Mary Mother of GOD Mary's Divine Motherhood: FEASTS OF OUR LADY
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
RDeo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
June is the month of the Sacred Heart since 1873;
2023
22,600  Lives Saved Since 2007

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

There are over 10,000 named saints beati from history;
Roman Martyology, Orthodox sources, Islam, Lutheran, + others


Sunday, November 23 2014 Six Canonized on Feast of Christ the King
Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List
Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday   Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday
   Sorrowful Mystery on Friday Tuesday   Luminous Mystery on Thursday Veterens of War

Acts of the Apostles

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
How do I start the Five First Saturdays?
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary.

The blow from the Rosary was a blow of grace
In 17th-century England, Catholics suffered many bloody persecutions. In a document from the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, we read how Father John Ogilvie was tried in Glasgow, Scotland, on October 15, 1614.
In the minutes of the trial where he was sentenced to death we read: "This Scottish priest was ordained in Paris. He lived for 32 years in Germany and Louvain. He returned to Scotland this last May. He says that in the spiritual realm the Pope is above the King and that he is ready to die to testify to it."

This Jesuit loved to laugh. His jokes brightened the dark days of his captivity during which his captors tried to "brainwash" him.
"For eight days and nine nights, they kept me awake by using pins, needles and whips." Eventually he was executed on March 10, 1615.

On the scaffold, he declared that he was dying for his loyalty to the Pope. Then he threw his Rosary into the crowd.
The Rosary struck the nobleman Johann von Echesdoff, a Hungarian Calvinist just passing through Glasgow, on the chest.
He later converted to Catholicism.
John Ogilvie was canonized by His Holiness Pope Paul VI in mid-October 1976.

 


373 St Ephraem, Doctor of The Church
                             Commemoration of Archangel Michael  {Coptic}
  135 Departure of St. Justus, the Sixth Pope of the See of St. Mark. {Coptic}
1092 Departure of St. Kyrillos the Second, the 67th Pope of Alexandria. {Coptic}
         Departure of St. Euphemia. {Coptic}

 80 Saint Jude, one of 12 apostles of Christ, descended from King David and Solomon, son of Righteous Joseph the Betrothed (Sunday after the Nativity of the Lord) by his first wife.
2nd v. Gervase and Protase twin sons of Saints Vitalis and Valeria, suffered beheading for the faith martyrs themselves appeared to Saint Ambrose in an apparition MM (RM)
 364 Saint Gaudentius Bishop his deacon Culmatius  his wife, children, and 53 companions martyred MM (RM)
  400 St Paisius the Great lived in Egypt. His parents, Christians, distributed generous alms to all the needy; a seer and a wonderworker famed throughout the whole of Egypt

679 St. Didier bishop of Nevers attended synod of Sens 657 hermit invoked for rain against thunderstorm, evil spirits, plague
827 Saint  Hildegrin missions to the Saxons bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne retired to Werden as monk
1027 St. Romuald early life wasted in worldly pleasures; abbot. Like all the saints fought lifelong battle against assaults of devils and men; in old age, he increased his austerities; the founder of the Camaldolese monks,
1340 Juliana Falconieri birth answer to prayers of old childless couple they built magnificent church Annunciation at Florence founded Third Order of Servites Austere zealous charitable sympathetic to all, OSM V (RM)
1535 Bl. Sebastian Newdigate Carthusian martyr of England priest after wife passed on
18th v. Saint Paisius of Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos wrote The History of the Slavo-Bulgarians, a book upholding the Christian Faith and awakening the national self-awareness of the subjugated Bulgarian nation.

