90 St. Philip the Deacon "Acts" ministering to needy members of the Church 1st preacher in Samaria converted Simon Magus then eunuch chief treasurer of the Queen of Ethiopia on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza
Cæsaréæ, in Palæstína, natális beáti Philíppi, qui fuit unus de septem primis Diáconis. Hic, signis et prodígiis clarus, Samaríam ad Christi fidem convértit, et Regínæ Æthíopum Cándacis Eunúchum baptizávit, ac demum apud Cæsaréam requiévit. Juxta ipsum tres Vírgines, ejus fíliæ ac Prophetíssæ, tumulátæ jacent; nam quarta fília ejus, plena Spíritu Sancto, Ephesi occúbuit.
At Caesarea in Palestine, the birthday of blessed Philip, one of the first seven deacons. He was renowned for miracles and prodigies. He converted Samaria to the faith of Christ, baptized the eunuch of Candace, queen of Ethiopia, and finally rested in peace at Caesarea. Near him are buried three of his daughters, virgins and prophetesses. His fourth daughter died at Ephesus, filled with the Holy Ghost.

1^st v. ST PHILIP THE DEACON

ALL that is actually known about St Philip is to be found in the Acts of the Apostles. His name suggests that he was of Greek origin, but St Isidore of Pelusium asserts that he was born at Caesarea. He stands second in the list of the seven' deacons specially set aside in the early days of the Church to look after its needy members, in order that the Apostles might be free to devote themselves exclusively to the ministry of the word. The work of the deacons, however, soon developed, and we find them ministering to the priest at the Eucharist, baptizing in the absence of a priest, and preaching the Gospel. St Philip in particular was so zealous in spreading the faith that he was surnamed the Evangelist. When the disciples dispersed after the martyrdom of St Stephen he carried the light of the Gospel to Samaria. His great success induced the Apostles at Jerusalem to send St Peter and St John to confirm his converts. Simon Magus, whom he had baptized, was amongst his adherents. St Philip was probably still in Samaria when an angel directed him to go south to the road that led from Jerusalem to Gaza. There he came upon one of the chief officials of Queen Candace of Ethiopia. The man, who was presumably an African proselyte of the Jews, was returning from a religious visit to the temple at Jerusalem, and was sitting in his chariot studying with some perplexity the prophecies of Isaias. St. Philip joined him, and explained that the prophecies had found their meaning and fulfilment in the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ. The eunuch believed and was baptized. St Philip was then led by the Spirit to Azotus, where he preached, as he continued to do in all the cities through which he passed until he reached Caesarea, perhaps his ordinary place of residence. Some twenty-four years later, when St Paul came to Caesarea, he lodged in the house where St Philip lived with his four unmarried daughters, who were prophetesses. According to a later Greek tradition St Philip afterwards became bishop of Tralles, in Lydia.

See the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. i, and cf. what is said under St Philip the Apostle, May I. The commemoration of the Deacon Philip on this day seems to be due to a blunder of the martyrologist Ado, who identified another martyr, Philip of Noviodunum in Moesia, whose name occurs in the Hieronymianum, with the Deacon of the New Testament.

Philip we are told in Acts in the Bible is one of the seven chosen to assist the Apostles by ministering to the needy members of the Church so the Apostles could be free to preach the Gospels. He was the first to preach in Samaria, where he converted Simon Magus and then a eunuch who was chief treasurer of the Queen of Ethiopia on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip preached in the coastal cities on the way to his home at Caesarea, and twenty-four years later, St. Paul stayed at his home in Caesarea, where he still lived with his four unmarried daughters. A Greek tradition has him become Bishop of Tralles, Lydia. He was so successful in his preaching that he was sometimes surnamed "the Evangelist," which has sometimes caused him to be confused with Philip the Apostle.

Romæ sancti Artémii, cum uxóre sua Cándida, et fília Paulína. Ex his Artémius, ad prædicatiónem et mirácula sancti Petri Exorcístæ, ad Christum convérsus, et, cum omni domo sua, a sancto Marcellíno Presbytero baptizátus, Seréni Judicis jussu plumbátis cæsus et gládio percússus est; uxor vero ejus et fília, in cryptam impúlsæ, lapídibus ruderibúsque sunt óbrutæ.
At Rome, St. Artemius, with his wife Candida and his daughter Paulina. Artemius became a believer through the preaching and miracles of St. Peter the Exorcist, who was baptized with all his household by the priest St. Marcellinus. By order of Judge Serenus, he was scourged with leaded whips, and then slain with the sword. His wife and daughter were forced into a pit and covered with stones and earth.

293 Archelais, Thekla and Susanna Holy Virgin Martyrs sought salvation in a small monastery near Rome received the gift of healing from God in the nineteenth century, St Susanna appeared to a disciple of Elder Boniface saying, "We must pray to God with the soul, the mind, and the heart." She is described as a maiden of untold beauty, with a soft, pleasant voice.

During the persecution by Diocletian (284-305), the holy virgins dressed themselves in men's clothing, cut their hair and went to the Italian province of Campagna. Settling in a remote area, they continued to pursue an ascetical life of fasting and prayer. They received the gift of healing from God, and treated the local inhabitants, converting many pagans to Christ.

When the governor of the district heard about them, he had them brought to Salerno. He threatened St Archelais with torture and death if she did not offer sacrifice to idols. With firm hope in the Lord, the saint refused to submit to the command, and she denounced the folly of worshipping soulless statues. Then the governor ordered the saint to be torn apart by hungry lions, but the beasts meekly lay at her feet. In a rage the governor ordered the lions to be killed, and locked the holy virgins in prison.

In the morning, having suspended St Archelais, the torturers began to rake her with iron utensils and pour hot tar on the wounds. The saint prayed even more loudly, and suddenly a light shone over her and a voice was heard, "Fear not, for I am with you."

The saint was defended by the power of God. When they wanted to crush her with an immense stone, an angel pushed it to the other side, and it crushed the torturers instead. A judge ordered soldiers to behead the holy virgins, but the soldiers did not dare to put their hands upon the saints. Then Sts Archelais, Thekla and Susanna said to the soldiers, "If you do not fulfill the command, you shall have no respect from us." The holy martyrs were beheaded in 293.

In the nineteenth century, St Susanna appeared to a disciple of Elder Boniface saying, "We must pray to God with the soul, the mind, and the heart." She is described as a maiden of untold beauty, with a soft, pleasant voice.

300 20 Marytrs of Tarsus A group of twenty martyrs slain at Tarsus, in modern Turkey
Tarsi, in Cilícia, sanctórum Mártyrum vigínti, qui, tempóribus Diocletiáni et Maximiáni, sub Simplício Júdice, per divérsa torménta glorificavérunt Deum in corpóribus suis.
At Tarsus in Cilicia, in the time of Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, and the governor Simplicius, twenty holy martyrs, who, through various torments to their bodies, glorified God.
during the reign of Emperor Diocletian c 243-316.

303 St. Vincent of Bevagna 1st Bishop of Bevagna in Umbria martyr
Italy, who was martyred under Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305). Vincent is listed as the first bishop of that diocese.

410 St. Cocca Patroness of Kilcock Patroness of Kilcock on the borders of Counties Meath and Kildare in Ireland, also called Cucca or Cuach.

St. Ceratius Bishop of Grenoble present at the Council of Orange in 441
455 ST CERATIUS, OR CERASE, BISHOP OF GRENOBLE
THE accounts in which Bishop Ceratius is mentioned are meagre and apparently conflicting. But we have definite data which prove his existence as bishop of Grenoble in the middle of the fifth century- and also that he was honoured in that city a century or so later on June 6. We know that he was present at the Council of Orange in 441, also that he with two other Gaulish bishops wrote to Pope St Leo the Great in 450, and finally there is mention of him in a letter written to the same pope by Eusebius of Milan. On the other hand, the Gascons claim a Ceratius, or Cerasius, as the founder and first occupant of the see of Eauze, later the diocese of Auch. His relics are said to be preserved in the abbey of Simorre, near Lombez. Theories have been broached that the saint was driven from Grenoble by the persecution of the Burgundian Arians and then migrated to Aquitaine to found what is now the see of Auch. There is, however, no historical evidence to support these conjectures. The cultus of St Ceratius of Grenoble was confirmed in 1903.

The Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. i, 708-710, and vol. ii, p. lxxxviii, endeavoured without success to find an acceptable solution of the difficulty. See Delehaye's commentary on the Hieronymianum, where St Ceratius's name is entered on June 6 as bishop of Grenoble, and also Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. i, p. 231.

Data which prove his existence as bishop of Grenoble in the middle of the fifth century and also that he was honored in that city a century or so later on June 6. We know that he was present at the Council of Orange in 441, also that he with two other Gallish bishops wrote to Pope St. Leo the Great in 450, and finally there is mention of him in a letter written to the same Pope by Eusebius of Milan.
On the other hand, the Gascons claim a Ceratius or Cerasius, as the founder and first occupant of the See of Eauze, later the diocese of Auch. His relics are said to be preserved in the Abbey of Simorre, near Lombez. Theories have been broached that the saint had been driven from Grenoble by the persecution of the Burgundian Arians and then migrated to Aquitaine to found what is now the See of Auch. There is, however, no historical evidence to support these conjectures. The cultus of St. Ceratius of Grenoble was confirmed in 1903.

455 St. Gudwal solitary anchorite succeeded St. Malo, as bishop in Brittany relics are venerated in Ghent, Belgium.
Abbot and Bishop in Cornwall, Near Penzance
6th v. ST GUDWAL, OR GURVAL
ST GUDWAL, whom the most recent historical research identifies with St Gurval, was probably one of the earliest of the missionaries who evangelized Brittany. His name figures prominently in the ancient Armorican litanies, notably in that of the Missal of S.-Vougay where he comes third in the list of the seven pioneer saints of Brittany, St Samson being first and St Malo second. That he was, as tradition states, a native of Britain is likely but not certain. On the inland sea of Etel he founded the monastery of "Plecit" near the island called after him, Locoal, which still remains the centre of his cultus. He made other settlements on the mainland in the vicinity and a more distant one at Guer, which annually celebrates his feast with a procession to St Gurval's holy well. Moreover, the chapel of St Stephen in the parish of Guer, which is described as the oldest religious monument in the department of Morbihan, is regarded by at least one modern archaeologist as having been St Gurval's hermitage.
We have, unfortunately, no trustworthy account of the saint's activities. He appears to have died in one of his monasteries which stood in a wood, but his body was taken back to Locoal after his death. When the Northmen invaded Brittany in the tenth century the relics of St Gudwal were removed for safety, first to Picardy and then to Ghent, in the abbey of St Peter. Long years afterwards a monk compiled a Latin life of the saint, ultimately based on such scanty oral or written tradition as had survived, but so much amplified by fictitious details as to be quite unreliable. Even less worthy of credence is a late tradition from Saint-Malo which claims St Gurval or Gudwal as one of its bishops. He may have been a regionary bishop, but he was never bishop of Saint-Malo. As Canon Doble points out, the cultus of St Gudwal was probably introduced into that region from Guer which, though in the south of Brittany and geographically belonging to the diocese of Vannes, actually was in the middle ages under the jurisdiction of the bishops of Saint-Malo.
The parish of Gulval, near Penzance, takes its name from St Gulval, Gwelvel, or Welvela, but it is not known what connection, if any, there was between the Breton saint and the Celtic founder of that remote parish.

By far the most thorough investigation of the problems presented by the history of St Gudwal is that of Canon Doble in his collection of "Cornish Saints" (1933). With the exception of a brief reference in the Abbé Duine's Memento (p. 147), the account given by most earlier writers such as Baring-Gould and Fisher, LBS., vol. iii, pp. 150 and 161, needs revision. The subject finds a place in several collections such as DNB. and Stanton's Menology.

St. Gudwall, Gunwall, or Gunvell, was born in Wales about A.D. 500. Being entirely devoted to religion, he collected eighty-eight monks in a little island called Plecit, being no more than a rock surrounded by water. For some reason however, he abandoned this establishment, and passed by sea into Cornwall; and from thence he went into Devonshire, where he betook himself to the most holy, perfect, and useful state of a solitary anchorite; at length however again emerging, he sailed into Brittany, and there succeeded St. Malo, as bishop of that see, although he is said even then to have dwelt in a solitary cell, and to have died there at a very advanced age. His relics have been widely distributed, and various places in France have been called by his name.

St. Gudwal is known to have been a prominent figure in the Breton Church during the sixth century, from whence his relics were removed during a period of Viking activity. They were translated with due ceremony in 959 to the abbey of Mont Blandin, Ghent, where subsequently his feast was kept on 6 June. His relics are venerated in Ghent, Belgium.

461 Departure Of St. Simon the Stylite led a great ascetic life in worship and prayer
On this day of the year 461 A.D., St. Simon departed. He was born in Antioch in 392 A.D. His father's name was John, and his mother's name was Martha. Many miraculous things happened because of him. Before his mother had conceived of him, St. John the Baptist appeared to her in a dream and told her of her conception and what he would become. At age sixteen, he became a monk in the mountain of Antioch, and he led a great ascetic life in worship and prayer. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and guided him in his monastic life to the life of St. Pachomius. He excelled in his worship to a level beyond the normal human level, so that he lived alone on a high place like a pillar, for 45 years, during which he ate grass.

This father wrote many useful ascetic teachings, and explained many church books. He departed in peace. May his prayers be with us, and glory be to God forever. Amen.

466 Saint Bessarion Wonderworker of Egypt an Egyptian baptized while still in his youth led a strict life, striving to preserve the grace given him during Baptism
Seeking to become more closely acquainted with the monastic life, he journeyed to the holy places. He was in Jerusalem, he visited St Gerasimus (March 4) in the Jordanian wilderness, he viewed other desert monasteries, and assimilated all the rules of monastic life.

Upon his return, he received monastic tonsure and became a disciple of St Isidore of Pelusium (February 4). St Bessarion took a vow of silence, and partook of food only once a week. Sometimes he remained without food or drink for forty days. Once, the saint stood motionless for forty days and forty nights without food or sleep, immersed in prayer.

St Bessarion received from God the gift of wonderworking. When his disciple was very thirsty, he sweetened bitter water. By his prayer the Lord sent rain upon the earth, and he could cross a river as if on dry land. With a single word he cast out devils, but he did this privately to avoid glory.

His humility was so great that once, when a priest ordered someone from the skete to leave church for having fallen into sin, Bessarion also went with him saying, "I am a sinner, too." St Bessarion slept only while standing or sitting. A large portion of his life was spent under the open sky in prayerful solitude. He peacefully departed to the Lord in his old age.

Our Holy Father Bessarion June 6 SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
Born and educated in Egypt, he devoted himself to the spiritual life at an early age, and `never soiled the spiritual garment in which he was clothed at his baptism'. He visited St Gerasim by the Jordan and learned from St Isidore of Pelusium. He conquered his flesh in strict fasting and vigils, but, as far as possible, hid his asceticism from men. He once spent forty days in prayer, neither eating nor sleeping, and had one single garment that he wore summer and winter. He had a great gift of wonderworking. He had no fixed abode, but lived in the mountains and forests, healing the sick and performing many other miracles to help men and glorify God. He entered peacefully into rest in 466.
(In the Greek Prologue, this saint is commemorated on February 20th.)

518 St. Eustorgius II Reportedly a Greek who lived in Rome spent vast amounts of money ransoming members of his flock

Medioláni deposítio sancti Eustórgii Secúndi, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
At Milan, the death of St. Eustorgius II, bishop and confessor.

