosary, we entrust ourselves in a special way to the maternal care of the Blessed Virgin. She who is both the Mother of Christ and a member of the Church, indeed her “pre-eminent and altogether singular member,” is at the same time the “Mother of the Church.” As such, she continually brings to birth children for the mystical Body of her Son. She does so through her intercession, imploring upon them the inexhaustible outpouring of the Spirit. Mary is the perfect icon of the motherhood of the Church.

… The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary's side as she is busy watching over the human growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This enables her to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is “fully formed” in us (cf. Gal 4:19).


July 14
  Calamínæ natális beáti Thomæ Apóstoli, qui Parthis, Medis, Persis et Hyrcánis Evangélium prædicávit; ac demum in Indiam pervénit, ibíque, cum eos pópulos in Christiána religióne instituísset, Regis jussu lánceis transfíxus occúbuit.  Ipsíus relíquiæ primo ad urbem Edéssam, in Mesopotámia, deínde Ortónam, apud Frentános, translátæ sunt.
      At Mylapore, the birthday of the blessed Apostle Thomas, who preached the Gospel to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, and Hyrcanians.  Having finally penetrated into India, and instructed those nations in the Christian religion, he died pierced with lances at the order of the king.  His remains were first taken to the city of Edessa in Mesopotamia,
and then to Ortona.

  Sancti Bonaventúræ, ex Ordine Minórum, Cardinális et Epíscopi Albanénsis, Confessóris et Ecclésiæ Doctóris;  qui sequénti die migrávit ad Dóminum.
"A spiritual joy is the greatest sign of the divine grace dwelling in a soul ". Sancti Bonaventúræ

15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary
The Word Rosary Means Crown of Roses (I) July 14 Our Lady Auxiliatrix of Christians Italy, 1723
In ancient times, the Romans and the Greeks used to crown with roses statues that represented their gods as a symbol of the offering of their hearts. Following this tradition, the Christian women who were taken to martyrdom by the Romans, marched through the Coliseum dressed in their full-color clothing and their heads adorned with crowns of roses, as symbols of joy and giving their hearts to God as they were about to encounter him. At night, the other Christians gathered their crowns, for each rose they recited a prayer or psalm for the eternal rest of the soul of martyrs.
The Church recommended praying the rosary, which consisted of reciting the 150 psalms of David, because it was considered to be a prayer extremely pleasant to God and a source of immeasurable graces for whom it was prayed. Nevertheless, this recommendation was followed only by literate and learned people, but not by all Christians.
For this reason, the Church suggested that the illiterate replace 150 psalms by 150 Hail Marys divided in fifteen decades. This abbreviated form was called the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin. See www.pilgrimqueen.org

Mary's Divine Motherhood
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).

Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

July 14 - Rosa das Rosas  Rose of Roses
Rose of roses and flower of flowers, Lady of ladies, Queen of queens.
Rose of beauty and fine appearance And flower of happiness and pleasure,
Lady of most merciful bearing, And Lord for relieving all woes and cares;
Rose of roses and flower of flowers, Lady of ladies, Queen of queens.
Such a Mistress everybody should love, For she can ward away any evil And she can pardon any sinner
To make this world sweeter.  Rose of roses and flower of flowers, Lady of ladies, Queen of queens.
We should love and serve her loyally, For she can guard us from falling;
She makes us repent of the errors That we have committed as sinners.
Rose of roses and flower of flowers Lady of ladies, Lord of lords.
This lady whom I acknowledge as my Master And whose troubadour I'd gladly be,
If I could in any way possess her love, I'd give up all my other lovers.
Rose of roses and flower of flowers, Lady of ladies, Queen of queens.
Alfonso X, The Wise, Cantigas de Santa Maria: #10. >
From Lyrics of the Middle Ages, ed. James J. Wilhelm. NY: Garland Publ., 1990, 244.

Saint Aquila, Apostle of the 70: a disciple of the Apostle Paul native of Pontus a Jew, living in the city of Rome with his wife Priscilla
      St Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, in Rome Martyrdom of . {Coptic}
 117 St. Phocas Martyred bishop of Sinope, a diocese on the Black Sea. martyred during the reign of Emperor Trajan.
 247 St. Heraclas Patriarch, brother of St. Plutarch the Martyr; one of Origen’s first pupils in Alexandria, Egypt. Ordained, Heraclas succeeded Origen as head of Alexandria school in 231
4th v. Saint Onesimus the Wonderworker performed many miracles
St. Shenouda (Shenoute)Departure of , the Archimandrite attended the Council of the two hundred that gathered at Ephesus with the holy father Anba Kyrillos (24th), and he admonished Nestorius the heretic {Coptic}
4th v. St Hellius sent to a monastery when still a child raised in piety, temperance and chastity went into the Egyptian desert; endowed with the gift of clairvoyance, knew all thoughts and disposition of monks conversing with him; Great faith, simplicity of soul, deep humility allowed St Hellius to command wild animals
 390 Sancti Felícis, Novocómiqui fuit primus ejúsdem civitátis Epíscopus.    At Como, St. Felix, first bishop of that city
5th v. Idus of Leinster a disciple of Saint Patrick, who he baptized. Patrick appointed him bishop Alt-Fadha in Leinster.
550 St. Optatian  Bishop of Brescia, Italy, from about 451. He was among a singular group of sainted bishops of this diocese. In time, all Brescian prelates bore the rank of Count
      St. Cyrus of Carthage A bishop mentioned by St. PossidiusSt. Justus Martyr at Rome or Constantinople, modern Istanbul; Roman military veteran put to death Also at Rome; miraculous cross appeared to him he believed in Christ, was baptized, and gave away his goods to the poor
664 St. Deusdedit of Canterbury the first Anglo-Saxon primate when he succeeded Saint Honorius as archbishop of Canterbury in 653 build monastery of Medehamstede (Petersborough) founded convent on Thanet Island consecrated Damian bishop of Rochester
762 St. Marcellinus of Oldensee Anglo-Saxon monk who followed Saint Willibrord to the Netherlands. Together with Saint Lebuin, preached Gospel to the people of Over-Yssel (Holland);
738 accompanied Saint Boniface to Rome
783 St. Libert Benedictine martyr, educated by St. Rumoldus; put to death by raiders at Saint-Trond Abbey, Franc Davéntriæ, in Belgis, sancti Marcellíni, Presbyteri et Confessóris.
1053 Procopius of Sazaba one of the patrons of Czechoslovakia, OSB Abbot (RM)
1093 St. Ulrich page at court of Empress Agnes opted for religious life; deacon, Benedictine monk at Cluny-1052; Prior at Peterlingen, founding Friar of Ruggersberg Priory; returned to Cluny, opposed Bishop Burchard of Lausanne for his support of Henry IV against the Pope; founding Abbot of Zell monastery in Black Forest and convent at nearby  Bollschweil author of Consuetudines cluniacences, on the liturgy; direction of monasteries and novices
1130 St. William of Breteuil Benedictine abbot of Breteuil, neai Beauvais, France; rebuilt the monastery after nearly destroyed by Normans
1217 Bd Hroznata, Martyr a man the course of whose blameless life was changed by a succession of misfortunes
1263 Bl. Humbert studied at Paris; received doctorate in law joined Dominicans 224; Holy Land pilgrimage on return-1240 elected provincial Roman province of the Dominicans; elected provincial of France- 1244 - 1254 5th Dominican master general
1270 Blessed Boniface of Savoy entered Grande Chartreuse as youth, a Carthusian monk then prior of Mantua, served 7 years administrator diocese of Belley; bishop of Valence. 1241 elected archbishop of Canterbury , O. Cart.
1274 Sancti Bonaventúræ, ex Ordine Minórum, Cardinális et Epíscopi Albanénsis, Confessóris et Ecclésiæ Doctóris; qui sequénti die migrávit ad Dóminum.

1406  Saint Stephen of Makhra (Makhrishche) native of Kiev; accepted monasticism at monastery of the Caves, spent several years in deeds of obedience and prayer; oppressions of the Latins compelled him to journey on to Moscow, where Great Prince Ivan II (1353-1359) graciously received him, permitting him to settle in the locale of Makhra not far from Gorodisch, 35 versts from the Sergeev monastery.
1604 Blessed Caspar de Bono a silk merchant, then a trooper, and finally a Minim friar O. Minim. (AC)
1610 St. Francis Solano At Lima in Peru, , a priest and confessor of the Order of Friars Minor.  passed to the Lord in West Indies, renowned for preaching, miracles and virtues. Pope Benedict XIII placed him on canon of the saints
1614 Camillus de Lellis, Priest To him the only people that mattered were the sick, for in serving them he was serving God charity was the only thing that made life worth living, the surest way of bringing man closer to God, the only true life-blood of the Church for the first time the patients were separated into different wards according to the nature of their maladie RM
1679 Bl. Richard Langhorne English martyr educated at the Bedfordshire Inner Temple worked as a lawyer; arrested as conspirator in the so-called “Popish Plot.”
1680 Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Virgin daughter of a Mohawk warrior; smallpox attacked Kateri and transfigured her face; teenage convert suffered greatly for her Faith; lived a life dedicated to prayer, penitential practices, care for sick and aged; devoted to the Eucharist and to Jesus Crucified first Native American declared a Blessed
1809 St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountian Greek Monk and writer; entered the monastery of Athos in 1775 and worked with St. Macanus Nataras of Corinth to compile the Philokalia {means 'Love of what is beautiful'},  a  massive compendium of monastic life and spirituality
1866 John Keble Er schrieb Bücher mit Gedichten und Hymnen
1929 Karolina Utriainen in Finnland geboren Über fünfzig Jahre hielt Karolina Utriainen über 20.000 Predigten, von
       denen viele aufgeschrieben und auf Tonträgern aufgezeichnet wurden
 
Mary the Mother of God


1st v. ST THOMAS, APOSTLE (72 A.D. Dec 21 feast day kept by Malabar and Syria)
  St_Thomas_by_Caravaggio
Calamínæ natális beáti Thomæ Apóstoli, qui Parthis, Medis, Persis et Hyrcánis Evangélium prædicávit; ac demum in Indiam pervénit, ibíque, cum eos pópulos in Christiána religióne instituísset, Regis jussu lánceis transfíxus occúbuit.  Ipsíus relíquiæ primo ad urbem Edéssam, in Mesopotámia, deínde Ortónam, apud Frentános, translátæ sunt.
      At Mylapore, the birthday of the blessed Apostle Thomas, who preached the Gospel to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, and Hyrcanians.  Having finally penetrated into India, and instructed those nations in the Christian religion, he died pierced with lances at the order of the king.  His remains were first taken to the city of Edessa in Mesopotamia, and then to Ortona.
ST THOMAS was a Jew and probably a Galilean of humble birth, but we are not told that he was a fisherman or the circumstances in which our Lord made him an apostle. His name is Syriac, and means the “twin”; Didymus, as we know he was also called, is the Greek equivalent. When Jesus was going up to the neighbourhood of Jerusalem in order to raise Lazarus to life the rest of the disciples endeavoured to dissuade Him, saying, “Rabbi, the Jews but now sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?“ But St Thomas said, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him”, so ardent was his love of his Master. At the last supper, when our Lord said, “Whither I go you know, and the way you know”, it was Thomas who asked, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?” and so drew from Him those words in which are contained the whole Christian faith, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No man cometh to the Father but by me.” But this apostle is especially remembered for his incredulity after our Lord had suffered, risen from the dead, and on the same day appeared to His disciples to convince them of the truth of His resurrection. Thomas was not then with them and refused to believe their report that He was truly risen: “Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” Eight days later, when they were all together and the doors shut, the risen Christ was suddenly in the midst of them, greeting them: “Peace be to you.” Then He turned to Thomas and said,” Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand and put it into my side. And be not faithless, but believing.” And Thomas fell at His feet, exclaiming, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus answered, “Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.”

   This is all that we are told of St Thomas in the New Testament, but, as with the other apostles, there are traditions, of great unreliability, about his missionary activities after the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. Eusebius states that he sent St Thaddeus (Addai; August 5) to Edessa to baptize King Abgar, and the field of his own ministry is assigned to Parthia and “the Medes, Persians, Carmanians, Hyrcanians, Bactrians and other nations in those parts”. But the most persistent tradition is that which says that he preached the gospel in India. This is supported from several seemingly independent sources, of which the chief is the Acta Thomae, a document dating apparently from the first quarter of the third century. The story told by these acta is as follows:
When the Apostles at Jerusalem divided the countries of the world for their labours, India fell to the lot of Judas Thomas (so he is often called in Syriac legends). He was unwilling to go, pleading lack of strength and that a Hebrew could not teach Indians, and even a vision of our Lord could not alter his resolution. Thereupon Christ appeared to a merchant named Abban, the representative of Gundafor, a Parthian king who ruled over part of India, and sold Thomas to him as a slave for his master. When he understood what had taken place, Thomas said, “As thou wilt, Lord, so be it”, and embarked with Abban, having only his purchase price, twenty pieces of silver, which Christ had given to him. During the voyage they landed at a port and were present at the wedding festivities of the ruler’s daughter. At the playing of a Hebrew flute-girl Thomas was moved to sing, and he sang of the beauty of the Church under the figure of a bride. But as he sang in his own tongue nobody but the flute-girl understood him; and she loved him, but he sat with his eyes on the ground and would not raise them to her. That night Jesus Christ, having the appearance of Thomas, appeared to the bridal pair and persuaded them to a life of complete continence. When the ruler heard of this he was indignant and sent for the stranger, but Abban and Thomas were gone,
and only the flute-girl remained, weeping because she had not been taken with them.
But when they told her what had befallen the young couple she put away her grief, and went to wait upon them.

   Meanwhile Abban and Thomas continued their journey and came to Gundafor’s court in India, and when the king asked the apostle’s trade he replied, “I am a carpenter and builder. I can make yokes and ploughs and ox-goads, oars for boats and masts for ships; and I can build in stone, tombs and monuments and palaces for kings.” So Gundafor ordered him to build a palace, and Thomas laid out the plans, with “doors towards the east for light, windows towards the west for air, a bake-house on the south, and water-pipes for the service of the house on the north”. Gundafor went on a journey, and in his absence Thomas did no building but spent all the money given him for the work on the poor, saying, “That which is the king’s to the kings shall be given”. And he went about the land preaching and healing and driving out evil spirits. On his return Gundafor asked to be shown his new palace. “You cannot see it now, but only when you have left this world”, replied Thomas. Whereupon the king cast him into prison and purposed to flay him alive. But just then Gundafor’s brother died, and being shown in Heaven the palace that Thomas’s good works had prepared for Gundafor, he was allowed to come back to earth and offer to buy it from the king for himself. Gundafor declined to sell, and in admiration released Thomas and received baptism together with his brother and many of his subjects.
“And at dawn he broke the Eucharist and let them partake at the table of the Messias; and they rejoiced and were glad.”