June 19 - John Paul II's Second Journey to Poland in 1983
  Mother, Tell Your Son What a Difficult Day We Have Had!
 In 1983, John Paul II returned to Poland 4 years after his first journey. The country was still in a state of siege and  leaders of Solidarity imprison in particularly dramatic circumstances. Then, on June 19, 1983, he prayed once more to the Virgin at Jasna Gora:
 "O Mother! Speak to your Son! Tell your Son what a difficult day we have had!"
 "At this difficult moment in our history I place in your hands, O Mother, all the Polish people because on each of them depends the perseverance on the road to renewal, justice and peace. Mother of our heart! May the power of forgiveness arise everywhere from these words, because without forgiveness we cannot escape from the shackles of hatred. Hatred is a destructive force, and we should neither destroy nor let ourselves be destroyed by it. Forgiveness is imbued with the strength of love. Forgiveness does not mean weakness. Forgiving does not mean forfeiting truth or justice but rather leaning towards truth and justice by way of the Gospel."
 He then concluded with a hopeful prophetic message: "Cardinal August Hlond, who revered you, Mary, so greatly, spoke these words on his deathbed: 'Victory, when it comes, shall come through Mary.' "
 John Paul II, Homily at Jasna Gora, June 19, 1983.

 The faults of children are not always imputed to the parents, especially when they have instructed them and given good example.
Our Lord, in His wonderous Providence, allows children to break the hearts of devout fathers and mothers.
Thus the decisions your children have made don't make you a failure as a parent in God's eyes. You are entitled to feel sorrow, but not necessarily guilt. Do not cease praying for your children; God's grace can touch a hardened heart. Commend your children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
 When parents pray the Rosary, at end of each decade they should hold the Rosary aloft and say to her,
 "With these beads bind my children to your Immaculate Heart", she will attend to their souls.
-- St. Louise de Marillac
 
June 19 – Our Lady of Mercy (Italy, 1850) - Second visit of John Paul II to Poland (1983)
   Tale of the Old Woman who Prayed to the "Elderly"
Mary here once lived in a dilapidated house an old woman who was so quiet and discreet that her neighbors had completely forgotten her very existence. (…) They, however, were the object of her silent attention and the food of her prayer. The successive and long since passed loss of all her relatives,
had left her with a sad emotional void which, instead of making her soul curl up on itself, incited her to open up her heart.
Every morning and night, she slowly and painfully walked to a church that was also abandoned, to sit in front of the altar on which stood a worn out, broken-nosed plaster statue of the Virgin. There, she prayed with the "elderly" Mary, the Mary who was left behind after Jesus had definitively returned to heaven and the apostles were scattered to evangelize the world.
(…) The old lady felt less of an affinity with the Virgin of the Annunciation or the Mother of Sorrows at the foot of the Cross than with the "elderly" Mary because even though the Virgin of the Annunciation and the Sorrowful Mother had lived and suffered, she had not yet experienced total abandonment.
Of course there had been Jesus' cry from the cross when he had felt completely abandoned by his Father. But the suffering of being abandoned was so mysterious, so immense, that the old woman needed an intermediary suffering more proportionate to hers in order to not be afraid of Christ’s and accept it. This is why she came to pray with the "elderly" Mary.
And the "elderly" Mary listened to her, joining in her prayers. She prayed with the old woman, for her neighbors and her neighborhood, as she had prayed in the early times of the Church, going before the apostles in each country so that the Holy Spirit would soften hearts and render them receptive to the coming announcement of the Gospel. In this way, family dramas that in other places ended in selfish decisions, hatred and wars, flourished here in true regret, forgiveness and reconciliations.
Presumed author: Salaun Ar Foll, 14th century Breton Beggar and Poet

  Only Mary can unite us…
 Sheikh Mohamad Nokkari, a Sunni Muslim who is very involved in interreligious dialogue in Lebanon, is also a judge and a law professor in Beirut, Dubai and Strasbourg... In 2000 and the following years, he actively participated in the establishment of the Solemnity of the Annunciation as a national Muslim and Christian holiday in Lebanon.
In an interview, Aleteia.org asked him: "In your opinion, is Mary the only one who can unite Christians and Muslims?"
His response was: "At a conference in Jamhour (Lebanon), I met a Christian who asked me if we could pray together.
I replied, "Yes, only Mary can unite us and enable us to do something together." Thus we created the committee
"Together around Mary" with two co-chairs, myself and Nagy Khoury, president of the Federation of Alumni of Catholic Schools in Lebanon."
We must get the people involved, not only the institutions. It's what we do in Lebanon, precisely with the feast of the Annunciation.
 Interview by Mathilde Rambaud
 
Mary's Divine Motherhood
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
 Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