518 ST EUSTORGIUS II, BISHOP OF MILAN
IT is the proud, if somewhat misleading, boast of the diocese of Milan that no less than thirty-six of her archbishops and bishops are reckoned among the saints. *[This does not mean that they have all been canonized by any formal process, but only that the names of many early occupants of the see appear in the episcopal lists with the prefix sanctus. We know nothing of the compilers of these lists, or of their competence to pronounce judgement.] Of these, two were called Eustorgius. - The second bearer of the name succeeded in 512 and ruled the see for nearly seven years; he is said by some writers to have been, like Eustorgius I, of Greek origin, and to have lived in Rome during the reigns of Popes Gelasius, Symmachus and Hormisdas. His episcopate seems to have been uneventful; he is described as having been a man of great virtue, an excellent shepherd of his people and a defender of the patrimony of the Church. He also beautified and perhaps enlarged the baptistery his predecessor had built. He received into his house, instructed, baptized and ordained a young native of Pannonia called Florian, who afterwards preached the Gospel in Berry and, under the name of St Laurien, is venerated by the French as having been martyred by Arians near Vatan, and by the Spanish as having become bishop of Seville. St Eustorgius was buried in the church of St Lawrence, in Milan, where his relics are still preserved.

In the short notice devoted to this Eustorgius II in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. i, two documents are quoted from Cassiodorus which show that King Theodoric the Great regarded the holy bishop with much respect. We also have a letter addressed to him by St Avitus of Vienne, but, except for some short Breviary lessons, this is almost all we know about him. See, further, Savio, Gli antichi Vescovi d'Italia; La Lombardia (1913), pp. 6-10, 108-114, 217-221.

Eustorgius was made bishop of Milan in 512, was respected for his ability and holiness, and spent all of his resources ransoming members of his flock who had been captured by the barbarians.
Eustorgius II of Milan B (RM) Died 518. Saint Eustorgius was a Roman priest who was named bishop of Milan in 512. He spent vast amounts of money ransoming members of his flock who had been taken prisoner by the barbarian invaders (Benedictines).

550 St. Jarlath, Bishop founder and principle patron of the Archdiocese of Tuam in Galway pupils were St. Brendan of Clonfert and St. Colman of Cloyne
550 ST JARLA TH, BISHOP OF TUAM
THE archdiocese of Tuam in Galway venerates St Jarlath as its principal patron and as the founder of its ancient episcopal seat. This saint is not to be identified with his earlier namesake, one of St Patrick's disciples, who became bishop of Armagh, and whose festival is kept on February II. St Jarlath of Tuam ranks with the second class of Irish saints, viz. those whose activities belong rather to the sixth than to the fifth century. No traditional "acts" are available for the reconstruction of the saint's history: only a bare outline of his career can be derived from allusions to him in glosses of late date-allusions which are often puzzling and do not always agree. His father is said to have belonged to the noble Conmaicne family which dominated a large district in Galway, and his mother, called Mongfinn, or the Lady of the Fair Tresses, was the daughter of Cirdubhan of the Cenneans. The date of his birth is quite unknown. In early youth he was sent to be trained by a holy man, who eventually ordained him and his cousin Caillin, or perhaps presented them for ordination. St Benignus is quoted by some writers as having been that master, but Benignus died about the year 469, when Jarlath could scarcely have been old enough for the priesthood. It seems probable that the writers were confusing him with the other Jarlath, who succeeded St Benignus in the see of Armagh. As a priest St Jarlath is supposed to have returned to his native district, where he founded a monastery at Cluain Fois-the meadow of rest-a short distance from the present town of Tuam. Over this community he ruled as abbot- bishop, honoured by all for his piety and learning. In connection with the monastery he opened a school which attained great renown. Among his pupils were St Brendan of Clonfert, and St Colman son of Lénine, the "royal bard of Munster", who went to study at Cluain Fois after he had been induced by St Brendan and St Ita to renounce his worldly career. St Jarlath appears to have died about the middle of the sixth century. His feast is kept throughout Ireland.

The whole matter is very uncertain, though Colgan, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. i, pp. 307-308, professes to give some account of this saint. There are references to him in Healy, Ireland's Ancient Schools and Scholars; J. Ryan, Irish Monasticism; and O'Hanlon, LIS. And see Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iv, pp. 147-186.

Jarlath is regarded as the founder and principle patron of the Archdiocese of Tuam in Galway, Ireland. He belonged to the Conmaicne family, perhaps the most important and powerful family in Galway during that period. Jarlath was trained by a holy man and ordained a priest along with his cousin. He then founded the monastery of Cluain Fois, just outside Tuam, and presided over that monastery as abbot-bishop. Later, Jarlath opened a school attached to the monastery, one which soon became known as a great center of learning. St. Brendan of Clonfert and St. Colman of Cloyne were among his pupils at the school. Jarlath died around 550 A.D.

590 St. Alexander of Fiesole Bishop and martyr halted encroachment of nobles into affairs of faith they martyred him
In agro Bononiénsi sancti Alexándri, Epíscopi Fæsuláni et Mártyris; qui, rédiens ex urbe Papía, ubi Ecclésiæ suæ bona apud Longobardórum Regem ab usurpatóribus vindicáverat, ab his in Rhenum flúvium est dejéctus et aquis præfocátus.
In the district of Bologna, St. Alexander, bishop of Fiesole and martyr. While returning from the town of Pavia, where he had defended the title to the goods of his church before the Lombard king against those taking them away, he was seized by the usurpers, cast into the Rhine river, and drowned.
Fell prey to the political ambitions of the nobles of Lombardy, Italy. Alexander was the bishop of Fiesole, where he halted the encroachment of the nobles into affairs of the faith. When the nobles attempted to dictate Church matters and place their clients in positions of power, they faced Alexander. He defended the Church, and in revenge, the nobles had Alexander drowned near Bologna.

590 Alexander of Fiesole M (RM) Died near Bologna in 590. Alexander, bishop of Fiesole in Tuscany, Italy, was a fierce defender of the Church against the heresy of the kings of Lombardy. His opponents waylaid him near Bologna and drowned him in the Reno River (Benedictines).

7th v. St. John of Verona successor of St. Maurus active protecting the poor

Verónæ sancti Joánnis Epíscopi. At Verona, the bishop St. John.

Bishop of Verona, Italy. He was the successor of St. Maurus and was active in protecting the poor of his region.

John of Verona B (RM) 7th century. Saint John succeeded Saint Maurus (Died c. 600) as bishop of Verona (Benedictines).

699 St. Claud restored the monastic buildings in the Jura mountains enforced the Rule of St. Benedict burial place for centuries a favorite place of pilgrimage at which miraculous cures took place

Vesontióne, in Gálliis, sancti Cláudii Epíscopi.
At Besançon, France, the bishop St. Claudius.

699 ST CLAUD, BISHOP OF BESANCON
ST CLAUD is said to have been born in Franche-Comte, of a senatorial family, and after his ordination he became one of the clergy of Besançon. According to the generally accepted tradition, he retired twelve years later to the monastery of Condate, or, as it is now called, Saint-Claude, in the Jura Mountains, where he lived a most holy and austere life. Raised to the position of abbot, he introduced or enforced the Rule of St Benedict and restored the monastic buildings. In 685 he was chosen bishop of Besançon. He was, by all accounts, already an old man and most unwilling to accept the dignity. Nevertheless he ruled the diocese wisely and well for seven years. He then resigned and went back to Condate, the direction of which he had retained during his episcopate. He died in 699, at a very advanced age. Another tradition represents St Claud as having remained a secular priest until his elevation to the episcopate, and only to have retired to the monastery after vacating his office.

The cultus of St Claud became widespread in the twelfth century when his body was discovered to be incorrupt. His burial-place was for centuries a favourite place of pilgrimage at which miraculous cures took place.There are two medieval texts of relatively late date which profess to tell the story of St Claud. One is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. i. It is not very clear whether the abbot of Condate was identical with the bishop of Besançon. There was a Claudius, bishop of Besançon, who took part in the council of Epaon in 517 and in that of Lyons in 529; this, of course, cannot have been the abbot of Condate, if the latter died in the seventh century; but the existence of such a bishop may have given rise to confusion. See also Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. iii, p. 212, and G. Gros, Louis XI, pèlerin a Saint-Claude (1946).