Afterwards Thomas was preaching and doing marvels throughout India, until he got into trouble with a King Mazdai for converting (“bewitching”) his wife, his son and other important people. Eventually Thomas was led to the top of a hill where, on orders from the king, “soldiers came and struck him all together, and he fell down and died”.

He was buried in a royal sepulchre, but afterwards some of the brethren carried away his relics to the West.

 It is now commonly agreed that there is no truth behind the extravagant but interesting story just outlined, though there was undoubtedly a king named Gondo­phernes or Guduphara, whose dominions about the year A.D. 46 included the territory of Peshawar; and attempts have been made to identify King Mazdai (whose name might be traced to a Hindu original) with the contemporary King Vasudeva of Mathura. Unfortunately, speculation about St Thomas cannot be left there.
   At the other end of India from the Punjab, along what is known as the Malabar Coast, particularly in the states of Cochin and Travancore, there is a large population of native Christians who call themselves, “the Christians of St Thomas”. Their history is known in detail since the sixteenth century, but their origin has not yet been indisputably determined—though theories are far from wanting. There have certainly been Christians there since very early times, and in their liturgy they use forms and a language (Syriac) that undoubtedly were derived from Mesopotamia and Persia. *{* In addition to other native Christians there are over 1million Christians of St Thomas, of whom more than a half are Catholics (called “of the Syro-Malabar rite”. Also, since 1930, the small body of the Syro-Malankara rite). Most of the remainder are now Jacobites, but there is a considerable number of “Reformed Syrians” (who particularly arrogate to themselves the name of St Thomas Christians: Mar Thomakkar) and some Protestants, as well as a tiny group of Nestorians. All these divisions have happened since 1653.}

They claim, as their name indicates, to have been originally evangelized by St Thomas in person. They have an ancient oral tradition that he landed at Cranganore on the west coast and established seven churches in Malabar; then passed eastward to the Coromandel Coast, where he was martyred, by spearing, on the “Big Hill”, eight miles from Madras; and was buried at Mylapore, now a suburb of that city.
There are several medieval references to the tomb of St Thomas in India, some of which name Mylapore; +(+ It is stated in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that King Alfred in 883 sent Sighelm, Bishop of Sherborne, with offerings to Rome and to SS. Bartholomew and Thomas in India, in fulfilment of a vow) In 1522 the Portuguese discovered the alleged tomb there, with certain small relics now preserved in the cathedral of St Thomas at Mylapore. But the bulk of his reputed relics were certainly at Edessa in the fourth century, and the Acta Thomae relates they were taken from India to Mesopotamia. They were later translated from Edessa to the island of Khios in the Aegean, and from thence to Ortona in the Abruzzi, where they are still venerated.
The Roman Martyrology combines several legends and adopts the view that St Thomas preached the gospel to the Parthians, Medes, Persians and Hyrcanians, passed into India, and was there martyred at “Calamina”. This name occurs only in later writings and nobody has yet succeeded in identifying the place; upholders of the Malabar tradition have of course endeavoured to connect it with the neighbourhood of Mylapore. The Martyrology mentions the translation of his relics to Edessa on July 3, but in Malabar, and indeed throughout the Syrian churches, this date is the principal feast of St Thomas, commemorating his martyrdom “in the year 72 A.D.”

The apocryphal Acts of St Thomas may be most conveniently consulted in the edition of Max Bonnet (1883). It is generally agreed that the original text has not been preserved in its primitive shape but that the Greek form in which it has come down to us does not very materially depart from its first conception. The Syriac version has undergone much more substantial revision and interpolation. Although the strong gnostic colouring of these acts has been exaggerated (see on this Harnack, Die Chronologie der altchristlichen Litteratur, vol. i, pp. 545—549) still it cannot be mistaken, and, as Fr P. Peeters rightly insists, the apocryphal character of the document was patent to all orthodox teachers in the early Church. It is denounced by St Epiphanius, by St Augustine, by St Turibius of Astorga, by Pope St Innocent I and in the decree of Pseudo-Gelasius. The Syrian Greek who was probably the fabricator of the story would have been well able to learn from traders and travellers such details as the name Gondophernes with other topical matter, and this colouring does not warrant us in supposing that any germ of historical truth forms the basis of the Acta Thomae. See on all this Peeters in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xviii (1899), pp. 275—279 ; vol xxv (1906), pp. 196—200; vol. xxxii (1913), pp. 75—77; vol. xliv (1926), pp. 402—403. These notices all deal with books, which propound theories from divergent points of view, founded on the contents of the apocryphal acts. A few may be mentioned as roughly representative of the considerable literature of the subject. A. von Gutschmid (Kleine Schriften, ii, pp. 332—394) was dominated by the idea that the acts represent a Christianized version of Buddhist legends. Sylvain Lévi in the Journal Asiatique for 1897 strove to elucidate names and incidents as if he were dealing with an historic document; W. R. Philipps in The Indian Antiquary for 1903, and J. F. Fleet in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1905 brought criticism to bear on the identifications of Lévi; Bishop Medlycott in his uncritical book, India and the Apostle Thomas (1905), sought to find confirmation in the acts for the tradition that St Thomas died at Mylapore; Fr J. Dahlmann, Die Thomas-Legende (cf. Fr Thurston in The Month for August 1912, pp. 153—163), attached great importance to the historic data of the story but did not attempt to reconcile it with Mylapore, while Father A. Väth in a booklet, Der hl. Thomas, der Apostel Indiens (1925), follows circumspectly in the same course. At the same time the defenders of the southern India tradition have not been silent. Among many brochures printed in support of the claims of Mylapore, the book of F. A. D’Cruz, St Thomas the Apostle in India (1929), deserves notice. It takes account of such later literature as the articles of Dr A. Mingana and D. J. N. Farquhar in the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, Manchester (1925). Beyond doubt a few Pahlavi (i.e. Parthian) inscriptions, seemingly Christian in character, engraved round crosses, exist at Mylapore and in Travan­core. It is likely enough that the Malabar Coast was evangelized from Edessa at a later date, and that in the course of time a confused tradition connected this with the Apostle St Thomas himself. Father Thurston summarizes the question in the Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. xiv, pp. 658—659. The Apostles in India (Patna, 1953), by A. C. Perumalil, is a useful popular summary.

St. Thomas the Apostle July 3, 2010  
Poor Thomas! He made one remark and has been branded as “Doubting Thomas” ever since. But if he doubted, he also believed. He made what is certainly the most explicit statement of faith in the New Testament: “My Lord and My God!” (see John 20:24-28) and, in so expressing his faith, gave Christians a prayer that will be said till the end of time. He also occasioned a compliment from Jesus to all later Christians: “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29).
Thomas should be equally well known for his courage. Perhaps what he said was impetuous—since he ran, like the rest, at the showdown—but he can scarcely have been insincere when he expressed his willingness to die with Jesus. The occasion was when Jesus proposed to go to Bethany after Lazarus had died. Since Bethany was near Jerusalem, this meant walking into the very midst of his enemies and to almost certain death. Realizing this, Thomas said to the other apostles, “Let us also go to die with him” (John 11:16b).
Comment:  Thomas shares the lot of Peter the impetuous, James and John, the “sons of thunder,” Philip and his foolish request to see the Father—indeed all the apostles in their weakness and lack of understanding. We must not exaggerate these facts, however, for Christ did not pick worthless men. But their human weakness again points up the fact that holiness is a gift of God, not a human creation; it is given to ordinary men and women with weaknesses; it is God who gradually transforms the weaknesses into the image of Christ, the courageous, trusting and loving one.
Quote:  “...[P]rompted by the Holy Spirit, the Church must walk the same road which Christ walked: a road of poverty and obedience, of service and self-sacrifice to the death.... For thus did all the apostles walk in hope. On behalf of Christ's Body, which is the Church, they supplied what was wanting in the sufferings of Christ by their own trials and sufferings (see Colossians 1:24)” (Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, 5).
Saint Aquila, Apostle of the 70: a disciple of the Apostle Paul native of Pontus a Jew, living in the city of Rome with his wife Priscilla
Orthodoxe Kirche: 13.2. und 14.7. (nur Aquila) Katholische Kirche: 8.7.
(they are commemorated on February 13 on the Greek Calendar). During the reign of the emperor Claudius (41-54) all the Jews were banished from Rome, so St Aquilla and his wife were compelled to leave. They settled in Corinth. A short while later, the holy Apostle Paul arrived there from Athens preaching the Gospel. Having made the acquaintance of Aquila, he began to live at his house and labored together with him, making tents.
Having received Baptism from the Apostle Paul, Aquila and Priscilla bacame his devoted and zealous disciples. They accompanied the apostle to Ephesus. The Apostle Paul instructed them to continue the preaching of the Gospel at Ephesus, and he himself went to Jerusalem, in order to be present for the feast of Pentecost.

At Ephesus, Aquila and Priscilla heard the bold preaching of a newcomer from Alexandria, the Jew Apollos.
He had been instructed in the fundamentals of the Faith, but knew only the baptism of John the Forerunner. They called him over and explained more precisely about the way of the Lord.
After the death of the emperor Claudius, Jews were permitted to return to Italy, and Aquila and Priscilla then returned to Rome.
The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans recalls his faithful disciples, "Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my coworkers in Christ Jesus, who put forth their heads for my soul, whom I do not alone thank, but also all the Church of the Gentiles and the church of their household" (Rom. 16: 3-4). St Aquila did not long dwell in Rome: the Apostle Paul made him a bishop in Asia. St Aquila zealously labored at preaching the Gospel in Asia, Achaia and Heraklia. He converted pagans to Christ, he confirmed newly-converted Christians in the faith, he established presbyters and destroyed idols. St Priscilla constantly assisted him in the apostolic work.
St Aquila ended his life a martyr: pagans murdered him. According to the Tradition of the Church, St Priscilla was killed together with him.
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.
St Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, in Rome Martyrdom of {Coptic}
On this day also, St. Ignatius was martyred in Rome. He was chosen Bishop for Antioch, succeeding St. Peter the Apostle, in the year 69 A.D., during the reign of Emperor Trajan. When the Emperor heard that this Saint had attracted many by his teachings to believe in the Lord Christ, he brought him and asked him, "Are you Ignatius the Theophoros?" He replied, "Yes, I am." The Emperor inquired about the meaning of his name. The saint replied saying, "It means 'Godbearer.'" The Emperor said, "Do you think that we do not carry our gods to support us in wars?" The Saint answered, "How can these statues be gods? Listen, there is no God except the only God that created the Heaven and Earth, and His Son Jesus Christ who was incarnated to save mankind. So if you had believed in Him, you would be content now in your kingship."
The emperor attempted to persuade him to forsake Christianity, but he refused. The Emperor was enraged, ordered him bound with fetters, and taken to Rome to be thrown to the beasts. Ignatius responded by kissing the fetters that would be his means of receiving the crown of martyrdom. The believers tried to save him by paying bribes to the soldiers, but he refused, for he was yearning for martyrdom.
He went on his way to Izmir (Smyrna), where he wrote a letter to the Christians of Rome that said in it: "I am afraid that your love may be harmful. If you wish to prevent my death, that will not be difficult for you. But allow me to be slaughtered wherever the altar has been prepared .. I am wheat which must be ground, to make bread, to be offered to Jesus Christ. Whenever the people will not behold me anymore, I will behold our Lord Jesus Christ."
When he arrived in Rome, they threw him to the beasts. A lion attacked him and grabbed him by his neck. The Saint delivered up his soul in the hand of the Lord. Then the lion released him and went back to his place, and the believers came and carried his body with great honor to a place they prepared for him in Antioch.   May his prayers be with us, and Glory be to God forever. Amen
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117 St. Phocas Martyred bishop of Sinope, a diocese on the Black Sea. He was martyred during the reign of Emperor Trajan
Synópe, in Ponto, sancti Phocæ Mártyris, ejúsdem civitátis Epíscopi, qui, sub Trajáno Imperatóre, cárcerem, víncula, ferrum ignémque pro Christo súperans, evolávit in cælum.  Ejus relíquiæ póstea Viénnam, in Gállia, sunt delátæ, et in Basílica sanctórum Apostolórum cónditæ.
    At Sinope in Pontus, the martyr St. Phocas, bishop of the city.  Under Emperor Trajan, after having been imprisoned, bound, struck with the sword, and exposed to the fire for Christ, he departed to heaven.  His remains were brought to Vienne in France, and deposited in the Church of the Holy Apostles.
Phocas of Sinope BM (RM)
. Saint Phocas, listed as a martyr under Trajan, was the bishop of Sinope on the Black Sea. He appears to be a legendary figure derived from the life of Saint Phocas the Gardener whose feast day is September 22 (Attwater, Benedictines). In art, Saint Phocas is an Oriental layman holding a shovel or among garden produce. At times he may be shown (1) with a flowering pink (Smyrna or Saint Phocas Pink) or (2) with a sword. He should not be confused with Saint Fiacre, who is always an ecclesiastic. Phocas and his shovel can be seen on the mosaics of Saint Mark's in Venice (Roeder). Phocas is the patron of gardeners and is venerated at Smyrna (Roeder).
247 St. Heraclas Patriarch, brother of St. Plutarch the Martyr; one of Origen’s first pupils in Alexandria, Egypt. Ordained, Heraclas succeeded Origen as head of the Alexandria school in 231
Alexandríæ sancti Héraclæ Antístitis, ob cujus celebérrimam opiniónem Africánus historiógraphus mémorat se Alexandriam, ad eum viséndum, properásse.
    At Alexandria, St. Heracles, bishop, whose fame was so great that the historian Africanus testifies that he journeyed to Alexandria to see him. 
He also succeeded Demetrius as patriarch of Alexandria. Heraclas excommunicated Origen and drove him out of Egypt.
At Alexandria, St. Heracles, bishop, whose fame was so great that the historian Africanus testifies that he journeyed to Alexandria to see him.

Heraclas of Alexandria Born in Egypt c. 180; died 247. Heraclas and his brother Saint Plutarch were the first students at Origen's catechetical school in Alexandria. There they were converted to Christianity by their master. Heraclias became Origen's assistant, was ordained, and succeeded Origen as head of the school when Bishop Demetrius of Alexandria condemned Origen in 231. Heraclias succeeded Demetrius as bishop of Alexandria that same year. Thinking it was safe to return, Origen went back to Alexandria, was excommunicated by his former disciple, and was driven from the city (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia). B (RM)
4th v. Saint Onesimus the Wonderworker performed many miracles
Born in Caesarea in Palestine at the beginning of the fourth century, and entered a monastery in Ephesus.
Later, he founded a monastery at Magnesia and remained there for the rest of his life. He performed many miracles.