St. Claud is said to have been born in Franche-Comte', of a senatorial family, and after his ordination he became one of the clergy of Besancon. According to the generally accepted tradition, he retired twelve years later to the monastery of Condate, or, as it is now called, Saint-Claude, in the Jura mountains, where he lived a most holy and austere life. Raised to the position of Abbot, he introduced or enforced the Rule of St. Benedict and restored the monastic buildings. In 685 he was chosen Bishop of Besancon. He was, by all accounts, already an old man and most unwilling to accept the dignity.
Nevertheless, he ruled the diocese wisely and well for 7 years. He then resigned and went back to Condate, the direction of which he had retained during his episcopate. He died in 699, at a very advanced age. Another tradition represents St. Claud as having remained a secular priest until his elevation to the episcopate, and only to have retired to the monastery after vacating his office. The cultus of St. Claud became widespread in the twelfth century when his body was discovered to be incorrupt. His burial place was for centuries a favorite place of pilgrimage at which miraculous cures took place.

786 Willibald dedicated as a child to God porter in the great monastery of Monte Cassino ordained priest and became bishop of Eichstaett over 50 years pioneering work in a barbarous land (RM)
feast day was formerly July 7.
   The life of St. Willibald had been despaired of as a child and he had been cured, so it was believed, by being placed at the foot of a market cross where his royal parents had prayed and made a vow that if his life were spared it should be dedicated to the service of God. As a result, when five years old, he was placed for education in a monastery. Later he accompanied his father and brother to the Holy Land, and at one point was arrested as a spy and imprisoned. After an absence of six years he settled in the great monastery of Monte Cassino, where he was appointed sacristan and for eight years acted as porter.
    At the end of that time he was sent to join his uncle Saint Boniface in Germany, where he was ordained priest and became bishop of Eichstaett. It was a hard and rough task in a barbarous land, for it was pioneering work demanding great qualities of energy and evangelism. During that period he lived in the abbey ruled by his brother, and afterwards by his sister, where he found a welcome retreat from the cares of his work, but was no less diligent in his pastoral oversight. "The field which had been so arid and barren soon flourished as a very vineyard of the Lord."
   For over 50 years he labored for God in a foreign land and no story of missionary enterprise is more exhilarating than that of this faithful prince, who, whether as porter of a monastery or bishop of a diocese, served the needs of men and to the glory of God. And thus these three children of the good Saxon King Richard came to be numbered among the saints.

840 St. Agobard Archbishop theologian fled Spain to avoid Moorish invasion
When the Muslims entered his homeland, Agobard went to France. He became an ordained priest in Lyons, distinguishing himself with his holiness and charity. In 813, Agobard was named archbishop of Lyons. He took an active role in the affairs of the city and was a noted author of treatises concerning theology and liturgical matters.

845 Saint Hilarion the New was born of pious parents Peter and Theodosia raised him in the virtues instructed him in Holy Scripture At 12 tonsured as a monk at the Hesychius monastery near Constantinople, and from there he transferred to the Dalmatus monastery, where he received the Great Schema and became a disciple of St Gregory the Dekapolite (November 20). Hilarion beheld holy angels taking the soul of St Theodore to Heaven.
The monk deeply venerated his God-bearing patron St Hilarion the Great (October 21), and he strove to imitate his life, so he came to be called Hilarion the New.

At the Dalmatus monastery, he was ordained presbyter. After the death of the igumen the brethren wanted to elect St Hilarion to this position, but learning of this, he secretly fled to Constantinople.

Then the monks of Dalmatus monastery sent a petition to Patriarch Nicephorus, asking that St Hilarion be assigned as igumen. The Patriarch summoned the saint and persuaded him to give his assent. St Hilarion submitted out of holy obedience. For eight years he peacefully guided the monastery, but in the year 813 the iconoclast Leo the Armenian (813-820) occupied the imperial throne. The saint refused to dishonor the holy icons, and he boldly accused the emperor of heresy, for which he endured many torments. They locked him up in prison for awhile, and vexed him with hunger and thirst.

The impious Patriarch Theodotus, who replaced the exiled Patriarch Nicephorus, caused the monk much suffering in demanding that he abandon Orthodoxy. The monks of the Dalmatus monastery went to the emperor and asked him to release the saint, promising to submit to the imperial will. After they returned to the monastery, however, St Hilarion and the monks continued to venerate the holy icons. The enraged emperor again threw the monk into prison. He gave the saint over to torture with all the means at his disposal, hoping to change his mind.

The wrath of God soon overtook the wicked emperor. He was cut down by his own soldiers in church at the very spot where he had once thrown down a holy icon. The new emperor Michael II (820-829) freed St Hilarion from his imprisonment, and the saint settled into a monastic cell. Upon the death of St Theodore the Studite (November 11), who also suffered for the holy icons, St Hilarion beheld holy angels taking the soul of St Theodore to Heaven.
Under the iconoclast emperor Theophilus (829-842), St Hilarion was again put under guard and beaten terribly, then they confined him on the island of Aphousia.
After the death of Theophilus, the holy empress St Theodora (842-855) gave orders to recall the confessors from exile.

St Hilarion returned to the Dalmatus monastery, again agreeing to be igumen. He departed peacefully in the year 845.

950 St. Amantius Bishop governed Noyon, France and five other priests were martyred for the faith

Noviodúni, in Gálliis, sanctórum Mártyrum Amántii, Alexándri et Sociórum.
At Noyon in France, the holy martyrs Amantius, Alexander, and their companions.

Served the Church in the area of Cannes and governed Noyon, France. Amantius and five other priests were martyred for the faith. Three of these companions are recorded as being Amantius' brothers.

1134 Saint Norbert early life devoted to worldly pleasures including financial benefices as cannon then struck down w/lightning regain conscious first words were "Lord, what do you want me to do?" same words Saul spoke on the road to Damascus Norbert heard in his heart, "Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it." became an itinerant preacher severe and popular reformer. Theobald, Count of Champagne, aspired to enter the order, but St Norbert, who recognized his lack of vocation, dissuaded him, urging him rather to carry out the duties of his station and to marry. At the same time he gave him a small white scapular to wear under his outer garments, and prescribed certain rules and devotions for his use. This seems to have been the first known case of the affiliation of a layman living in the world to a recognized religious order, and from the Premonstratensians St Dominic is thought to have derived the idea of secular tertiaries.

Norbert's community we have the first evidence of lay affiliation with a religious order

Magdebúrgi sancti Norbérti, ejúsdem civitátis Epíscopi et Confessóris, qui Fundátor exstitit Ordinis Præmonstraténsis.
At Magdeburg, St. Norbert, bishop of that city, confessor. He was the founder of the Premonstratensian Order.
1134 ST NORBERT, ARCHBISHOP OF MAGDEBURG, FOUNDER OF THE CANONS REGULAR OF PREMONTRE
XANTEN, in the duchy of Cleves, was the birthplace of St Norbert. His father, Heribert, Count of Gennep, was related to the emperor, and his mother, Hedwig of Guise, derived her pedigree from the house of Lorraine. Although he appeared to cherish no higher ambition than to lead a life of pleasure, he received minor orders, including the subdiaconate, and was presented to a canonry in the church of St Victor at Xanten, as well as to other benefices. At the court of the Emperor Henry V, who appointed him his almoner, Norbert joined in all the diversions, though not without signs of more serious preoccupations; and one day, when he was riding near the Westphalian village of Wreden, he was overtaken in open country by a violent thunderstorm. His horse, frightened by a flash of lightning, threw its rider, who lay on the ground as though dead for nearly an hour. His first words on regaining consciousness were those of Saul on the road to Damascus: "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" To which an inner voice replied: "Turn from evil and do good: seek after peace and pursue it."
This conversion was as sudden and complete as that of the great Apostle of the Gentiles. He retired to Xanten, where he gave himself up to prayer, fasting, meditation and a review of his past life. He then made a retreat at the abbey of Siegburg, near Cologne, where he came under the influence of its Abbot Conon.
He was now preparing himself for ordination as a priest, from which, in spite of his canonry, he had formerly shrunk, and Frederick, archbishop of Cologne, conferred on him the diaconate and the priesthood in 1115. He appeared on this occasion clad in a lambskin garment with a rope for a girdle, as a public expression of his determination to renounce worldly vanities. After another forty days' retreat he returned to Xanten determined to lead "an evangelical and apostolic life"; but the vigour of his exhortations, joined apparently with a certain eccentricity of behaviour, made enemies for him, and at the Council of Fritzlar in 1118 he found himself denounced to the papal legate as a hypocrite and an innovator, and charged with preaching without a licence or commission. Any doubt as to his sincerity must have been dispelled by his next step. He sold all his estates and gave all he possessed to the poor, reserving only forty silver marks, a mule (which soon died), a missal, a few vestments, a chalice, and a paten.
Then, accompanied by two attendants who refused to leave him, he travelled barefoot to Saint-Gilles in Languedoc, where Pope Gelasius II was residing in exile. At the feet of the vicar of Christ he made a general confession of his misdeeds and irregularities, and offered himself for any penance that might be laid upon him. In response to his petition the pope granted him leave to preach the Gospel wherever he chose.