Departure of St. Shenouda (Shenoute), the Archimandrite attended the Council of the two hundred that gathered at Ephesus with the holy father Anba Kyrillos (24th), and he admonished Nestorius the heretic
On this day, the ascetic father, St. Shenouda (Shenoute), the Archimandrite, departed. This father was born in the city of Shandaweil (Shenalolet) in the district of Akhmim. His father was a farmer, who owned flocks of sheep.
When Shenouda grew up, his father entrusted him with the care of the sheep. He tended to the sheep, gave his food to the shepherd, and he spent his day fasting. His father took him to his uncle Anba Bgoul (Bigal) to bless him. Anba Bgoul laid the boy's hands on his own head and said, "You bless me, my child, for you will be a father for many peoples." His father left him with his uncle and returned home. One day he heard a voice from heaven saying, "Shenouda has become the Archimandrite." Since that time, he exerted himself with many worships and intense asceticism. When Anba Bgoul (Bigal) departed, Shenouda replaced him. He followed the monastic communal rules that were formulated by St. Pakhom, and he added to them a pledge the monk had to sign before joining the monastery.
The number of monks during his days reached 1800 monks. That monastery, still standing west of the city of Souhag, has a church and is known as the monastery of Anba Bishoy.
Anba Shenouda had built another monastery, the number of its monks reached 2200 monks, which is still standing and is known as the monastery of Anba Shenouda.
Once, an army commander asked Anba Shenouda to lend him his girdle to wear during the war so that God might make him victorious. The Saint gave it to him and the commander overcame his enemies.
Anba Shenouda became a shining light to all the world with his sermons, discourses, and canons that he put for the good of the monks, hierarchies, and laity, men and women. He attended the Council of the two hundred that gathered at Ephesus with the holy father Anba Kyrillos (24th), and he admonished Nestorius the heretic. Before his departure, he asked his disciples to support him so that he might worship his creator. He worshiped God and then commanded them to follow his footsteps and told them, "I commit you to God" then he departed in peace. May his prayers be with us. Amen
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4th v. St Hellius lived died in it sent to a monastery when still a child raised in piety, temperance and chastity went into the Egyptian desert; endowed with the gift of clairvoyance, and he knew all the thoughts and disposition of the monks conversing with him; Great faith, simplicity of soul, deep humility allowed St Hellius to command wild animals

When he grew up, he went into the Egyptian desert, where through his ascetical struggles he attained great proficiency in the spiritual life. He was endowed with the gift of clairvoyance, and he knew all the thoughts and disposition of the monks conversing with him.

Great faith, simplicity of soul and deep humility allowed St Hellius to command wild animals. Once, the saint became tired while carrying a heavy load to the monastery. He prayed and called a wild donkey to carry his burden. The donkey meekly carried the load to the place and was set free to return to the wilderness. Another time, when St Hellius needed to cross a river and there was no boat, he summoned a crocodile from the water and crossed to the opposite shore while standing on its back.

One of the young novices of the monastery, whom St Hellius visited, asked him to take him along into the far desert. St Hellius warned him about the great work, exploits and temptations which inevitably beset all the hermits, but since the novice continued fervently to ask, he took him along. On the first night the novice, frightened by terrible visions, ran to St Hellius. The monk comforted and calmed him down and ordered him to return. Tracing the Sign of the Cross over the cave, the monk told the young hermit not to fear, because he would not be disturbed by these apparitions any more.
Trusting the word of the saint, the novice decided to remain in solitude and afterwards attained such perfection that he, like his teacher Hellius, received food from an angel.
St Hellius peacefully entered the heavenly mansions after reaching an advanced age.
390 Novocómi sancti Felícis, qui fuit primus ejúsdem civitátis Epíscopus.
    At Como, St. Felix, first bishop of that city.
Felix of Como B (RM) Saint Felix first bishop of Como, intimate friend of Saint Ambrose (Benedictines).
5th v. Idus of Leinster a disciple of Saint Patrick, by whom he was baptized. Patrick appointed him bishop of Alt-Fadha in Leinster.
He is often invoked in the old Irish prayer in verse which bears the name of Saint Moling (Benedictines, Husenbeth). B (AC)
550 St. Optatian  Bishop of Brescia, Italy, from about 451. He was among a singular group of sainted bishops of this diocese. In time, all Brescian prelates bore the rank of Count
Bríxiæ sancti Optatiáni Epíscopi.    At Brescia, St. Optatian, bishop.
St. Cyrus of Carthage A bishop mentioned by St. Possidius
Carthágine sancti Cyri Epíscopi, in cujus festivitáte sanctus Augustínus de eo sermónem ad pópulum hábuit.
    At Carthage, St. Cyrus, bishop, on whose festival St. Augustine spoke of him to his people.
St. Justus Martyr at Rome or possibly at Constantinople, modem Istanbul; a Roman military veteran put to death Also at Rome; a miraculous cross appeared to him he believed in Christ, was baptized, and gave away his goods to the poor
Item Romæ sancti Justi mílitis, qui, sub Cláudio Tribúno, apparénte sibi divínitus Cruce, crédidit in Christum, et, mox baptizátus, ómnia sua paupéribus erogávit; tentus deínde a Magnétio Præfécto, atque verberári nervis, gálea igníta cóntegi et in rogum immítti jussus ac ne in capíllo quidem læsus, in Dómini confessióne réddidit spíritum.
    Also at Rome, St. Justus, a soldier under the tribune Claudius.  When a miraculous cross appeared to him he believed in Christ, was baptized, and gave away his goods to the poor.  Afterwards arrested by the prefect Magnetius, he was scourged with rods, had a heated helmet put on his head, and was thrown into the fire, but received no injury, not even to a hair of his head.  In the end he yielded up his soul confessing the Lord.
A soldier under the tribune Claudius when a miraculous cross appeared to him he believed in Christ, was baptized, and gave away his goods to the poor.  Afterwards arrested by the prefect Magnetius, he was scourged with rods, had a heated helmet put on his head, and was thrown into the fire, but received no injury, not even to a hair of his head.  In the end he yielded up his soul confessing the Lord.

The Holy Martyr Justus was a Roman soldier, to whom the Life-Creating Cross of the Lord appeared in a vision. Justus believed in Christ and gave away his possessions to the poor. By decree of the official of Magnesia, Justus was taken to trial as a Christian. After various tortures, the holy martyr was thrown into a fire and gave up his soul to God, but the flames did not harm his body.
664 Deusdedit of Canterbury the first Anglo-Saxon primate when he succeeded Saint Honorius as archbishop of Canterbury in 653 build monastery of Medehamstede (Petersborough) founded convent on Thanet Island consecrated Damian bishop of Rochester, OSB B (AC)
(also known as Frithona) Died October 28 (or July 14), 664; feast day formerly on January 14. Deusdedit was a South Saxon, who became the first Anglo-Saxon primate when he succeeded Saint Honorius as archbishop of Canterbury in 653. He helped to build the monastery of Medehamstede (Petersborough) in 657, and founded the convent on Thanet Island. He consecrated Damian bishop of Rochester. Nothing further is known of him except that he died during the great pestilence, on the same day as King Erconbert of Kent, and was buried in the monastery church of Saints Peter and Paul (later Saint Augustine's) in Canterbury. His shrine remained there until the Reformation (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer).

St  Deusdedit, Archbishop Of Canterbury (A.D. 664) When St Honorius, the last of the companions of St Augustine to govern the church of Canterbury, died in 653, he was succeeded as sixth archbishop by
Frithona, who took the name of Deusdedit.   He Came from the territory of the South Saxons and was the first Englishman to become primate; he was constcrated by St Ithamar, the first English bishop of Rochester. Of his life or the events of his episcopate nothing is known.  He consecrated Ithamar's successor at Rochester, but the two or three other official acts attributed to him are very uncertain.  He died during the plague, probably on October 28, 664, and was buried in the abbey-church of SS Peter and Paul, outside the walls of Canterbury.
See Plummuer's edition of Bede's Historia Ecciesiastica, text and notes; a life by Goscelin (see Hardy, Catalogue, vol. i, pp. 261-262) adds nothing to Bede "but declamation or inference."
762 Marcellinus of Oldensee Anglo-Saxon monk who followed Saint Willibrord to the Netherlands. Together with Saint Lebuin, he preached the Gospel to the people of Over-Yssel (Holland); accompanied Saint Boniface to Rome 738
(also known as Marchelm, Marculf) Died at Oldensee (Oldenzeel). Anglo-Saxon monk who followed Saint Willibrord to the Netherlands. Together with Saint Lebuin, he preached the Gospel to the people of Over-Yssel. In 738, he accompanied Saint Boniface to Rome (Benedictines, Encyclopedia). Saint Marcellinus is portrayed in art in a chasuble with a book and pencase. At times there may be two poor men kneeling before him, or he may be shown preaching with Saint Lebuin (Roeder). He is venerated at Over-Yssel (Holland) and the Oldensee but his relics rest at Deventer (Roeder). (RM)

St Marchelm  (762) Marchelm (Marceaumes, Marculf, Marcellinus) was one of several young Englishmen who in the early part of the eighth century followed St Willibrord into Holland to evangelize the Frisians.  The statement in the forged life of St Suitbert (professedly written by Marchelm) that he was one of the eleven original companions of that great missionary is not credible.
   He was put at the disposition of St Gregory of Utrecht, and accompanied him and St Boniface to Rome.   For fifteen years he laboured in Friesland and Guelderland, making converts by the force of his preaching and his example.
   After the martyrdom of St Boniface the district of Utrecht was put under the administration of St Gregory, and he chose Marchelm to join St Lebuin, newly come from England, in working among the barbarians of Overyssel.
  Before long he had built the first church at Deventer, and he was so successful that the more stubborn of the pagans burned down the church and scattered the Christians.   St Marchelm continued his mission undismayed, but God shortly after called him to his reward.  He died at Oldenzaal and his relics were afterwards translated to Deventer; his feast is kept in Holland; and in England and elsewhere by the Canons Regular of the Lateran.
There is uncertainty about this saint; but see the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iii, and Mabillon, Annales O.S.B., vol. ii .
783 St. Libert Benedictine martyr, educated by St. Rumoldus; put to death by raiders at Saint-Trond Abbey, France
Libert (Lisbert) of Saint-Trond, Born at Malines. Count Libert of Adone was baptized and educated by Saint Rumoldus, from whom he received the Benedictine habit. Afterwards he migrated to the abbey of Saint-Trond, where he was martyred by invading barbarians (Benedictines). In art, Saint Libert is portrayed by Joan Galle as a young knight with a laurel wreath even though he was actually a Benedictine monk. He is venerated at Malines (Roeder).
OSB M (AC)
Davéntriæ, in Belgis, sancti Marcellíni, Presbyteri et Confessóris.    At Deventer in Belgium, St. Marcellinus, priest and confessor.
1053 Procopius of Sazaba one of the patrons of Czechoslovakia, OSB Abbot (RM)
Born in Bohemia; died March 25, 1053; canonized by Pope Innocent III in 1204; feast day formerly July 4. Procopius studied in Prague where he was also ordained. He became a canon, was a hermit for a time, and then was founding abbot of the Basilian abbey of Sazaba in Prague. Procopius is one of the patrons of Czechoslovakia (Benedictines, Delaney). In art, Saint Procopius lets the devil plough for him. He may be portrayed (1) as an abbot with a book and discipline, devil at his feet; (2) with a stag (or hind) near him; (3) with SS Adelbert, Ludmilla, and Vitus (patrons of Prague); or (4) as a hermit with a skull and a girdle of leaves (Roeder). This Russian icon shows Saint Procopius together with Nicetas, and Eustathius
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1093 St. Ulrich Ulrich a page at the court of Empress Agnes but opted for the religious life; deacon, a Benedictine monk at Cluny in 1052; Prior at Peterlingen, founding Friar of Ruggersberg Priory returned to Cluny, opposed Bishop Burchard of Lausanne for his support of Henry IV against the Pope; founding Abbot of the monastery at Zell in the Black Forest and of a convent at nearby Bollschweil author of Consuetudines cluniacences, on the liturgy; direction of monasteries and novices
Born at Ratisbon, Germany. He was ordained a deacon by his uncle, Bishop Notker of Freising, and became Archdeacon and provost of the Cathedral. When he found that his position had been filled while he was on a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem, he became a Benedictine monk at Cluny in 1052. He was ordained, was named chaplain to the nuns at Marcigny, but resigned when he lost the sight of an eye and then returned to Cluny. He served as Prior at Peterlingen, was founding Friar of Ruggersberg Priory, but returned to Cluny, when he opposed Bishop Burchard of Lausanne for his support of Henry IV against the Pope. He was founding Abbot of the monastery at Zell in the Black Forest and of a convent at nearby Bollschweil. He became totally blind in 1091 and died two years later, on July 10, at Augsburg. He was the author of Consuetudines cluniacences, on the liturgy and the direction of monasteries and novices.

Ulric of Zell, OSB Abbot (AC) (also known as Ulric of Cluny) Born in Regensburg, Germany, 1018; died 1093. As a boy, Ulric acted as a page to Empress Agnes. Wishing to pursue a religious life, he was received by his uncle Notker, the bishop of Freising. After being ordained to the diaconate, he was appointed archdeacon and provost of the cathedral. He regulated divine worship and the confessional. Ulric was extremely generous, using his fortune to help those in distress.
When he returned from a pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem, he found his offices had been filled by another. He decided to become a monk, and he went to Cluny, where, in 1052, he received the habit from Saint Hugh. He was ordained a priest, and after acting as confessor at Cluny for a time, he became chaplain to the nuns at Marcigny. The honor bestowed on him by these offices caused jealousy among some of the brothers. He was also troubled by terrible headaches, and eventually he lost his sight in one eye.
He returned to Cluny and was later sent to open a priory on the Rüggersberg. There he became involved in a dispute with the bishop of Lausanne, who was supporting Emperor Henry IV against the Holy See. As a result, he was called back to Cluny and asked to establish a new monastery at Grueningen near Breisach. Unhappy with the location, he instead founded the monastery in Zell in the Black Forest of Germany.
Backed by the bishop of Basel, Ulric founded a convent of nuns as well at Bollschweil. There he reputedly cured a girl of cancer. A great concern to him was that devotion be regulated among the monks, he explained that he was weeping for the sins of his fellow monks. To remedy this, while acting as the novice master, he wrote the three books of the constitutions of the Abbey of Cluny--the Cluniac Customary, for the direction of the monastery. He was blind for the last two years of his life (Attwater, Benedictines, Encyclopedia, White) .

St Ulric Of Zell, Abbot  (A.D. 1093) Ulric was born at Ratisbon about the year 1020, and went to court, where he was a page to the Empress Agnes.      But he had no ambition for a secular career, and
after a time was received by his uncle Notker, Bishop of Freising.  When he was ordained to the diaconate he was appointed archdeacon and provost of the cathedral.  In this office he distinguished himself by the care with which he provided for the proper celebration of divine worship within the cathedral and for the cure of souls without.  No one appealed to his charity in vain, and in a time of distress he distributed his fortune lavishly to the sufferering
    After going on pilgrimage to Rome and to Jerusalem, finding his office had been given to another, he decided to become a monk. He therefore went to Cluny and there received the habit from St Hugh himself in 1052.