Armed with this permission St Norbert started forth again, barefoot in the snow - for it was mid-winter-and seemingly insensible to the inclemency of the weather. At Valenciennes his companions fell ill and died. But he was not destined to remain long alone. He was still at Valenciennes when he received a visit from Burchard, archbishop of Cambrai, and his young chaplain Bd Hugh of Fosses. The bishop was amazed at the change in one whom he had formerly known as a frivolous courtier, whilst Hugh was so impressed that he elected to follow him. He became St Norbert's most trusted follower, and eventually succeeded him as head of his order.
Pope Callistus II having succeeded Gelasius II in 1119, St Norbert, with a view to obtaining a renewal of the sanction he had received from Gelasius, went to Rheims, where the pontiff was holding a council. Although the saint does not seem to have achieved his main purpose, Bartholomew, bishop of Laon, received permission to retain the missioner in his diocese to assist him in reforming the canons regular of St Martin's at Laon. But as the canons could not be induced to accept St Norbert's strict regulations, the bishop offered the holy man his choice of several places in which to found a community of his own. Norbert chose a lonely valley called Prémontré in the forest of Coucy, which had been abandoned by the monks of St Vincent at Laon because of the poverty of the soil. There a beginning was made with thirteen disciples. Their number soon increased to forty, who made their profession on Christmas day, 1121. They wore a white habit and kept the rule of St Augustine with certain additional regulations. Their manner of life was extremely austere, but their institute was not so much a new religious order as a reform of the regular canons. It soon spread to other countries, and distinguished persons of both sexes offered themselves as postulants and made gifts of property for new foundations. Amongst these recruits were Bd Godfrey of Kappenberg, Bd Evermod and Bd Waltman.
When the new organization could number eight abbeys as well as one or two nunneries, St Norbert became desirous of securing a more formal approbation for its constitutions. With that object in view he in 1125 undertook a journey to Rome, where he obtained from Pope Honorius II all that he asked for. The canons of St Martin's, Laon, who had formerly refused to submit to his rule, now voluntarily placed themselves under his obedience, as did also the abbey of Vervins.

Another magnate, Theobald, Count of Champagne, aspired to enter the order, but St Norbert, who recognized his lack of vocation, dissuaded him, urging him rather to carry out the duties of his station and to marry. At the same time he gave him a small white scapular to wear under his outer garments, and prescribed certain rules and devotions for his use. This seems to have been the first known case of the affiliation of a layman living in the world to a recognized religious order, and from the Premonstratensians St Dominic is thought to have derived the idea of secular tertiaries. When the count went to Germany to conclude a marriage treaty in 1126, he took the saint with him. On their way they visited Speyer, where the Emperor Lothair was holding a diet, and at the same time there arrived deputies from Magdeburg to ask the monarch to nominate a bishop to their vacant see.
Lothair chose St Norbert. The deputies led him back to Magdeburg, where he entered the city barefoot, and so meanly clad that the porter at his episcopal residence is said to have denied him admission, bidding him go and join the other beggars. "But he is our bishop!" shouted the crowd . "Never mind, dear brother," said the saint to the startled servant. "You judge me more truly than those who brought me here!" In his new station he still practised the austerity of a monk, whilst his residence came to resemble a cloister. But though personally humble and requiring for himself only the bare necessaries of life, he was unflinching in his determination to resist all attempts to deprive the Church of her rights. Under the weak rule of his predecessors, laymen, sometimes local magnates, had alienated much ecclesiastical property. St Norbert did not hesitate to take action against them, for he regarded them as little better than robbers. Many of the clergy were leading careless-sometimes scandalous-lives, neglecting their parishes and disregarding the obligations of celibacy. Where they would not listen to reason the bishop resorted to compulsion, punishing some, dispossessing others, and occasionally replacing them by his own Premonstratensian canons.
His reforms met with much opposition, his enemies joining forces to discredit him and to instigate the people to active resistance. On two or three occasions he narrowly escaped assassination, and once the rabble broke in upon him as he was ministering in his cathedral. So rebellious was their attitude that Norbert at last decided to retire from the city for a time and leave the people to their own devices. The step proved a wise one. For the citizens, finding themselves under ecclesiastical censure and fearing the emperor's displeasure, soon sent to beg him to return, promising to be more submissive for the future. Before the end of St Norbert's life he had successfully carried through the greater part of his projected reforms. All this time he was also directing his Premonstratensian houses through his lieutenant Bd Hugh, and for several years before his death he was taking an important part in the politics of the papacy and the empire.
After the death of Pope Honorius II, an unhappy schism divided the Church.
One section of cardinals had elected Cardinal Gregory Papareschi, who adopted the name of Innocent II, whilst the rest chose Cardinal Pierleone. The latter, who called himself "Anacletus II", was the favourite in Rome, and Innocent found himself obliged to escape to France. There he was accepted as the lawful pontiff, largely through the efforts of St Bernard and of St Hugh of Grenoble. A council which he held at Rheims was attended by St Norbert, who embraced his cause and won favour for it in Germany as St Bernard had done in France. He it was who persuaded the emperor to declare himself for Innocent. Furthermore, when it became evident that although France, Germany, England and Spain had acknowledged Innocent, he could only enter Rome with the help of armed forces, it was mainly through the influence of St Norbert that Lothair consented to lead an army into Italy. In March 1133, the emperor and the pope entered the Holy City accompanied by St Norbert and St Bernard.
In recognition of his outstanding services St Norbert was invested with the pallium, but his activities were nearly at an end. Although after their return from Italy the emperor insisted upon making him his chancellor, it was evident that his health was failing fast. Into the twenty years which had elapsed since his ordination he had crowded the work of a lifetime, and it was as a dying man that he was borne back to Magdeburg. He expired on June 6, 1134, in the fifty-third year of his life. His relics were translated in 1627 by the Emperor Ferdinand II to the Premonstratensian abbey of Strahov in Bohemia; he was formally recognized as a saint by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.

The medieval life of St Norbert, printed in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. i, is less reliable than an older redaction which was edited by R. Wilmans in MGH., Scriptores, vol. xii, pp. 663-703. The modern lives are numerous, especially in German and Flemish; the best is perhaps that by A. Zak, Der heilige Norbert (1930). In French, there are biographies by E. Maire (1922) and G. Madelaine (1930). See also C. J. Kirkfleet, History of St Norbert (1916); F. Petit, La spiritualité des Prémontrés aux XII et XIII siècle's (1947); and an important article on the origins of Prémontré by C. Dereine, in Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique, vol. xli, pp. 352 seq. Cf. H. M. Colvin, The White Canons in England (1951), pp. 1-25.