  Soon after he had been professed and ordained he was appointed chaplain to the nuns at Marcigny, having already been confessor at Cluny.  These early responsibilities were the cause of jealousy among some unworthy brethren, to which trial were added violent headaches and no less violent temptations.   Ulric bore these with patience and without reproach, but when he lost the use of an eye he resigned his office and returned to Cluny.
   But his talents were required elsewhere, and he was sent to found a priory on the Rüggersberg and worked with great success for the conversion of sinners in the canton of Bern until he came into collision with the bishop of Lausanne, Burchard, who was supporting the Emperor Henry IV against the Holy See.
  Thereupon he was recalled to Cluny and ordered to start a new foundation at Grilningen, near Breisach. He found the place unsuitable for a monastery and carried out the work instead at Zell, in the Black Forest. Here he was more fortunate in his bishop, Gebhard of Basle, who appreciated Ulric and seconded him in all his good works.  This included the establishment of a monastery of nuns at Bollschweil, near Zell; it was at their prayers that he was enabled miraculously to cure a young girl of cancer.

  To advance the monastic life, and the monastic life in all its rigour, was the work of St Ulric.   When one of his monks found him in tears and asked the reason, he was told, " I weep for my sins. I weep to find myself still not called to the happiness of the heavenly kingdom.   But I weep most of all because I see there are several monks here who have only the name and dress of religious."

     He wrote down in three books the constitutions and customs of the abbey of Cluny, and it was on this recension that his friend Bd William based the observance of his abbey at Hirschau.  St Ulric died on July 10, 1093, after having been totally blind for the last two years of his life.
There is a good deal of information available concerning St Ulric of Zell, though the earliest text of his life has only come down to us in a fragmentary condition.  It is edited in MGH., Scriptores, vol. xii.  On the other hand a second life, which seems to be older than the year 1120, was also written, and this latter has been printed by Mabillon, as also by the Bollandists under July 10, this being the day upon which his feast was kept among the Cluniac monks.  See also F. Hauviller, Ulrich von Cluny (1896); Ratzinger, Forschungen zur bayerischen Geschichte (1898), pp. 577 seq.  and P. Schmitz, Histoire de l`Ordre de St Benoit (1942), t. i .
1130 St. William of Breteuil Benedictine abbot of Breteuil, neai Beauvais, France; rebuilt the monastery after nearly destroyed by Normans
William of Breteuil, OSB Abbot (AC) Died 1130. Saint William restored Breteuil Monastery, in the diocese of Beauvais, during his abbacy. It had been ruined during the Norman invasions (Benedictines).
1217 Bd Hroznata, Martyr one of those men the course of whose blameless life was changed by a succession of misfortunes
 Hroznata was one of those men the course of whose blameless life was changed by a succession of misfortunes. He was a nobleman at the court of Ottokar I of Bohemia, happily married, with an heir for whom he had great affection, and enjoying the prospect of an honourable and prosperous career.  But when he was still only about thirty years of age his young son sickened and died, and was followed to the grave shortly after by his mother.  Hroznata was overcome; left the court; and made a vow to become a crusader and go to the Holy Land.  But he changed his mind, going to Rome to get released from his vow, which Pope Celestine III commuted for the foundation of a monastery.
    He therefore found a suitable site and built the abbey of Tepl, in western Bavaria, which he peopled with canons regular of Prémontré from Strabov, and founded two other religious houses, one to shelter his sister, who had been left a widow. These undertakings having been successfully carried through, Hroznata himself became a canon of TepI.
  But the presence of the founder in the house, and under an abbot who was shallow and unimaginative, soon led to trouble and a position of such discomfort that Hroznata left for a time, and only returned when the abbot had apologized and promised to amend his ways.
  The death of Hroznata is alleged to have been due to his defence of ecclesiastical immunities, and he is venerated as a martyr: for he was kidnapped, thrown into a dungeon at Alt-Kinsburg, near Eger, and there left to die.
  Premonstratensian canons still live in the abbey of Tepl, where the body of their founder is preserved.  His cultus was confirmed in 1897.
An account of his life, including a short Latin contemporary biography, is printed ia the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iii.  The official confirmatio cultia will be found in the Analecta Ecclesiastica, vol. v (1897), pp. 452-453.  See also Zum 700 jahrigen Todestage des sl.-- {st.?} Hroznata (1917) .
1263 Bl. Humbert studied at Paris; received doctorate in law joined Dominicans 224; Holy Land pilgrimage on return-1240 elected provincial Roman province of the Dominicans; elected provincial of France- 1244 - 1254 5th Dominican master general
Born at Romans, near Valence, France. He studied at Paris, where he received his doctorate in law, joined the Dominicans in 1224, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and on his return in 1240, was elected provincial of the Roman province of the Dominicans. He was elected provincial of France in 1244, and in 1254 became the fifth master general of the Dominicans. He approved a final revision of the Dominican Liturgy, promoted education, and was active in clerical reformation. He resigned his generalate at a general chapter in London in 1263, retired to the priory of Valence, emerged briefly at the request of Pope Clement IV to settle a dispute among the Cistercians, and died at Valence on July 14. He wrote several treatises, among them Treatise on Preaching, the fruit of his success as a preacher. Though called Blessed by some authorities, his cult has never been formally approved.

Blessed Humbert of Romans, OP (PC) Born at Romans, Dauphiné, France, in 1193; died there in 1277.
The contribution of Humbert of the Romans to Dominican life can never be overestimated. While he has never been formally beatified, he has been given the popular title of "blessed" since his death. His name is associated with the foundation of the order and the clarification of its rule and constitutions, which reveals the sure touch of his saintly and logical mind.
Humbert came from a large family, several of whom became religious; one of them was a Carthusian. He met the Dominicans at the University of Paris, where he was teaching on the faculty of arts and studying theology in 1224. 

There is a charming story concerning his choice of a vocation to the Dominicans. He was kneeling one day in the cathedral of Notre Dame during the Office of the Dead being chanted by the canons. His mind kept wandering to the choice of a vocation, for his family had been friendly with the Carthusians for many years, and his brother had already joined them.  As he debated with himself, an old priest wandered down from the choir and engaged him in quiet conversation. He asked Humbert where he came from, and Humbert replied that he was a parishioner. The old priest regarded him shrewdly and said, "Do you remember what you promised at your baptism--to renounce the devil and all his pomps? Why don't you become a Friar Preacher?"
Humbert could hardly keep his mind off the priest's words, and at the responsory for the lesson, "Where shall I fly if not to You?," he decided once and for all that he would become a friar. He went to consult with his professor of theology, Hugh of Saint Cher, who was planning to become a Dominican himself as soon as he could arrange his affairs. On the feast of Saint Andrew, Humbert knelt at the feet of Blessed Jordan of Saxony and asked for the habit of the Dominicans.

The first task of the new brother was teaching at Lyons. His profound knowledge of Scripture recommended him for the highest teaching posts in the order. In 1240, when he was elected provincial of Lombardy, he began his administrative career.  From that time until his death, there was scarcely an event of any importance to the order in which he did not play a part. As provincial of France, from 1244 to 1254, he worked steadily to stabilize relations of the order and the university, perhaps foreseeing that there would one day be a showdown between the two great forces there. He was offered the patriarchate of Jerusalem, which he refused, and at the election of Gregory IX he received nearly enough votes to be elected pope.

Humbert was a careful canonist, and he carried around a master copy of the Dominican Constitutions in order that a copy could be made in the various houses. In his time the order had begun to feel the need for uniformity more than ever before, for its members were spreading to the far parts of the earth, and local regulations differed.  This was nowhere more clearly seen than in the liturgy, which differed not only with each diocese but with each basilica. When the brethren of various provinces got together for a general chapter, it was harrowing to try to chant the office. Humbert, along with several others, was appointed to begin work on a unification of the liturgy, even before he became master general in 1254. After his election as the fifth master general of the order, he intensified his efforts in this behalf.
Most of the regulations of the Dominican liturgy that have come down to us are in the words of Humbert.

His principal contribution appears to be the unification of the liturgy. He set up a norm and insisted that all the varying elements conform to it, apologizing to the brethren meekly for the fact that some of them would be disappointed in the forms chosen ("since one cannot please everyone").
Many distinguishing features of the Dominican Mass can trace their definite form to this talented and sincere man who devoted his energies to the quiet task of building a structure that would wear through the centuries.
The dignity and clarity of the Dominican Constitutions likewise owe a debt to this man who wrote so clearly and unequivocally of the spirit that Dominic had left to his children, and which was in Humbert's day just being recorded for posterity. Humbert was also successful in the development of the foreign missions, and in the definitive planning of the studies of the Dominicans (Benedictines, Dorcy).

Bd Humbert Of Romans  (A.D. 1277) Humbert was born at Romans, near Valence, about the year 1200, and went to Paris to study, where he took the degree of doctor of law, and in 1224 was clothed
as a Dominican with the encouragement of his professor, Hugh of Saint-Cher.  He was sent as lector to the house of his order at Lyons, of which he became prior, and in 1240 was elected provincial of the Roman province, after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.   On the elevation of Hugh of Saint-Cher to the cardinalate he was elected provincial of France and held that office until he was in 1254 appointed fifth master general of the Order of Preachers.   He held ten general chapters and devoted himself to the encouragement of studies, to the final revision of the Dominican liturgy, and to the development of missions in the East. This was a matter particularly near to his heart; friars went to Barcelona to learn Arabic and missions were undertaken to the Cumans and Tartan.
   The same interest is evinced in his writings, of which two were directed to encouraging a crusade against the Saracens and to discussing the question of the East in view of the second council of Lyons.  As a man of great charity, devotion, and rectitude himself, he had hard things to say about the need of reform among the clergy.   His spirit is shown in a joint pastoral which he wrote with Bd John of Parma, the Franciscan minister general, to the two orders in 1255
    "Just think, dearest brethren, with what sincerity and true friendship we ought to love one another, we whom our holy Mother the Church has brought forth together and who are together sent by Eternal Charity to work for the salvation of men.  How are the faithful to know us as the messengers of Christ if not by His mark of charity?  And how can we hope to kindle this charity in their souls if it is weak and uncared for in our own?"

  At the general chapter held in London in 1263 he resigned from his generalate and retired to the priory of Valence, devoting himself to study and preaching.  He came out of retirement at the order of Pope Clement IV to help in the settlement of domestic difficulties among the Cistercians, but went back to Valence and died there on July 14, 1277, revered by all as a man of great holiness, "sure in counsel ".
The early Dominican chronicles, such, for instance, as are printed in the Monumenta O.P. Historica,  make frequent reference to Bd Humbert, but there is no text devoted to his individual life and work.  See, however, Mortier, Maîtres Géneraux 0. P., vol. i, pp. 415-664; a short life by M. de Waresquiel (1901); and F. Heintke, Humbert von Romans (1933).  Fr Berthier reprinted several of his ascetical tractates (1889), and Fr Bede Jarrett explains his moral and social teaching in Social Theories of the Middle Ages (1926).   Humbert's Treatise on Preaching is available in English (1931); his sermons were very popular during the middle ages and were more than once reprinted before the Reformation.  For a fuller bibliography see Taurisano's Catalogus.  Though called "Blessed" by some writers there has been no confirmation of cultus.
1270 Blessed Boniface of Savoy entered Grande Chartreuse as youth, a Carthusian monk then prior of Mantua, served 7 years as administrator diocese of Belley serving bishop of Valence. In 1241 elected archbishop of Canterbury , O. Cart. B (AC)
Cultus confirmed in 1838; feast day formerly on March 13. Boniface was the son of Count Thomas of Savoy. He entered the Grande Chartreuse as a youth, became a Carthusian monk and then prior of Mantua. He served seven years as administrator of the diocese of Belley (1234-41), before serving as bishop of Valence. In 1241, Boniface was elected archbishop of Canterbury through the influence of his niece, Eleanor, wife of King Henry III of England, but did not enter his see until 1244. His appointment and attempts to reform the see were very unpopular. He tried to effect economies in the heavily debt-ridden see met but was met with strenuous opposition, particularly from the suffragans of the various sees he attempted to visit. He excommunicated the bishop of London and the clergy of Saint Bartholomew's, and while an appeal to Rome upheld his visitation rights he was forced to rescind his excommunications, and his visitations had restrictions placed upon them. He acted as regent for Henry while the king absent from the country, accompanied him on a diplomatic mission to France, and successfully negotiated a peaceful solution to difficulties over the succession in his native Savoy. He died en route to a crusade with Edward I at the castle of Sainte- Hélène des Millières in Savoy and was buried at Hautecombe (Benedictines, Delaney).

Bd  Boniface of  Savoy, Archbishop Of Canterbury (A.D.  1270) Boniface Of Savoy, the forty-sixth archbishop of Canterbury, was a member of the ducal family of Savoy and the grandson of Bd Humbert of Savoy.
  Remarkable for his physical beauty, which gained for him the nickname of "the Absalom of Savoy", he was said to be one of the most accomplished noblemen of his time-although the English chronicler Wykes describes him as "not very learned". At an early age he entered the Grande Chartreuse near Grenoble, desiring to give himself up to prayer and study; but before he had completed his noviciate he was compelled, much against his will, to become prior of Mantua.

    When still only a subdeacon he was appointed administrator of the diocese of Belley in Burgundy, and seven years later of Valence.  In 1241 St Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, died, and Boniface, who was the uncle of Queen Eleanor, the consort of King Henry III, was elected through her influence.  Owing to the unexpected deaths of two popes the election could not be confirmed until 1243, and it was not until the following year that the new archbishop went to England for the first time.  He found his see heavily in debt owing to the sequestration of its revenues during the primacy of St Edmund, and his first action was to effect economies in every possible direction.  Sinecures and unnecessary offices were abolished, and the clergy and tenants were ordered to contribute towards the paying off of the debt. Those, however, who attempt to curtail expenses and to attack vested interests are always unpopular, and Boniface was no exception to the rule.  In 1244 he had set out for the Council of Lyons, at which he was consecrated bishop.
  Upon his return to England he was enthroned at Canterbury, and soon afterwards started upon a visitation of his diocese, correcting abuses and levying charges. As soon, however, as he attempted to visit the dioceses of his suffragans, he encountered determined opposition.   The dean and chapter of St Paul's in London raised the contention that the bishop of London, and no one else, was their visitor.  At the priory of St Bartholomew the Great which Boniface visited the following day, he was met by the sub-prior and the canons, who expressed their willingness to receive him as a prelate, but not as a visitor.
  They declared that they were under the jurisdiction of their own bishop, without whose permission they were not disposed to submit to anyone else. The indignant archbishop is said to have struck the sub-prior a blow which felled him to the ground, and this was the signal for a general scuffle. The archbishop's clothes were torn, and it was noted against him that he wore chain-mail under his clerical garb.
  Rescued by his bodyguard, he escaped by barge to Lambeth, where he excommunicated the bishop of London and the clergy of St Bartholomew's. As soon as he announced his intention of holding a visitation at Saint Albans, the suffragans met together and decided to make resistance, whilst the clergy of the diocese taxed themselves in order to institute proceedings against him at Rome. Apprised of their intention and resolved to be beforehand, Boniface set out for the curia to make a counter-appeal, in which he was only partly successful.  Pope Innocent IV indeed allowed him to continue his visitations, but subject to great restrictions, and he was compelled to withdraw the excommunications which he had launched.

  King Henry held Boniface in esteem: on one occasion he appointed him regent during his own absence, and on another he induced him to accompany him to France in order to assist him in delicate negotiations.  In his own country he was more appreciated than by the English clergy, and when grave dissensions arose in Savoy during the minority of the successor of Amadeus IV, Boniface came to the rescue and restored harmony.   He died at the castle of Sainte-Hélene des Milliêres when on a visit to his native land, and was buried with his ancestors at the Cistercian monastery of Hautecombe.
  The character of Boniface has been variously estimated by English chroniclers, but none deny the purity of his life and his extraordinary goodness to the poor. It has been said of him by a modem writer that in the twenty-five years of his administration of the province of Canterbury he certainly did three good things-he paid off a debt of 22,000 marks, he built and endowed the hospital at Maidstone, and he constructed the great hall of the archiepiscopal palace.  His cultus, which had long been general in Savoy, was approved by Gregory XVI at the instance of King Charles Albert in 1838, on the ground that honour had been paid him from time immemorial;  he is liturgically commemorated in Savoy, Sardinia and by the Carthusians.
For our information we are largely dependent upon the English contemporary chroniclers, most of them violently prejudiced against "imported prelates" and Henry III's foreign favourites; but see also the letters of Grosseteste and Adam de Marisco. Amongst modem authorities Mgr Mann's Lives of the Popes vols. xiv and xv, Cardinal Gasquet's Henry III, and Joseph Strickland's Ricerche storiche sopra il B. Bonzfacio di Savoia should be consulted; see also Fr Thurston in The Tablet, 1913, pp. 601-604; and M. Powicke, The Thirteenth Century (1953), passim .
1274 Sancti Bonaventúræ, ex Ordine Minórum, Cardinális et Epíscopi Albanénsis, Confessóris et Ecclésiæ Doctóris; qui sequénti die migrávit ad Dóminum.
    St. Bonaventure of the Order of Friars Minor, cardinal and bishop of Albano, confessor and doctor of the Church, who passed to the Lord on the day following this.

1274 St Bonaventure, Cardinal-Bishop Of Albano, Doctor Of The Church greatest successor of St Francis of Assisi
Of the youth of this greatest successor of St Francis of Assisi nothing is known beyond the facts that he was born at Bagnorea, near Viterbo, in the year 1221, the son of John Fidanza and Mary Ritella. He was clothed in the order of Friars Minor and studied at the University of Paris under an Englishman, Alexander of Hales, "the Unanswerable Doctor"; Bonaventure, who was to become known as the Seraphic Doctor, himself taught theology and Holy Scripture there from 1248 to 1257.  His penetrating genius was balanced by the most careful judgement by which, while he dived to the bottom of every subtle inquiry, he cut off whatever was superfluous, dwelling only on that knowledge which is useful and solid, or at least necessary to unravel the false principles and sophistry of erroneous opinions.  Thus he became a proficient in scholastic philosophy and theology. Whilst he referred all his studies to the divine honour and his own sanctification, he was careful not to lose the end in the means or to let his application degenerate into dissipation of mind and idle curiosity.  Not content to make his studies a continuation of prayer, he devoted to formal prayer a great part of his time, knowing this to be the key of all spiritual life.  For only the Spirit of God, as St Paul teaches, can lead us into the secrets and designs of God, and engrave His teachings on our hearts. Such was the innocence and purity in which Brother Bonaventure lived, that Alexander of Hales used to say of him that he "seemed not to have sinned in Adam". A remarkable cheerfulness always appeared in his countenance, which resulted from the inward peace of his soul, for as he himself says,
"A spiritual joy is the greatest sign of the divine grace dwelling in a soul ".
  He had no eyes to see anything in himself but faults and imperfections, and this humility sometimes withheld him from holy communion, notwithstanding the desire of his soul to be united to the object of his love and to approach the fountain of grace.  But God by a miracle overcame his fears. "Several days had passed", say the act, of his canonization, "nor durst he yet presume to present himself at the heavenly banquet.  But whilst he was assisting `at Mass, and meditating on the passion of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, to crown his humility and love, put into his mouth by the ministry of an angel part of the consecrated Host, taken from the hand of the priest"  From this time his communions were without scruple and sources of great joy and grace. Bonaventure prepared himself to receive the priesthood by long fasts and fervent prayer, that he might obtain an abundant measure of grace for that sacred dignity which he looked forward to with fear and trembling, so high and incomprehensible did it appear to him.  A prayer which he composed for his own use after Mass, beginning with the words, Transfige dulcissime Domine Iesu, "Pierce, dearest Lord Jesus, the inmost depths"...is recommended by the Church to us all at that most solemn time.
  Bonaventure was called by the obligations of his priestly character to labour for the salvation of his neighbour, and to this he devoted himself with enthusiasm. He announced the word of God to the people with an energy which kindled a flame in the hearts of those that heard him; everything was burning with love that came from his mouth. While at the University of Paris he produced one of the best-known of his written works, the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, which covers the whole field of scholastic theology.   Of it Pope Sixtus IV said that:
"he uttered such things on sacred science that the Holy Ghost would seem to have spoken by his mouth".  
The years of his public lecturing at Paris were greatly disturbed by the attack made on the mendicant friars by the other professors at the university.  Jealousy of their pastoral and academical success and the standing reproof to worldliness and ease of the friars' lives were in part behind this attempt to get them excluded from the schools. The leader of the secular party was William of Saint-Amour, who made a bitter onslaught on the mendicants in a book called The Perils of the Last Times, and other writings. Bonaventure, who had to suspend lecturing for a time, replied in a treatise on evangelical poverty, named Concerning the Poverty of Christ.  The pope, Alexander IV, appointed a commission of cardinals to go into the matter at Anagni, and on their findings ordered Saint-Amour's book to be burnt, vindicated and reinstated the friars, and ordered the offenders to withdraw their attack. A year later, in 1257, St Bonaventure and St Thomas Aquinas received the degree of doctor of theology together.
  For Blessed Isabella, St Louis IX's sister, and her nunnery of Poor Clares at Longchamps, St Bonaventure wrote Concerning Perfection of Life. Other mystical works of his are the Soliloquy and Concerning the Threefold Way.  The love which every word breathes in the writings of this doctor pierces the heart, and Gerson, the learned and devout chancellor of the University of Paris, writes of his works, "Among all the Catholic doctors Eustachius (for so we may translate his name of Bonaventure) seems to me the best for enlightening the understanding and at the same time warming the heart. In particular his Breviloquium and Itinerarium mentis in Deum are written with so much force, art and conciseness that nothing can be beyond them." In another book he says: "Bonaventure's works seem to me most suitable for the instruction of the faithful. They are solid, safe and devout; and he keeps as far as he can from niceties, not meddling with logical or physical questions which are foreign to the matter in hand. Nor is there any doctrine more sublime, more divine, or more conducive to religion." Trithemius, a learned Benedictine, writes, "Whoever would be both learned and devout, let him read the works of Bonaventure".  This is particularly to be understood of his spiritual treatises.  The joys of Heaven were the frequent meditation of his soul, and he endeavoured by his writings to excite in others the same fervent desire for our heavenly country. He writes that "God Himself, all the glorious spirits, and the whole family of the eternal King wait for us and desire that we should be with them; and shall not we long above all things to be admitted into their happy companyHe who had not in this valley of tears continually raised his soul above visible things to become already, in ardent desire, an inhabitant of those blessed regions, would be considerably abashed upon appearing amongst them." Bonaventure puts the perfection of Christian virtue, not so much in the more heroic life of a religious state, as in performing our ordinary actions well. "The perfection of a religious man", he says, "is to do common things in a perfect manner. A constant fidelity in small things is a great and heroic virtue."  It is a continual crucifixion of self-love, a complete sacrifice of all our actions, moments and affections, and the reign of God's grace throughout our whole lives; St Bonaventure's deep appreciation of this is illustrated by an anecdote related of him and Bd Giles of Assisi (April 23).

In 1257 Bonaventure was chosen minister general of the Friars Minor.
   He was not yet thirty-six years old, and the order was torn by dissensions, some of the friars being for an inflexible severity, others demanding certain mitigations of the rule; between the two extremes were a number of other interpretations.  Some of the extreme rigorists, the so-called Spirituals, had even fallen into error and disobedience, and thus given a handle to the friars' opponents in the Paris dispute. The new minister general wrote a letter to his provincials in which he made it clear that he required a disciplined observance of the rule, involving a reformation of the relaxed, but giving no countenance to the excesses of the Spirituals.  At Narbonne in 1260, the first of the five general chapters which he held, he produced a set of constitutions on the rule, which were adopted and had a permanent effect on Franciscan life, but they failed to pacify the excessive rigorists.  At the request of the friars assembled in this chapter, he undertook to write the life of St Francis, which he compiled with a spirit which shows him to have been filled with the virtues of the founder whose life he wrote.  St Thomas Aquinas, coming one day whilst he was employed in this work, saw him through the door of his cell in contemplation, and going away, said, "Let us leave a saint to work for a saint".  The resulting biography, the "Greater Legend", is a work of great value for the life of St Francis; but St Bonaventure can hardly be acquitted of a tendency sometimes to strain his material so as to tell against those who favoured a moderation of the strict Franciscan life.  He governed his order for seventeen years and has been justly called its second founder.

In 1265 Pope Clement IV nominated St Bonaventure to be archbishop of York in succession to Geoffrey of Ludham; he induced the pope to accept his refusal, but in 1273 Bd Gregory X created him cardinal-bishop of Albano, adding a command to accept that charge without alleging any pretext against it, and immediately to come to Rome.  He sent legates to meet him on the road with the hat and other insignia of the office, and it is said that they found the saint in a convent of his order in the Mugello near Florence, washing the dishes.  He desired them to hang the cardinal's hat on the bough of a tree, because he could not decently take it in his greasy hands, and left them to walk in the garden till he had finished his work.  Then taking up the hat he went to the legates, and paid them the respect due.
Gregory X ordered him to prepare the matters to be dealt with in the general council which he had called to meet at Lyons for the reunion of the Greeks, the Emperor Michael Palaeologus having made proposals to Pope Clement IV for union.  All the best theologians were sent for: St Thomas Aquinas died on the way thither. But St Bonaventure was the outstanding figure in this great assembly.

He arrived with the pope some months before it began, and between the second and third sessions he held his last general chapter of his order, in which he abdicated the office of minister general.  When the Greek delegates arrived he conferred with them, and the reunion with Rome was duly effected.  In thanksgiving the pope sang Mass on the feast of SS Peter and Paul, and the epistle, gospel and creed were sung first in Latin then in Greek; St Bonaventure preached.  But amidst all this triumph, on the night of July 14-15, the Seraphic Doctor died; his mortal eyes were spared the pain of seeing Constantinople speedily repudiate the union it had sought and he had laboured to make good.   Peter of Tarentaise, a Dominican friar, afterwards Pope Innocent V, preached his panegyric, in which he said:
"No one ever beheld Bonaventure who did not conceive a great regard and affection for him; and even strangers were desirous to follow his counsel and advice, simply from hearing him speak: for he was gentle, courteous, humble, pleasing to all, compassionate, prudent, chaste and adorned with all virtues."
     There is a story told that when St Bonaventure, as minister general, visited the friary of Foligno there was a certain friar who wished to talk with him, but his humility and shyness would not allow him to force himself on his superior's notice. When, however, Bonaventure had gone, and the friar realized that he had missed his chance, he plucked up courage, pursued the general down the road, and catching him up, begged for a few words alone.  The saint at once withdrew with him to the roadside, and their conversation was a long one.  When at length the friar had returned home, comforted and rejoicing, Bonaventure noticed signs of impatience among those waiting for him.  He smiled and gently rebuked them. "My brethren", he said, "I could not do otherwise.  I am at the same time both prelate and servant, and that poor brother is both my brother and my master.  These are the words of the rule:
 `The ministers shall receive the brethren with charity and kindness, and so hold themselves towards them that the brethren shall be able to treat with them as masters with their servants, for the ministers must be the servants of all the friars.'  And so I, as minister and servant, must be at the disposal of this poor brother
who is my master, and help him according to my ability and his needs
".