    St. Norbert was born at Xanten in the Rhineland, about the year 1080. The early part of his life was devoted to the world and its pleasures. He entered upon the ecclesiastical state in a worldly spirit.
    The thunderstorm had boiled up suddenly as Norbert was out riding. Norbert, who had always chosen the easy way, would never have deliberately gone on a journey that promised danger, risk, or discomfort. He had moved easily from the comforts of the noble family he was born into at about 1080 to the pleasure-loving German court. He had no hesitations about joining in any opportunity to enjoy himself, no matter what the source of that pleasure. To ensure his success at court, he also had no qualms about accepting holy orders as a canon and whatever financial benefices that came with that position, although he did hesitate at becoming a priest and the implied responsibilities that came with that vocation.
    But now high winds pushed and pulled at his fashionable coif, rain slashed at his fancy clothes, and dark roiling clouds pressed night down upon his light thoughts. A sudden flash of lightning split the dark and his horse bucked, throwing Norbert to the ground. For almost an hour, the still form of the courtier lay unmoving. Even the rain soaking his clothes and the howl of thunder did not bring him back to consciousness and life. When he awoke his first words were, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" -- the same words Saul spoke on the road to Damascus. In response Norbert heard in his heart, "Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it."
    He immediately returned to the place of his birth, Xanten, to devote himself to prayer and penance. He now embraced the instruction for the priesthood he had avoided and was ordained in 1115. His complete conversion and new ways caused some to denounce the former courtier as a hypocrite. Norbert's response was to give everything he owned to the poor and to go to the pope for permission to preach.

    With this commission in hand, he became an itinerant preacher, traveling through Europe with his two companions. In an extreme response to his old ways, he now chose the most difficult ways to travel -- walking barefoot in the middle of winter through snow and ice. Unfortunately the two companions who followed him died from the ill-effects of exposure. But Norbert was gaining the respect of those sincere clerics who had despised him before. The bishop of Laon wanted Norbert to help reform the canons in his see, but the canons wanted nothing to do with Norbert's type of reform which they saw as far too strict. The bishop, not wanting to lose this holy man, offered Norbert land where he could start his own community. In a lonely valley called Prémontré, began his community with thirteen canons. Despite the strictness of his regulation, or perhaps because it, his reforms attracted many disciples until eight abbeys and two convents were involved. Even the canons who had originally rejected him asked to be part of the reform.
    In Norbert's community we have the first evidence of lay affiliation with a religious order. This came about when a count Theobald wanted to join Norbert. Norbert realized that Theobald was not called to holy orders but to marriage and worldly duties. But he did not entirely reject Theobald, giving him a rule and devotions as well as a scapular to wear to identify him as part of the community.
     It was on the trip accompanying Theobald to his marriage, that Norbert was spotted by Emperor Lothair and chosen as bishop of Magdebourg. Legend has it the porter refused to let Norbert into his new residence, assuming he was a beggar. When the crowd pointed out to the flustered porter that this was the new bishop Norbert told the porter, "You were right the first time." Norbert carried the love of reform that he had found in his own life to his new diocese.
As usual, this made him many enemies and he was almost assassinated. Disgusted with the citizens desire to keep to their old ways, he left the city, but was soon called back -- not because the citizens missed him but because the emperor and the pope pressured them.
   When two rival popes were elected after the death of Honorius II, Norbert helped try to heal the Church by getting his admirer the emperor to support the first elected, Innocent II.

At the end of his life he was made an archbishop but he died soon after on June 6, 1134 at the age of 53.

June 6, 2009 St. Norbert (1080?-1134)
Friends sometimes jokingly mangle the name of the Premonstratensians into “Monstrous Pretensions,” just as the Franciscan O.F.M. is said to mean “Out For Money.” The name actually derives from Prémontré, the region of France where Norbert established this Order in the 12th century.
Recalling the nickname, Norbert’s founding of the Order was in truth a monstrous task: combating rampant heresies (particularly regarding the Blessed Sacrament), revitalizing many of the faithful who had grown indifferent and dissolute, plus effecting peace and reconciliation among enemies.
Norbert entertained no pretensions about his own ability to accomplish this multiple task. Even with the aid of a goodly number of men who joined his Order, he realized that nothing could be effectively done without God’s power. Finding this help especially in devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, he and his Norbertines praised God for success in converting heretics, reconciling numerous enemies and rebuilding faith in indifferent believers.
Reluctantly, Norbert became archbishop of Magdeburg in central Germany, a territory half pagan and half Christian. In this position he zealously and courageously continued his work for the Church until his death on June 6, 1134.

Comment: A different world cannot be built by indifferent people. The same is true in regard to the Church. Sad to say, the so-called updating of the Church has not engendered the different Church which was so devoutly and hopefully envisioned by Vatican Council II. A principal reason for this failure was—and is—the indifference of vast numbers of nominal faithful, their indifference to ecclesiastical authority and essential doctrines of the faith. Unswerving loyalty to the Church and fervent devotion to the Eucharist, as practiced by Norbert, will continue immeasurably towards maintaining the people of God in accord with the heart of Christ. Quote: On the occasion of his ordination to the priesthood, Norbert said, "O Priest! You are not yourself because you are God. You are not of yourself because you are the servant and minister of Christ. You are not your own because you are the spouse of the Church. You are not yourself because you are the mediator between God and man. You are not from yourself because you are nothing. What then are you? Nothing and everything. O Priest! Take care lest what was said to Christ on the cross be said to you: 'He saved others, himself he cannot save!'"

1207 Blessed Gerard of Tintorio expended his worldly treasure in founding a leper hospital (AC)
1207 BD GERARD OF MONZA
MONZA, the ancient capital of Lombardy, venerates one of its own citizens, Gerard Tintorio, as its principal patron. More than two and a half centuries after his death his cultus was revived by St Charles Borromeo, who promoted his cause and obtained its confirmation in 1582. He is honoured not only in his native city, but throughout the dioceses of Milan and Como. The saint, who came of a well-to-do burgher family, lost his parents in early youth. On reaching manhood he spent his patrimony in building a hospital for the sick poor, and to their care he devoted the whole of his life. He would go about in search of them and carry them to the hospital; he washed the lepers with his own hands, and greeted each newcomer with the kiss of peace. No service he could render them was too unpleasant or menial. Small wonder that many of them recovered, thanks to the holy man's tender care or to his miraculous power. He placed his institution under the protection of the cathedral canons, and drew up wise and business-like rules for its management, which are still to be seen in a copy of the original charter. At a later date the staff consisted chiefly or entirely of Franciscan tertiaries.
The sick were not the only objects of his charity. No beggar who applied for alms or assistance was turned away empty-handed. Once during a famine the appeals were so numerous that the steward came to Gerard in despair, saying that the stores were exhausted and that starvation stared them in the face. The holy man betook himself to prayer. When the steward next went to the store-rooms he found the granary so full of corn that he could scarcely open the door, and the cellar well stocked with good wine. Another miracle attributed to Bd Gerard accounts for the bunch of cherries which in pictures of the saint he is represented as carrying in his hand. Once in mid-winter he asked permission to spend the night in prayer in the church of St John Baptist. The doorkeepers demurred, but one of them said that he might stay if he would undertake to get them some cherries. He accepted the condition and the following day, we are told, presented each of them with a bunch of fresh ripe cherries. Bd Gerard died on June 6, 1207.

There does not seem to be much information about Bd Gerard available from contemporary sources. The Bollandists published in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. i, an account derived from manuscript materials collected by St Charles Borromeo in view of the confirmation of the cultus. See also Frisi, Memorie Storiche di Monza (1841), pp. 292-304; A. Lesmi, La Vita del V. Gherardo di Monza (1647); F. Meda, S. Girardo Tintore. (1896)

Cultus approved in 1582. Gerard, a young citizen of Monza in Lombardy, Italy, was a man of means, but not wealthy.

He expended his worldly treasure in founding a hospital, where he served the sick, especially lepers (Benedictines).

1350 Bertrand of Aquileia Bishop martyr; dean of the cathedral chapter of Angouleme; died defending the rights of the Church
Born near Cahors, 1260; cultus approved by Pope Benedict XIV. Bertrand became dean of the cathedral chapter of Angouleme, from which position he was raised to the patriarchate of Aquileia. He died defending the rights of the Church (Benedictines).
1350 St. Bertrand Bishop and martyr. Born near Cahors, France, in 1260, he became the dean of the cathedral chapter of Angouleme.

He was then appointed the bishop of Aquilela and was slain defending the rights of the Church. He is also called Bertrichramnus in some lists.

The Pimen Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos Many miracles took place before this icon, which flowed with a fragrant healing myrrh
brought to Moscow from Constantinople in 1381 by Metropolitan Pimen.
Many miracles took place before this icon, which flowed with a fragrant healing myrrh.
The Pimen Icon was kept in the altar of the Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin.

1470 Saint Jonah, Bishop of Great Perm converted the inhabitants of Great Perm to Christ. He journeyed throughout his extensive diocese to spread and consolidate the Christian Faith
Successor to St Pitirim, Bishop of Perm (August 19), who was murdered by the Vogulani in 1455. In the year 1462 St Jonah converted the inhabitants of Great Perm to Christ. He journeyed throughout his extensive diocese to spread and consolidate the Christian Faith. The saint reposed on June 6, 1470 and was buried at Ust-Vym at the Annunciation cathedral.

1504 Saint Paisius of Uglich igumen of the Protection monastery, near Uglich relics, glorified by miracles, rest beneath a crypt in the Protection monastery
He was born in the Tver district near the city of Kashin, and he was a nephew of St Macarius of Kalyazin (March 17).
St Paisius entered his uncle's monastery after the death of his parents, when he was just an eleven-year-old child. Under his uncle's guidance, St Paisius led a monastic life of obedience, fasting and prayer, and he was put to work copying soul-saving books.

"A man wondrous of spirit, famed teacher of holiness and most astounding wonderworker, he founded (in 1464) the cenobitic Protection monastery three versts from Uglich at the wish of Prince Andrew, and he was chosen igumen." St Paisius was also "founder and organizer of the holy Nikolsky Grekhozaruchnya monastery in 1489.
Struggling at the Protection monastery, St Paisius lived into old age and died on June 6, 1504. His relics, glorified by miracles, rest beneath a crypt in the Protection monastery.

St Paisius is also commemorated on January 8.

1534 Saint Jonah of Klimets monk founded the Klimets Trinity monastery in fulfillment of a vow
In the world John, became a monk, and founded the Klimets Trinity monastery in fulfillment of a vow.

In 1490 he had been caught by a storm on Lake Onega. When there was no hope for survival, John cried out to the Lord, entreating Him to preserve his life so he might repent and serve God. The boat was thrown onto a sandbar by the waves. There he heard the voice of the Lord commanding him to found a monastery in honor of the Life-Creating Trinity.

He miraculously discovered a holy icon on a juniper tree. The saint fulfilled the will of the Lord and built a monastery with two churches, one dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity and the other in honor of St Nicholas, protector of those who sail and those who travel.

Refusing the rank of igumen, St Jonah remained a simple monk at the monastery. He died on June 6, 1534. A church was built over his relics, and was dedicated to Sts Zachariah and Elizabeth.

1535 BD LAURENCE OF VILLAMAGNA
BD LAURENCE, who belonged to the noble family of the Mascoli, was born at Villamagna in the Abruzzi on May 15, 1476. He entered the Franciscan convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, near Ortona, and after his ordination became one of the greatest preachers of the age. He appeared in almost every important pulpit in Italy. He would scourge himself severely before delivering his sermons, which were so impassioned that often he and his whole congregation were reduced to tears. There is recounted of him a story of ripe cherries in January, very similar to the miracle mentioned above in the notice of Bd Gerard of Monza. His death took place at Ortona on June 6, 1535, and his cultus was confirmed in 1923.

Not very much seems to be known about Laurence of Villamagna. The Vita del Beato Lorenzo da Villamagna, by Fr Giacinto d'Agostino (1923), contains extraordinarily little in the way of historical fact. See also Mazzara, Leggendario Francescano (1676), vol. i, p. 679; Acta Ordinis Fratrum Minorum, 1906, pp. 127-130; 1924, pp. 21-24; and the decree of confirmatio cultus in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. xv (1923), pp. 170-173.

1537 Bl. Walter Pierson Bl. John Davy Bl. Robert Salt Carthusian martyrs of England opposing the religious policies of King Henry VIII
A member of the Carthusian Charterhouse of London, he served as a lay brother and was arrested with his companions by English authorities for opposing the religious policies of King Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547). With six other Carthusians, he was starved to death in prison.

1537 Bl. John Davy Carthusian martyr of England member of the Carthusian Charterhouse of London, he was an opponent of the Act of Supremacy of King Henry VIII

Arrested and starved to death in Newgate Prison with six Carthusian companions. John was beatified in 1886.

1537 Bl. Robert Salt Carthusian martyr a lay brother in the Carthusian community of London who, with six other members of the order starved to death at Newgate by order of King Henry VIII of England after they resisted his Dissolution of the Monasteries.

St. Nilammon Egyptian hermit named bishop but refused blockaded his cell died while in prayer with group of pleading bishops outside
According to tradition, he was named a bishop but refused the honor, going so far as to blockade his cell.

He died while in prayer and with a group of pleading bishops standing outside his fortified hermitage.

1840 St Marcellin Champagnat founder of the Little Brothers of Mary the Marists classmate

of St Vianney
Born May 20, (1789-05-20) St. Etienne, France Died June 6, 1840 (aged 51) Marlhes, France

Marcellin_Champagnat,_1840.jpg

To raise children, we must love them and love them equally.
I cannot see a child without wanting to tell them how much God loves them.

Let there be among you just one heart and one mind. Let it always be said of the Little Brothers of Mary as it was of the early Christians: See how they love one another!

Marcellin Champagnat was born the ninth of ten children at Le Rosey, a hamlet in the Rhône-Alpes region (Loire Département, Saint-Étienne Arrondissement, Mahrles commune). He spent his childhood years in this area amidst the turmoil of the French Revolution where he witnessed the atrocities of civil war. Marcellin's character was influenced by three people in his family. His father, an intelligent, hard-working, enterprising man, contributed to his formation as a citizen. His mother and his aunt (a Sister of St Joseph) served as models and guides to strengthen his steps as a believer and to deepen his faith. The area of Marlhes in which Champagnat lived and worked had been badly affected by the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, and the local community was poor and uneducated.

From 1805 to 1813, Marcellin attended the minor seminary in Verrieres. At one stage, quite discouraged, he overcame the temptation to leave religious life. He then attended the major seminary in Lyon for his spiritual and theological formation as a priest. It would be untrue to say that at Verrières Jean-Marie was subjected to persecution or was a prey to loneliness. “The more serious and fervent among the students took him as a model,” says one of his former companions; “they enjoyed being in his company because he habitually conversed with them about God and the Blessed Virgin.”2 {2Abbé Etienne Dubouis, curé of Fareins (Procès apostolique ne pereant, p.880).}
In this way he won the friendship of Marcellin Champagnat, the future founder of the Little Brothers of Mary. Nor was Marcellin considered a genius. He was seventeen years old when he began the study of Latin. After a year’s effort he was dismissed as being quite incapable, when, like Jean-Marie, he made a vow to go on pilgrimage to the sanctuary of La Louvesc. A second time he was admitted at Verrières. After five years of relentless toil he began his course of rhetoric, which he was made to do twice over.
At the beginning of the school year 1812 he found himself in the philosophy class by the side of the pupil of M. Bailey. Marcellin was twenty-three, Jean-Marie twenty-six and a half. Their age, the similarity of their trials, a like desire of holiness, all combined to make them fast friends.3{3Cf. Mgr. Laveille, Un condiscip1e et émule du Curé d’Ars, Marcellin Champagnat, Paris, Téqui, pp. 34-36.}

It was here that the idea for the Society of Mary was conceived and promoted by a group of seminarians, including Marcellin. From the start, he announced the Society should include Teaching Brothers to work with children deprived of Christian education in remote rural areas because others were not going to them.