  In this spirit did he discharge the office which he had taken up with the words, "I well know my own incapacity, but I also know that it is hard to kick against the goad.  And so, in spite of my want of understanding, my inexperience in affairs, and my great unwillingness, I will not persist in opposition to the wish of a numerous family and the order of the supreme pontiff, for fear lest at the same time I should resist the will of God.  Therefore I take upon my weak shoulders a heavy, nay, an almost intolerable, burden.  I hope for help from Heaven and count on all the help your good-will can give me." In those two passages is Bonaventure the saint, simply humble and simply charitable. Had he never been a member of the Seraphic order he would still deserve the title of Seraphic Doctor because of the angelic virtues with which he adorned his learning.  He was declared a doctor of the Church in 1588, having been canonized in 1482.
ST. BONAVENTURE: A MAN OF ACTION AND CONTEMPLATION
VATICAN CITY, 3 MAR 2010 (VIS) - In his catechesis during this morning's general audience, Benedict XVI turned his attention to St. Bonaventure who, he said, "makes me feel a certain nostalgia because, as a young scholar, my research focused on this author, who is particularly dear to me".
  Bonaventure, who was born around the year 1217 in the Italian town of Bagnoregio and died in 1274, was one of the great Christian figures who contributed to the "harmony between faith and culture" in thirteenth-century Europe. He was "a man of action and contemplation, of profound piety and prudent government".
  Baptised with the name of Giovanni da Fidanza, he suffered an illness during childhood from which he nearly died, but his mother entrusted him to the recently-canonised St. Francis of Assisi and the young Giovanni recovered. This event marked his whole life. During his education in Paris, where he studied theology, he decided to enter a Franciscan convent and took the name of Bonaventure. In the first years of his religious life he stood out for his knowledge of Sacred Scripture, the 'Sentences' of Peter Lombard, and other great theologians of his age.
  Bonaventure's book entitled "Evangelical Perfection" was his response to critics of the Minor Orders who questioned their right to teach in universities and even the authenticity of their consecrated life. In that work the saint showed "how the Minor Orders, and especially the Friars Minor, by practicing the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, were in fact following the counsels of the Gospel itself", the Pope explained.
  "Over and above these historical circumstances, Bonaventure's teachings in this book and in his own life still retain all their validity", he said. "The Church is enlightened and beautified by the faithfulness to their vocation of these sons and daughters of hers, who not only put the evangelical precepts into practice but, by God's grace, are called to observe the evangelical counsels and thus bear witness - with their poor, chaste and obedient lifestyle - to the fact that the Gospel is a source of joy and perfection".
  When in 1257 Bonaventure was elected minister general of his order, the Franciscans numbered more than 30,000; most of them were in Europe but they also had a presence in North Africa, the Middle East and China. "It was necessary", said the Holy Father, "to consolidate this growth and, especially, to give it a unity of action and spirit, in complete faithfulness to the charism of St. Francis. In fact, various ways of interpreting the saint of Assisi's message had arisen among his followers and there was a real risk of internal division".
  In order to preserve the saint's authentic charism, his life and teachings, Bonaventure "zealously gathered documents concerning Francis and carefully listened to the recollections of those who had known him personally". Thus the "Legenda Maior" came into being, which is considered the most complete biography of St. Francis.
  Bonaventure presents Francis as "a man who passionately sought Christ. With the love that leads to imitation, he entirely conformed himself to Him. Bonaventure indicated this as a living ideal for all the followers of St. Francis.
  "Such an ideal, which remains valid for all Christians, yesterday, today and always, was also suggested as a programme for the Church in the third millennium by my venerable predecessor John Paul II", Pope Benedict added.
  Almost at the end of his life, Bonaventure was consecrated a bishop and appointed a cardinal by Pope Gregory X, who entrusted him with the preparations for the Council of Lyons which sought to reunify the Latin and Greek Churches. However Bonaventure never saw the results of his labours because he died while the council was still underway.
  The Pope concluded his reflections with a call to take up the heritage of this saint and doctor of the Church, who "reminds us of the meaning of our lives with the following words: 'On earth we can contemplate the immensity of divine things by reason and admiration; in the heavenly homeland, on the other hand, we can view them, when we will have been made similar to God and by ecstasy will enter into the joy of God'".
AG/BONAVENTURE/...VIS 100303 (710)
There is no formal contemporary or quasi-contemporary life of St Bonaventure, but there are abundant references to him in the chronicles of the Franciscan Order and in other early sources. The most important notices of this kind, extracted e.g. from Salimbene, Bernard of Besse, Angelo Clareno, "the Chronicle of the XXIV Generals", etc., have been carefully re-edited in vol. x of the monumental Quaracchi edition of the works of the Seraphic Doctor.  The text of the canonization process instituted at Lyons in 1479-1480 (the canonization itself only took place in 1482 under Sixtus IV) has been printed in Miscellanea Francescana di storia, di lettere, di arti, vols. xvii and xviii (1916 and 1917), but it deals mainly with miracles.  Of the numerous modem biographies, the most reliable seems to be that of L. Lemmens as published in an Italian version at Milan in 1921.  In this edition the original German text (1909) has been extensively revised in deference to criticisms, notably those made in the Archivum Franciscanum Historicum (vol. iii, pp. 344-348). The life written in Italian by D. M. Sparacio (1921) emphasizes the point of view of the Conventual Franciscans and is not free from a certain animus.  Similarly that of Leonard de Carvaiho e Castro (1923, in French), though admirably presented, rather minimizes the active part taken by St Bonaventure at Paris in opposition to Dominican teaching. On the other hand this theological combativeness of the great Franciscan is somewhat exaggerated by the Capuchin Father Jules d'Albi in his book, S. Bonaventure et les luttes doctrinales de 1267-2277 (1923). An important study of the chronology of St Bonaventure, 1257 to 1274, by P. Glorieux, in the Franciscanum Historicum Historicum (vol. xix, pp. 145-168), seems to leave little room for the contention of A. G. Little in the same volume (pp. 289-291) that the Seraphic Doctor visited Oxford towards the close of the year 1259.  Finally mention should be made of two other biographies in French, that of E. Clop (1922) and E. Gilson (1927), as also of the excellent appreciation of St Bonaventure in P. Gratien, Histoire de La fondation et de l'évolution de l'Ordre des Frères Mineurs...(1928), pp. 249-333.  A good bibliography is provided in the work last named, as also in DTC.  See also E. Longpré in DHG., t. ix, cc. 741-788, and in Dictionnaire de spintualité, t. i, cc. 1768-1843.  Bonaventure's Breviloquium, a concise summary of his teaching, was translated into English in 1946.
ST. BONAVENTURE: UNIQUENESS AND CONTINUITY OF THE CHURCH
VATICAN CITY, 10 MAR 2010 (VIS) - During today's general audience, celebrated in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope turned his attention to the written works and doctrine of St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio.
  St. Bonaventure "authentically and faithfully interpreted the figure of St. Francis of Assisi", said the Holy Father. He reacted against the "Spirituals" in the Franciscan Order who, drawing on the ideas of Joachim of Fiore, held that "with St. Francis the final phase of history had begun", and looked to the creation of a new Church of the Holy Spirit, "no longer tied to the structures of old". St. Bonaventure dealt with this question in his last work, "Hexaemeron", in which he explained that "God is one throughout history. ... History is one, even if it is a journey, a journey of progression. ... Jesus is the last word of God" and "there is no other Gospel, no other Church to be awaited. Thus the Order of St. Francis must also insert itself into this Church, into her faith and her hierarchical order.
  "This does not mean", Benedict XVI added, "that the Church is immobile, fixed in the past, that there is no room in her for novelty". With his famous expression "the works of Christ are not lacking but prospering", St. Bonaventure "explicitly formulated the idea of progress", certain "that the richness of the word of Christ is never ending and that it can also being new light to new generations. The uniqueness of Christ is also a guarantee of novelty and renewal in the future".
  The Holy Father noted how "today too opinions exist according to which the entire history of the Church in the second millennium is one of constant decline. Some people see this decline as having begun immediately after the New Testament". Yet, the Pope asked, "what would the Church be without the new spirituality of the Cistercians, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, the spirituality of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross? ... St. Bonaventure teaches us ... how to open ourselves to the new charisms given by Christ, in the Holy Spirit, to His Church".

  "Following Vatican Council II some people were convinced that all was new, that a new Church existed, that the pre-conciliar Church had come to an end and that there would be another, completely different Church, an anarchic utopia. Yet thanks to God the wise helmsmen of the ship of Christ, Paul VI and John Paul II, defended on the one hand the novelty of the Church and, at the same time, the uniqueness and continuity of the Church, which is always a Church of sinners, and always a place of grace".
  Going on then to comment of some of the saint's mystical and theological writings, "which were the core of his governance" of the Franciscan Order, the Pope identified the most important work as "Itinerarium mentis in Deum" (The Journey of the Mind to God). In that book St. Bonaventure explained that knowledge of God is a six-stage journey, culminating "in the full union with the Trinity through Jesus Christ, in imitation of St. Francis of Assisi".
  In St. Peter's Basilica, before today's general audience in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope met with a group of pilgrims from the Italian Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation, who were marking last October's beatification "of that outstanding Milanese priest".
  Referring to the "extraordinary activities" they undertake on behalf of "children in need, the disabled, the elderly, the terminally ill and in the vast field of assistance and healthcare", the Holy Father noted how "through your projects of solidarity you seek to continue the meritorious work begun by Blessed Carlo Gnocchi".
  "In this Year for Priests", the Pope concluded his remarks to the group, "the Church once again looks to him as a model to imitate. May his shining example support the efforts of those who dedicate themselves to serving the weakest, and arouse in priests the desire to rediscover and reinvigorate their awareness of the extraordinary gift of Grace that ordained ministry represents for the person who receives it, for the entire Church and for the world".
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July 15, 2010 St. Bonaventure (1221-1274)
Bonaventure, Franciscan, theologian, doctor of the Church, was both learned and holy. Because of the spirit that filled him and his writings, he was at first called the Devout Doctor; but in more recent centuries he has been known as the Seraphic Doctor after the “Seraphic Father” Francis because of the truly Franciscan spirit he possessed.  Born in Bagnoregio, a town in central Italy, he was cured of a serious illness as a boy through the prayers of Francis of Assisi. Later, he studied the liberal arts in Paris. Inspired by Francis and the example of the friars, especially of his master in theology, Alexander of Hales, he entered the Franciscan Order, and became in turn a teacher of theology in the university. Chosen as minister general of the Order in 1257, he was God’s instrument in bringing it back to a deeper love of the way of St. Francis, both through the life of Francis which he wrote at the behest of the brothers and through other works which defended the Order or explained its ideals and way of life.
Comment: Bonaventure so united holiness and theological knowledge that he rose to the heights of mysticism while yet remaining a very active preacher and teacher, one beloved by all who met him. To know him was to love him; to read him is still for us today to meet a true Franciscan and a gentleman.
1406  Saint Stephen of Makhra (Makhrishche) a native of Kiev; accepted monasticism at the monastery of the Caves, where he spent several years in deeds of obedience and prayer. The oppressions of the Latins compelled him to journey on to Moscow, where Great Prince Ivan II (1353-1359) graciously received him, permitting him to settle in the locale of Makhra not far from Gorodisch, 35 versts from the Sergeev monastery.
Having built himself a cell and spending his life at ascetic labors, and esteeming silence, he did not accept those wishing to join him.
Then he yielded to the requests, and in this way, in 1358 he founded a monastery, in which he was established as igumen.
Living near his monastery were the Yurkov brothers. Fearing that the land which they ruled might be given over to the monastery, they threatened to kill the holy ascetic. The admonitions of the monk did not help. St Stephen then moved to a different place. Sixty versts north of Vologda, at the River Avnezha, he founded with his disciple Gregory a monastery in the name of the Holy Trinity. Great Prince Demetrius Ioannovich sent books and other liturgical items to the Avnezhsk wilderness, but the venerable Stephen sent them in turn to the Makhra monastery. Having returned to his monastery, St Stephen ordered life in it according to a cenobitic Rule.
When St Sergius of Radonezh moved form his monastery, in order to find a place for his ascetic deeds, St Stephen then received him, and gave the great ascetic Sergius his own disciple Simon, who knew the surrounding area quite well. St Sergius settled together with Simon on the island of Kirzhach, where he founded a monastery.
St Stephen was strict with himself and indulgent towards others. He worked for the monastery the hardest of all, he zealously guided the brethren to the ways of salvation with gentle and quiet talks, and he worevery old and coarse clothing.
The monk lived to extreme old age, became a schemamonk and died in 1406 on July 14. In 1550 during the construction of a new stone church in the name of the Holy Trinity, his holy relics were found to be incorrupt. They were glorified by blessings of help in various sicknesses and misfortunes for all who called on the name of the saint
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1604 Blessed Caspar de Bono a silk merchant, then a trooper, and finally a Minim friar O. Minim. (AC)
Born in Valencia, Spain, in 1530; died 1604; beatified in 1786. Caspar was a silk merchant, then a trooper, and finally a Minim friar. After his ordination in 1561, he was twice appointed corrector provincial of the Spanish province of the order (Benedictines).
   BD CASPAR DE BONO was born at Valencia in Spain in the year 1530, of poor and undistinguished parents.  When he grew up he went into the silk trade, but he was unsuccessful, so he gave it up and took to soldiering.  He already had a suspicion of where his true vocation lay, and he spent as much time in prayer and meditation as his duties would allow, and contrived by the grace of God and his own firm will to lead a virtuous life, which was certainly no easier to do in an army in the sixteenth century than in the twentieth.  During the course of a battle he was badly wounded, and he made a vow that if he recovered he would join the Minims, the order of very austere and humble friars whose founder, St Francis of Paula, had been canonized a few years before Caspar's birth. This he accordingly did in 1560, and his superiors were so impressed by his virtues and ability that he was professed and ordained in the following year.
   Throughout his religious life he suffered acute bodily pain which he not only bore with patience and equanimity, but added to it by voluntary mortifications.
    He was twice elected corrector provincial of the Spanish province of his order, an office he filled with much efficiency, correcting, in accordance with its name, with prudence and charity and encouraging his
brethren to an unmitigated observance of their penitential rule.  He died in the friary at Valencia on July 14, 1604, and was beatified in 1786.
There is a modern life by Roberti (1904); and an older one by P. A. Miloni, who was postulator of the cause, written for the beatification.
1614 Camillus de Lellis, Priest To him the only people that mattered were the sick, for in serving them he was serving God charity was the only thing that made life worth living, the surest way of bringing man closer to God, the only true life-blood of the Church for the first time the patients were separated into different wards according to the nature of their maladie RM
Romæ natális sancti Camílli de Lellis, Presbyteri et Confessóris, Clericórum Regulárium infírmis ministrántium Institutóris; quem virtútibus et miráculis clarum, Summus Póntifex Benedíctus Décimus quartus in Sanctórum número recénsuit, et Leo Décimus tértius cæléstem hospitálium et infirmórum Patrónum renuntiávit.  Ipsíus tamen festívitas quintodécimo Kaléndas Augústi recólitur.
    At Rome, the birthday of St. Camillus de Lellis, priest and confessor, founder of the Clerks Regular for Ministering to the Sick.  Pope Benedict XIV numbered him among the saints because of the fame of his miracles and virtues; Pope Leo XIII appointed him heavenly protector of hospitals and of the sick.  His feast is observed on the 18th of July.

Born at Bucchianico, Abruzzi, Italy, 1550; canonized in 1746; feast day formerly July 18. To Saint Camillus de Lellis the only people that mattered were the sick, for in serving them he was serving God. With other people he was hard, brusque and obstinate, but with the sick he was gentle and loving. In his eyes charity was the only thing that made life worth living, the surest way of bringing man closer to God, the only true life-blood of the Church; charity that Saint Paul had said was greater even than faith and hope.

What makes the life of Saint Camillus all the more amazing is that he himself suffered from a disease of the feet and legs that forced him to leave the Capuchins.
Once a cardinal asked to see him while he was busy tending the sick.
 "His Excellency will have to excuse me," said Camillus.
"For the moment I am with Our Lord. I will see His Excellency when I have finished."
To another cardinal, who was a member of the administrative council for the hospitals in Rome, he said:
"Monsignor, if some of my poor people suffer from hunger or die because of this shortage of food,
I swear to God that I will accuse you in front of his mighty Judgment Seat."