After his ordination as a priest on 2 July 1816, Champagnat’s first posting was as curate to the parish of Lavalla-en-Gier. Marcellin was distressed that the people in the village were so isolated that they did not know much about the rest of the world. There was also little happening to help young people learn more about the Catholic faith. Teachers were poorly paid and not respected and therefore teaching attracted those with low ability and bad character.

At the end of October 1816, Marcellin visited the dying Jean Baptiste Montage. Champagnat was horrified that this seventeen year old boy who looked more like a scrawny child of twelve was totally ignorant of the basic beliefs of the Catholic faith. He knew that there were many young people like Jean who were poor and lacked knowledge of religion and God. This event motivated him to act.

On 2 January 1817, Marcellin encouraged two young men Jean-Marie Granjon and Jean-Baptiste Audras, to join him in forming the nucleus of the Marist Brothers. Others soon followed. La Valla thus became the birthplace of the Marist Brothers.

The first Brothers were young country men, most of whom were between 15 and 18 years old. They were more used to hard work in the fields than to prayer, intellectual work and working with children and the uneducated. Marcellin motivated these teenagers with his enthusiasm for teaching and spreading the gospel. He lived among them, like one of them. He taught them how to pray and to live in religious community as Brothers, and how to be teachers and religious educators themselves. Very soon, he sent them into the most remote villages to teach the children, and sometimes the adults as well, the basics of religious knowledge, and of reading and writing. Between 1817 and 1824, he started a traditional primary school at La Valla and used it as a teacher training centre for his young Brothers.
Encouraged by the success of the school in La Valla, others were founded at Marlhes in 1819, in Saint-Sauveur-Street 1820, and in Bourg-Argental in 1822. But this success endangered the small congregation, which had little more than novices. In March 1822, eight applicants came from Haute-Loire, giving a new impetus to the institution, and allows the creation of new houses in Vanosc 1823, Saint-Symphorien-le-Chateau 1823, and Chavanay Charlieu 1824.
Champagnat decided to build a novitiate on land purchased from the hermitage at St. Chamond. One sign of both his trust in God and the huge success the Brothers had become, was the building being designed to accommodate 150 people. The chapel was blessed on August 13, 1825. In 1837, Champagnat printed a Rule for his Brothers. Exhausted by his travels and his incessant efforts to gain recognition for his work with the authorities in Paris, and having been sick for a long time, Champagnat began preparing for his succession and Brother Francis was elected as Marcellin's replacement, on October 12, 1838.

After a long and painful illness caused by cancer Champagnat died on 6 June 1840, aged 51, at Our Lady of the Hermitage in the Gier River valley about 30 kilometres from where he had commenced his work He was buried on 8 June. He left this message in his spiritual Testament of May 18, 1840: "Let there be among you just one heart and one mind. Let it always be said of the Little Brothers of Mary as it was of the early Christians: See how they love one another!" By that time there were 280.4 Brothers and 48.8 Marist schools in France and Oceania (South Pacific), and by 1856 there were 300 houses and more than 1500 Brothers.

The Marist Brothers Institute was not formally approved until 1863 by Pope Pius IX. The educational philosophy of Champagnat was simple: to teach children one must love them, and secular subjects should be well taught as a means of children to the schools, where they would learn the basic elements of their faith. Champagnat saw God at the centre of life and the Virgin Mary as a sure means of attracting people to God. Marcellin Champagnat was declared Venerable in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV beatified by Pope Pius XII on 29 May 1955, and canonised by Pope John Paul II on April 18, 1999. His feast day is observed in the Roman Catholic Church on 6 June. At their most numerous the Marist Brothers numbered about 10,000. In 2005 there were around 5,000 brothers.

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

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 37

Unless, O Lady, thou shalt build the house of our heart: its edifice shall not remain.

Build us up by thy grace and thy power: that we may remain firm forever.

Blessed be thy word: and blessed be all the words of thy lips.

Let them be blessed by God, who shall bless thee: and let them be reckoned in the number of the just.

Bless, O Lady, them that bless thee: and never turn thy gracious countenance away from them.

Let every spirit praise Our Lady

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saint Frances Xavier Seelos Practical Guide to Holiness

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

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not

O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I beg the conversion of poor sinners, Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace

The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.

THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.

These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.

As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.
Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.

Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.

The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means. 5. The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven. 11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12. I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14. All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15. Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.

Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac

The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.

Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).

In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).

In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian.

In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established the first Churches in the kingdom of the Sassanides. Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the Council of Nicæa (325). The “Peregrinatio Silviæ” (or Etheriæ) (ed. Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, 62 sqq.) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388.

Although Hebrew had been the language of the ancient Israelite kingdom, after their return from Exile the Jews turned more and more to Aramaic, using it for parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel in the Bible. By the time of Jesus, Aramaic was the main language of Palestine, and quite a number of texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls are also written in Aramaic.

Aramaic continued to be an important language for Jews, alongside Hebrew, and parts of the Talmud are written in it.

After Arab conquests of the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language of those who converted to Islam, although in out of the way places, Aramaic continued as a vernacular language of Muslims.

Aramaic, however, enjoyed its greatest success in Christianity. Although the New Testament wins written in Greek, Christianity had come into existence in an Aramaic-speaking milieu, and it was the Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac, that became the literary language of a large number of Christians living in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and in the Persian Empire, further east. Over the course of the centuries the influence of the Syriac Churches spread eastwards to China (in Xian, in western China, a Chinese-Syriac inscription dated 781 is still to be seen); to southern India where the state of Kerala can boast more Christians of Syriac liturgical tradition than anywhere else in the world.

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints. Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine. The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches. The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice." According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates. Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor. Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.

Meeting of the Saints walis (saints of Allah)

Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.

So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life. But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddi n Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA) 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.

801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions. Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq. She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186). Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186). She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching. As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director. She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222). A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid. The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind. She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca: "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God. She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker. Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219). During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?' I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them. I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me? Is it not God Who wills it? When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will? It is not well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic. It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187). She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world. A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill. Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?" (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold. She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him. And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance. She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did. For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself. The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other. When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from. "From that other world," she said. "And where are you going?" she was asked. "To that other world," she replied (219). She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end. Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love. In this quest, logic and reason were powerless. Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition. Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved. Through this communion, she could discover His will for her. Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul." [224]

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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey

Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament

Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited.
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass. After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her. Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy: “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.”

Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament

Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 14 years Lover of the poor; “A very Holy Man of God.”

Monsignor Reardon Protonotarius Apostolicus
Pastor 42 years BASILICA OF SAINT MARY Minneapolis MN

America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World

August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation

by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908

James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932

Index to Part I and Part II 1932

James M. Reardon Publication History of the Basilica of Saint Mary 1955 {update}

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

James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872; Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;

Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.

Affiliations and Indulgences Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here. Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon

Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.

The only replicas ever made: in order from west to east {1932}.

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

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

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.

By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.

By Father John Corapi

Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

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

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

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

Talk is weak. Prayer is strong. Pray! God bless you, Father John Corapi

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

About Father John Corapi.

Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .

The pillars of father's preaching are basically:

Love for and a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ
Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.

Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

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

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.

Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”

Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

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

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.

Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.

Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.

Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.

Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

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

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

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

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

Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania
May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970.

Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized
May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor.

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

Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women
Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War.

Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified
Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran.

The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says
Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church.
Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says
Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.”

Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo
Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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

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

Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’
Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor.

Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood
Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification.

Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism
Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism.

Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood
May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan.

Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries
Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions.
Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward
Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life.

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

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

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

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

Sunday, November 23 2014 Six to Be Canonized on Feast of Christ the King.

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

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

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

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

October 01, 2015 Vatican City, Pope Authorizes following Decrees
(ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter
Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God
Pope Authorizes Decrees
Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees:

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

HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963);
- Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987);
- Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991);
- Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996);
- Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917);
- Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913);
- Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973).

March 06 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
MIRACLES

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

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

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

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Pasqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).

LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000) India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858
China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related Marian Websites Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates, PSALTER BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 37 2023