   Camillus made sweeping reforms in the hospitals that were nothing short of revolutionary. His ideas were few and simple, but they were full of common sense and nobility of heart. At a time when medicine was backward, when attendants and orderlies were recruited from among hardened criminals and chaplains and almoners from among priests who had been suspended from their regular duties.
    The filth and squalor that had been a standard feature of hospitals were eliminated, and he himself would often get down on his knees and scrub the floor. New arrivals were washed, their beds were made regularly, the dirty linens were changed, wounds were dressed carefully, and for the first time the patients were separated into different wards according to the nature of their maladies.
   From the moment of entry, each patient was given personal attention. Day and night, Camillus would go from bed to bed, listening to complaints, watching over the dying, giving Communion and Extreme Unction, making sure that a person was properly cured before being allowed to leave, and seeing to it that the food served was of good quality and properly cooked.
   If the administration was slow in giving him the supplies that he needed, he would go out on foot or with a little donkey and beg from door to door. "I do not think," he said, "that in the whole world there is a field of flowers whose scent could be sweeter to me than is the small of these hospitals." "These holy places," as he once called the hospital, were also the best places to convert souls to God.
   His charity was not confined within the walls of the hospitals.He sought out the destitute who lived on the Quirinal or under the arches of the Coliseum. He visited the sick in their homes and organized a soup kitchen on the Piazza Maddalena.
     Nor did he confine himself to Rome, for he and his companions, the Camillans, extended their activities to Milan, Genoa, Florence, Mantua, Messina, Palermo, to the battlefields of Hungary where the Austrian and Italian armies were fighting against the Turks (1595- 1601), travelling on foot in shabby and travel-stained clothes, indifferent to the bitter cold of winter the scorching heat of summer.
"The sun is one of God's creatures," he said, "and will do me no more harm than God allows him to."
    Like many other saints, this man of genius had a wild and reckless youth before discovering his vocation. His mother was nearly 60 when he was born. His father was a minor nobleman who had been a captain in the army of Charles V. At the age of 17, the 6'6" youth went with his father to fight in the service of Venice against the Turks, but at the last moment he was prevented from joining his troops by an ulcerous growth in his right leg, a painful, ugly problem that was to remain with him throughout his life.
    After another attempt to serve in the Venetian forces, he went in 1571 to the hospital of Saint James (San Giacomo) in Rome for incurables as a patient and servant, but was soon dismissed. "This young man is incorrigible, and completely unsuited to be an infirmarian," said the report on him; but in fact he returned there several times, for the ulcer in his leg kept opening, and the only way in which he could have it attended to was by working in the hospital.  He entered the service of Spain, but the expedition against Tunis for which he enlisted was called off and the fleet was taken out of commission. Depressed, demoralized, and out of work, Camillus drifted about until he came to Naples where he fell into the habit of compulsive gambling. His few possessions--his sword, his cloak, his shirt--were soon lost, and he was reduced to a state of penury in the fall of 1574.
    For a while he lived by begging alms in church doors. Chastened by his penury and remembering a vow he had once made in a fit of remorse to join the Franciscans, Camillus contracted a job as a laborer on some Capuchins buildings in Manfredonia. On Candlemas Day, when he was 25, he entered the novitiate of Capuchins but could not be professed because of his leg. He was also denied by the Franciscan Recollects.
    Camillus returned to and was admitted to the hospital of Saint James, where he found his true vocation. Abandoning his attempts to become a Franciscan, at which he had tried and failed four times, he devoted himself to remedying the appalling conditions he found there. Two other members of the staff, Bernardino Norcino, a storeman, and Curtio Lodi, a steward, joined him to form the nucleus of the Camillans. Encouraged by Saint Philip Neri, he resigned from Saint James and in 1584 was ordained a priest by the exiled Thomas Goldwell of Saint Asaph, the last English bishop of the old hierarchy. He was given an annuity by Fermo Calvi, a gentleman of Rome. Camillus decided to leave Saint James, against the advice of his confessor, Philip Neri.
   After moving two or three times, he and his companions settled down in an establishment in the street called Botteghe Oscure. The short rules he prescribed for his order required going daily to the hospital of the Holy Ghost to serve.  Gradually the seed that he planted grew into a mighty tree. On March 18, 1586, Pope Sixtus V approved his congregation and in the same year the order received its distinctive habit--a black cloak with a red cross on the right shoulder. Soon afterwards they were given the hospice of the Magdalen near the Pantheon, and on September 21, 1591, Pope Gregory XIV raised them to the rank of an order, that of the "Ministers of the Sick."
   In 1588, he was invited to Naples, and with 12 companions founded a new house. Galleys holding plague victims were forbidden to dock, and Camillus and his members would embark to minister to the sick. Two brothers died, becoming the first martyrs of this order.
     Camillus himself was the first Prefect General of the order, which spread so rapidly that by 1607, seven years before his death, it had eight hospitals, 15 houses, and over 300 members; and already over 170 members had already died while carrying out their duties. To the three great vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the Camillans added a fourth: "O Lord, I promise to serve the sick, who are Your sons and my brothers, all the days of my life, with all possible charity"
   By 1591, Camillus was suffering several other painful diseases in addition to his ulcerous leg, but he refused to be waited upon. He resigned as superior in 1607. He assisted at the general chapter in 1613 and visited the houses with the new superior general. In Genoa, he became very ill, but recovered and continued the visitation. Camillus suffered a relapse and received the last sacraments from Cardinal Ginnasi. He had revolutionized nursing, insisting upon fresh air, suitable diets, isolation of infectious patients, and spiritual assistance to the dying, for which reason the order was also called "the Fathers of a Good Dying" or "Agonizantes" (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, White).
In art, Saint Camillus is a layman tending the sick (Roeder). He was declared the patron of the sick and their nurses by Leo XIII (Benedictines).
St. Camillus de Lellis Born at Bacchianico, Naples, 1550; died at Rome, 14 July, 1614.
   He was the son of an officer who had served both in the Neapolitan and French armies. His mother died when he was a child, and he grew up absolutely neglected. When still a youth he became a soldier in the service of Venice and afterwards of Naples, until 1574, when his regiment was disbanded. While in the service he became a confirmed gambler, and in consequence of his losses at play was at times reduced to a condition of destitution. The kindness of a Franciscan friar induced him to apply for admission to that order, but he was refused. He then betook himself to Rome, where he obtained employment in the Hospital for Incurables. He was prompted to go there chiefly by the hope of a cure of abscesses in both his feet from which he had been long suffering. He was dismissed from the hospital on account of his quarrelsome disposition and his passion for gambling. He again became a Venetian soldier, and took part in the campaign against the Turks in 1569. After the war he was employed by the Capuchins at Manfredonia on a new building which they were erecting. His old gambling habit still pursued him, until a discourse of the guardian of the convent so startled him that he determined to reform. He was admitted to the order as a lay brother, but was soon dismissed on account of his infirmity. He betook himself again to Rome, where he entered the hospital in which he had previously been, and after a temporary cure of his ailment became a nurse, and winning the admiration of the institution by his piety and prudence, he was appointed director of the hospital.
   While in this office, he attempted to found an order of lay infirmarians, but the scheme was opposed, and on the advice of his friends, among whom was his spiritual guide, St. Philip Neri, he determined to become a priest. He was then thirty-two years of age and began the study of Latin at the Jesuit College in Rome. He afterwards established his order, the Fathers of a Good Death (1584), and bound the members by vow to devote themselves to the plague-stricken; their work was not restricted to the hospitals, but included the care of the sick in their homes. Pope Sixtus V confirmed the congregation in 1586, and ordained that there should be an election of a general superior every three years. Camillus was naturally the first, and was succeeded by an Englishman, named Roger. Two years afterwards a house was established in Naples, and there two of the community won the glory of being the first martyrs of charity of the congregation, by dying in the fleet which had been quarantined off the harbour, and which they had visited to nurse the sick.
   In 1591 Gregory XIV erected the congregation into a religious order, with all the privileges of the mendicants. It was again confirmed as such by Clement VIII, in 1592. The infirmity which had prevented his entrance among the Capuchins continued to afflict Camillus for forty-six years, and his other ailments contributed to make his life one of uninterrupted suffering, but he would permit no one to wait on him, and when scarcely able to stand would crawl out of his bed to visit the sick. He resigned the generalship of the order, in 1607, in order to have more leisure for the sick and poor. Meantime he had established many houses in various cities of Italy.
   He is said to have had the gift of miracles and prophecy. He died at the age of sixty-four while pronouncing a moving appeal to his religious brethren. He was buried near the high altar of the church of St. Mary Magdalen, at Rome, and, when the miracles which were attributed to him were officially approved, his body was placed under the altar itself. He was beatified in 1742, and in 1746 was canonized by Benedict XIV.

[Note: In 1930, Pope Pius XI named St. Camillus de Lellis, together with St. John of God, principal Co-Patron of nurses and of nurses' associations.]
1679 Bl. Richard Langhorne English martyr educated at the Bedfordshire Inner Temple worked as a lawyer; arrested as conspirator in the so-called “Popish Plot.”
Born in Bedfordshire, he was educated at the Inner Temple and worked as a lawyer. He was arrested in 1667, released in 1679, then arrested again as a conspirator in the so-called “Popish Plot.”
He was hanged at Tybum o July 14. Richard was beatified in 1929.
Blessed Richard Langhorne M (AC) Born in Bedfordshire, England; died 1679; beatified in 1929. Richard Langhorne read law at the Inner Temple and was called to the bar in 1654. executed at Tyburn alleged complicity in the 'Popish Plot' (Benedictines)
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1610 Limæ, in Perúvia, sancti Francísci Soláni, Sacerdótis ex Ordine Minórum et Confessóris; qui, prædicatióne, signis et virtútibus apud Indos Occidentáles illústris, migrávit ad Dóminum, atque a Benedícto Décimo tértio, Pontífice Máximo, Sanctórum fastis adscríptus est.
    1610  At Lima in Peru, St. Francis Solano, a priest and confessor of the Order of Friars Minor.  He passed to the Lord in the West Indies, renowned for his preaching, miracles and virtues.  Pope Benedict XIII placed him on the canon of the saints.

Francis Solanus (Spanish: Francisco Solano) (10 March 1549 – 14 July 1610) was a Spanish missionary in South America, belonging to the Order of Friars Minor (the Franciscans).
Francis Solanus was born in Montilla, in the Diocese of Córdoba, Spain. He had distinguished parents named Mateo Sanchez Solano and Anna Ximenes. When Francis turned twenty years old, he joined the Franciscan Order at Montilla. Several years later he was sent by his superiors to the convent of Arifazza as master of novices. He sailed from Spain to the Americas in 1589 where he went to Peru via a ship on the Pacific side of the Panamanian isthmus.
For twenty years Francis worked at evangelizing the vast regions of Tucuman (present day northwestern Argentina) and Paraguay. He had a skill for languages and succeeded at learning many of the regions' native tongues in a fairly short period. It is claimed that he could also address tribes of different tongues in one language yet be understood by them all. Being a musician as well, Francis also played the violin frequently for the natives, which helped them relate better to him.
After that came Francis' election to guardian of the Franciscan convent in Lima, Peru. Further, he filled the office of custos of the convents of his order in Tucuman and Paraguay. (Among friars the names are reversed. Hence a group of men live in what is called a convent, while women live in a monastery).

1680 Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Virgin daughter of a Mohawk warrior; smallpox attacked Kateri and transfigured her face; teenage convert suffered greatly for her Faith; lived a life dedicated to prayer, penitential practices, care for sick and aged; devoted to the Eucharist and to Jesus Crucified;  first Native American declared a Blessed
Kateri was born near the town of Auriesville, New York, in the year 1656, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior. She was four years old when her mother died of smallpox. The disease also attacked Kateri and transfigured her face. She was adopted by her two aunts and an uncle. Kateri became converted as a teenager. She was baptized at the age of twenty and incurred the great hostility of her tribe.
Although she had to suffer greatly for her Faith, she remained firm in it. Kateri went to the new Christian colony of Indians in Canada. Here she lived a life dedicated to prayer, penitential practices, and care for the sick and aged. Every morning, even in bitterest winter, she stood before the chapel door until it opened at four and remained there until after the last Mass. She was devoted to the Eucharist and to Jesus Crucified. She died on April 7, 1680 at the age of twenty-four. She is known as the "Lily of the Mohawks". Devotion to Kateri is responsible for establishing Native American ministries in Catholic Churches all over the United States and Canada. Kateri was declared venerable by the Catholic Church in 1943 and she was Beatified in 1980. Work is currently underway to have her Canonized by the Church. Hundreds of thousands have visited shrines to Kateri erected at both St. Francis Xavier and Caughnawaga and at her birth place at Auriesville, New York. Pilgrimages at these sites continue today.
July 14, 2010  Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680)
The blood of martyrs is the seed of saints. Nine years after the Jesuits Isaac Jogues and John de Brébeuf were tortured to death by Huron and Iroquois Indians, a baby girl was born near the place of their martyrdom, Auriesville, New York. She was to be the first person born in North America to be beatified.

Her mother was a Christian Algonquin, taken captive by the Iroquois and given as wife to the chief of the Mohawk clan, the boldest and fiercest of the Five Nations. When she was four, Kateri lost her parents and little brother in a smallpox epidemic that left her disfigured and half blind. She was adopted by an uncle, who succeeded her father as chief. He hated the coming of the Blackrobes (missionaries), but could do nothing to them because a peace treaty with the French required their presence in villages with Christian captives. She was moved by the words of three Blackrobes who lodged with her uncle, but fear of him kept her from seeking instruction. Sh e refused to marry a Mohawk brave and at 19 finally got the courage to take the step of converting. She was baptized with the name Kateri (Catherine) on Easter Sunday.

Now she would be treated as a slave. Because she would not work on Sunday, she received no food that day. Her life in grace grew rapidly. She told a missionary that she often meditated on the great dignity of being baptized. She was powerfully moved by God’s love for human beings and saw the dignity of each of her people.

She was always in danger, for her conversion and holy life created great opposition. On the advice of a priest, she stole away one night and began a 200-mile walking journey to a Christian Indian village at Sault St. Louis, near Montreal.

For three years she grew in holiness under the direction of a priest and an older Iroquois woman, giving herself totally to God in long hours of prayer, in charity and in strenuous penance. At 23 she took a vow of virginity, an unprecedented act f or an Indian woman, whose future depended on being married. She found a place in the woods where she could pray an hour a day—and was accused of meeting a man there!

<>Her dedication to virginity was instinctive: She did not know about religious life for women until she visited Montreal. Inspired by this, she and two friends wanted to start a community, but the local priest dissuaded her. She humbly accepted an “ordinary” life. She practiced extremely severe fasting as penance for the conversion of her nation. She died the afternoon before Holy Thursday. Witnesses said that her emaciated face changed color and became like that of a healthy child. The lines of suffering, even the pockmarks, disappeared and the touch of a smile came upon her lips. She was beatified in 1980.

Comment:  We like to think that our proposed holiness is thwarted by our situation. If only we could have more solitude, less opposition, better health. Kateri repeats the example of the saints: Holiness thrives on the cross, anywhere. Yet she did have what Christians—all people—need: the support of a community. She had a good mother, helpful priests, Christian friends. These were present in what we call primitive conditions, and blossomed in the age-old Christian triad of prayer, fasting and alms: union with God in Jesus and the Spirit, self-discipline and often suffering, and charity for her brothers and sisters.

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Kateri said:  “I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus. He must be my only love. The state of helpless poverty that may befall me if I do not marry does not frighten me. All I need is a little food and a few pieces of clothing. With the work of my hands I shall always e arn what is necessary and what is left over I’ll give to my relatives and to the poor. If I should become sick and unable to work, then I shall be like the Lord on the cross. He will have mercy on me and help me, I am sure.”

Bl. Kateri Teckakwitha is the first Native American to be declared a Blessed. 
She is the patroness of the environment and ecology as is St. Francis of Assisi.
1809 St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountian Greek Monk and writer; entered the monastery of Athos in 1775 and worked with St. Macanus Nataras of Corinth to compile the Philokalia {means 'Love of what is beautiful'}, a massive compendium of monastic life and spirituality
Nikodemus vom Athos Orthodoxe Kirche: 14. Juli
Born in Naxos, Greece, he entered the monastery of Athos in 1775 and worked with St. Macanus Nataras of Corinth to compile the Philokalia, a massive compendium of monastic life and spirituality. Nicodemus also made translations of Western spiritual writings. He was canonized by the Orthodox Greek Church in 1955.
Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain was born on the Greek island of Naxos in the year 1748, and was named Nicholas at Baptism. At the age of twenty-six, he arrived on Mount Athos and received the monastic tonsure in the Dionysiou monastery with the name Nicodemus.
As his first obedience, Nicodemus served as his monastery's secretary. Two years after his entry into the Dionysiou monastery, the Metropolitan of Corinth, St Macarius Notaras (April 17), arrived there, and he assigned the young monk to edit the manuscript of the PHILOKALIA, which he found in 1777 at the Vatopedi monastery. Editing this book was the beginning of many years of literary work by St Nicodemus. The young monk soon moved to the Pantokrator skete, where he was under obedience to the Elder Arsenius of the Peloponnesos, under whose guidance he zealously studied Holy Scripture and the works of the Holy Fathers.
In 1783 St. Nicodemus was tonsured to the Great Schema, and he lived in complete silence for six years. When St Macarius of Corinth next visited Athos, he gave the obedience of editing of the writings of St. Symeon the New Theologian to St. Nicodemus, who gave up his ascetic silence and occupied himself once more with literary work. From that time until his death he continued zealously to toil in this endeavor.
Not long before his repose, Father Nicodemus, worn out by his literary work and ascetic efforts, went to live at the skete of the iconographers Hieromonks Stephen and Neophytus Skourtaius, who were brothers by birth. He asked them to help in the publication of his works, since he was hindered by his infirmity. There St. Nicodemus peacefully fell asleep in the Lord on July 14, 1809.
According to the testimony of his contemporaries, St. Nicodemus was a simple man, without malice, unassuming, and distinguished by his profound concentration. He possessed remarkable mental abilities: he knew the Holy Scriptures by heart, remembering even the chapter, verse and page, and he could even recite long passages from the writings of the Holy Fathers from memory.
The literary work of St. Nicodemus was varied. He wrote a preface to the PHILOKALIA, and short lives of the ascetics. Among the saint's ascetical works, his edition of Lorenzo Scupoli's book, UNSEEN WARFARE is well known, and has been translated into Russian, English, and other languages. A remarkable work of the ascetic was his MANUAL OF CONFESSION (Venice, 1794, 1804, etc.), summarized in his treatise, "Three Discourses on Repentance". His most edifying book CHRISTIAN MORALITY was published in Venice in 1803.
The saint also made great contributions by publishing liturgical books. Using materials from the manuscript collections of Mt Athos, he published sixty-two Canons to the Most Holy Theotokos -- the title, NEW THEOTOKARION (Venice, 1796, 1849).
St. Nicodemus prepared a new edition of the the PEDALION or RUDDER, comprised of the canons of the Holy Apostles, of the holy Ecumenical and Local Synods, and of the holy Fathers.
St Nicodemus had a special love for hagiography, as attested by his work, NEW EKLOGION (Venice, 1803), and his posthumous book, THE NEW SYNAXARION in three volumes (Venice, 1819). He completed a Modern Greek translation of a book by St Theophylact, Archbishop of Bulgaria, PAUL'S FOURTEEN EPISTLES in three volumes. St. Nicodemus himself wrote AN INTERPRETATION OF THE SEVEN CATHOLIC EPISTLES (also published at Venice in 1806 and 1819).
The exceedingly wise Nicodemus is also known as the author and interpreter of hymns. His Canon in honor of the Mother of God "Quick to Hear" (November 9) and his "Service and Encomium in Honor of the Fathers who Shone on the Holy Mountain of Athos" are used even beyond the Holy Mountain. Some of his other books include the HEORTODROMION, an interpretation of the Canons which are sung on Feasts of the Lord and of the Mother of God (Venice, 1836), and THE NEW LADDER, an interpretation of the 75 Hymns of Degrees (Anabathmoi) of the liturgical book called the OKTOECHOS (Constantinople, 1844).
Nikodemus vom Athos Orthodoxe Kirche: 14. Juli
Nikolaus (den Namen Nikodemus (Nikodimos) nahm er als Mönch an) wurde 1748 auf der Insel Naxos (Griechenland) geboren. Er studierte Theologie in Smyrna (Izmir), ging aber nach Naxos zurück, als die Türken griechische Bewohner töteten. Er war dann Sekretär des Metropoliten auf Naxos und kam hier mit Mönchen vom Berg Athos zusammen. Er brach 1775 zum Athos auf und besuchte vorher den früheren Erzbischof Makarios, der als einfacher Mönch auf einer kleinen Insel lebte. Mit Makarios zusammen verfaßte er dann mehrere Schriften zu verschiedenen Themen. Das erste Buch zu der strittigen Frage der Häufigkeit der Kommunion wurde zeitweise verboten. Ihr größtes Werk war die "Philokalie", die erstmals 1792 erschien, eine Sammlung von Texten von mehr als 30 ostkirchlichen Schriftstellern aus dem 3. bis 15. Jahrhundert zum Jesusgebet. Dieses Werk hat die orthodoxe Spiritualität maßgeblich beeinflußt. Nikolaus setzte sich außerdem für die Anerkennung der von Türken ermordeten Griechen als Neu-Märtyrer ein. Er starb 1809 auf dem Athos. Da er auf dem Athos lebte, trägt er auch den Beinamen Hagiorit. Er wurde 1955 vom Synod des ökumenischen Patriarchats heilig gesprochen .

Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain Born on Naxos, c. 1748; died on Mount Athos, July 14, 1809; canonized by the Orthodox Church in 1955.
In 1775, Nicodemus, a 26-year-old student, was forced by Turkish persecutors to flee from Smyrna. He joined a Dionysiou Monastery on Mount Athos, which Greeks call the 'Holy Mountain,' and stayed there for the rest of his life. Nicodemus was one of the two best- known Greek religious writers of his age, a canonist, hagiographer, liturgist, ascetic, and mystic.
He found inspiration in the writings of western Catholic Christians as well as in those of his own Orthodox Church. He translated into Greek the Spi ritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, upon which he modelled a volume of meditations, and the Spiritual Combat of Lorenzo Scupoli. He saw the rules of the church as a means of guiding men and women in the right direction, the way a rudder guides a ship, so he made a collection of Greek church laws that he called the Pidalion, which in Greek means 'rudder.'
His greatest work, compiled in collaboration with Saint Macarius of Corinth (who had been driven from his diocese by the Turks), was to edit and publish a book on mysticism and prayer, the Philokalia (which means 'Love of what is beautiful'), which was first printed in Venice in 1782. The book concerns itself above all with a prayer renowned in Greek Christendom, the so- called 'Jesus-prayer':
        Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me.
The Philokalia is a collection of passages from the spiritual writings of the Greek fathers and ascetics, which has had a deep and lasting influence among Eastern Orthodox Christians. An Athonite abbot has written that "Almost all the monks of the Holy Mountain regard Saint Nicodemus as their chief elder and spiritual guide." Two volumes of extracts from the Russian version of the Philokalia were published in English in 1951 and 1954 (Attwater, Bentley).
1866 John Keble Er schrieb Bücher mit Gedichten und Hymnen
Anglikanische Kirche: 14. Juli
John Keble wurde 1792 geboren. Er studierte in Oxford, wurde 1816 ordiniert und von 1818 bis 1823 war er als Tutor in Oxford tätig. 1827 gab er den Gedichtband 'The Christian Year' mit Gedichten zu den Sonn- und Festtagen des Kirchenjahres heraus. Drei seiner Gedichte werden heute noch als Kirchenlieder gesungen. Von 1831 bis 1841 hatte Keble eine Profesur in Oxford inne. Seine Predigt am 14. Juli 1833, in der er eine Wiederbelebung der Kirche forderte, war der Beginn des Oxford Movements oder Tractarian Movements (wegen der 90 veröffentlichten Traktate zur Reformation der anglikaischen Kirche). Keble wirkte von 1836 bis zu seinem Tod am 29.3.1866 als Pfarrer in Hursley (bei Winchester). Er schrieb Bücher mit Gedichten und Hymnen. Drei Jahre nach seinem Tode errichteten Freunde das Keble College in Oxford
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1929 Karolina Utriainen in Finnland geboren Über fünfzig Jahre hielt Karolina Utriainen über 20.000 Predigten, von denen viele aufgeschrieben und auf Tonträgern aufgezeichnet wurden
Evangelische Kirche: 14. Juli
Karolina Utriainen wurde am 30.6.1843 in Finnland geboren. Als neunjährige fiel sie das erstemal in Bewußtlosigkeit und begann zu predigen. Diese Gabe kam immer wieder über Karolina und ihre Predigten lösten eine Erweckungsbewegung aus. Zunächst kam die Gabe unregelmäßig über sie, in späteren Jahren immer morgens um 5 Uhr. Über fünfzig Jahre hielt Karolina Utriainen über 20.000 Predigten, von denen viele aufgeschrieben und auf Tonträgern aufgezeichnet wurden. Abgesehen von ihrer Predigtgabe war sie Hausfrau auf einem großen Bauerngut und Mutter von vier Kindern. 1913 hörte die Predigtgabe auf, kehrte aber 1926 zurück und begleitete sie bis zu ihrem Tod am 14.07.1929
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THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 174

A hymn becometh thee, O Lady, in Sion: praise and jubilation in Jerusalem.

The Lord hath given thee the blessing of all nations: praise and glory in the sight of all peoples.

The Lord hath blessed thee in His mercy: and hath set thy throne above all the orders of angels.

He hath placed grace and beauty in thy lips: and with a mantle of glory he hath clothed thy body.

He hath set a resplendent crown upon thy head: and hath adorned thee with the jewels of virtues.

Rejoice, ye Heavens, and be glad, O Earth: because Mary will console her servants and will have mercy on her poor.

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

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea.  As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences.  Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.  Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.   God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heavenonly 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 htmIndulgences 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 2000Quang 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  UniateChalcedon

Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BLay Saints  Miraculous_IconMiraculous_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
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1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800   1900 Lay Saints

The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him
For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.
Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here} 2000 years of the Catholic Church in China
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos  Practical Guide to Holiness
1. Go to Mass with deepest devotion. 2. Spend a half hour to reflect upon your main failing & make resolutions to avoid it.
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible.  4. Say the rosary every day.
5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament; toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour, 6.  Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day.
7.  Every month make a review of the month in confession.
8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue.
9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion. 10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
   These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.

Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.

O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)
1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.
Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).
In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

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

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.  Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine.  The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches.  The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice."  According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates.  Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor.  Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.
Meeting of the Saints  walis (saints of Allah)
Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.
So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life.  But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA)
1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.
801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions.  Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq.  She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186).  Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186).  She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching.  As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director.  She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222).  A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid.  The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind.  She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca:  "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God.  She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker.  Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219).  During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?'  I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them.  I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me?  Is it not God Who wills it?  When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will?  It is not  well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic.  It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187).  She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world.  A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill.  Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?"  (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold.  She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him.  And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance.  She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did.  For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself.  The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other.  When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from.  "From that other world," she said.  "And where are you going?" she was asked.  "To that other world," she replied (219).  She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end.  Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love.  In this quest, logic and reason were powerless.  Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition.  Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved.  Through this communion, she could discover His will for her.  Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul."  [224]

To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:
Eternal Word Television Network 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Irondale, AL 35210  USA
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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey  Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

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

Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America
Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist, 1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919); George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement
1362-1950 (1952);

The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;
  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and Indulgence Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary
spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the
life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon
Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.

The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}.
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 
It Makes No Sense
Not To Believe In GOD
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

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

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

Father Corapi's academic credentials are quite extensive. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Pace University in the seventies. Then as an older man returned to the university classrooms in preparation for his life as a priest and preacher. He received all of his academic credentials for the Church with honors: a Masters degree in Sacred Scripture from Holy Apostles Seminary and Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctorate degrees in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre in Spain.

Father John Corapi goes to the heart of the contemporary world's many woes and wars, whether the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, or the Congo, or the natural disasters that seem to be increasing every year, the moral and spiritual war is at the basis of everything. “Our battle is not against human forces,” St. Paul asserts, “but against principalities and powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness...” (Ephesians 6:12). 
The “War to end all wars” is the moral and spiritual combat that rages in the hearts and minds of human beings. The outcome of that  unseen fight largely determines how the battle in the realm of the seen unfolds.  The title talk, “With the Moon Under Her Feet,” is taken from the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and deals with the current threat to the world from radical Islam, and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the ultimate victory that will result in the conversion of Islam. Few Catholics are aware of the connection between Islam, Fatima, and Guadalupe. Presented in Father Corapi's straight-forward style, you will be both inspired and educated by him.

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


God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8 Martyrs Move Closer to Sainthood 8 July, 2016
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 8 July, 2016

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

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

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

On the List Are Lay Founder of a Hospital and Eastern Catholic Religious
VATICAN CITY, June 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Today, the Vatican announced that during the celebration of the feast of Christ the King on Sunday, November 23, an ordinary public consistory will be held for the canonization of the following six blesseds, who include a lay founder of a hospital for the poor, founders of religious orders, and two members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See:
-Giovanni Antonio Farina (1803-1888), an Italian bishop who founded the Institute of the Sisters Teachers of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts
-Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871), a Syro-Malabar priest in India who founded the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate
-Ludovico of Casoria (1814-1885), an Italian Franciscan priest who founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth
-Nicola Saggio (Nicola da Longobardi, 1650-1709), an Italian oblate of the Order of Minims
-Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877-1952), an Indian Carmelite of the Syro-Malabar Church
-Amato Ronconi (1238-1304), an Italian, Third Order Franciscan who founded a hospital for poor pilgrims

CAUSES OF SAINTS July 2015.
Pope Recognizes Heroic Virtues of Ukrainian Archbishop
Recognition Brings Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky Closer to Beatification
By Junno Arocho Esteves Rome, July 17, 2015 (ZENIT.org)
Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky. According to a communique released by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father met this morning with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia 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  
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Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  Uniates, PSALTER  BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 174 2022