 Morning Prayer and Hymn   Meditation of the Day    Prayer for Priests
 
June 19 - Our Lady of Monte Senario (Florence, Italy, 1240)
Like a Sweet Lure
The Lord revealed to Saint Catherine of Siena the reason why He created Mary: “I reserved this beloved girl for myself,” He said, “because she is like a sweet lure and she will attract human beings to her, especially sinners, and then she will lead them to My love.” 
St Alphonsus Liguori - Glories of Mary (1750)
 
                             Commemoration of Archangel Michael  {Coptic}
  135 Departure of St. Justus, the Sixth Pope of the See of St. Mark. {Coptic}
1092 Departure of St. Kyrillos the Second, the 67th Pope of Alexandria. {Coptic}
         Departure of St. Euphemia. {Coptic}

 67 Saint Ursicinus physician in Ravenna condemned for being a Christian
 80 Saint Jude, one of 12 apostles of Christ, descended from King David and Solomon, son of Righteous Joseph the Betrothed (Sunday after the Nativity of the Lord) by his first wife.
2nd v. Gervase and Protase twin sons of Saints Vitalis and Valeria, suffered beheading for the faith martyrs themselves appeared to Saint Ambrose in an apparition MM (RM)
 110 St. Zosimus Martyr at Spoleto, Umbria, Italy
 364 Saint Gaudentius Bishop his deacon Culmatius  his wife, children, and 53 companions martyred MM (RM)
400 St Paisius the Great lived in Egypt. His parents, Christians, distributed generous alms to all the needy; a seer and a wonderworker famed throughout the whole of Egypt
 449  Arsenius der Große Kaiser Theodosius (379-395) hörte von der Gelehrsamkeit des Arsenius und bat ihn, die Erziehung seiner Söhne Arcadius und Honorius zu übernehmen;  Eines Tages hörte er eine Stimme, die ihm sagte: "Arsenius, flieh die Menschen und du wirst gerettet"
 559 Saint  Innocent Bishop of Le Mans for over 40 years B (AC)
  586 Saint John the Hermit an ascetic in Palestine; passed his days in fasting and prayer in a cave near Jerusalem. The uncovetous ascetic had only an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, before which a lampada was always lit.
 679 St. Didier bishop of Nevers, attended the synod of Sens in 657 hermit invoked for rain and against thunderstorm, evil spirits, and plague
679 Saint  Deodatus Bishop of Nevers, France, from about 655, and a hermit. He was abbot-founder of Ebersheimmunster, near Strasbourg, France. Deodatus is also cited with founding Jointures Abbey.
  827 Saint  Hildegrin missions to the Saxons bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne retired to Werden as monk

1009 Saint Bruno (Boniface) of Querfurt received the habit of a Camaldolese monk from the founder Saint Romuald missionary to Germany  "the Second Apostle of the Prussians"OSB Cam. BM (RM)
1027 St. Romuald early life wasted in worldly pleasures; abbot. Like all the saints fought lifelong battle against assaults of devils and men; in old age, he increased his austerities; the founder of the Camaldolese monks,
1113 Blessed Odo of Cambrai founded community of Benedictines; one of the most erudite scholars of his time
1340 Juliana Falconieri birth answer to prayers of old childless couple they built magnificent church Annunciation at Florence founded Third Order of Servites Austere zealous charitable sympathetic to all, OSM V (RM)
1535 Bl. Sebastian Newdigate Carthusian martyr of England priest after wife passed on
1535 Bl. William Exmew Carthusian martyr Englishman, he was educated at Cambridge and entered the Carthusians, eventually becoming sub-prior of the London Charterhouse
 1573 Bl. Thomas Woodhouse ordination as a secular priest;  incarceration 12 years; Society of Jesus; English martyr

1607 Saint Job; first Patriarch of Moscow Many  incorrupt and fragrant relics became the source of healing for many who were afflicted by physical and mental illnesses at his grave
18th v. Saint Paisius of Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos wrote The History of the Slavo-Bulgarians, a book upholding the Christian Faith and awakening the national self-awareness of the subjugated Bulgarian nation.

1884 Ludwig Richter war zwar katholisch, fühlte sich aber auch der evangelischen Kirche zugehörig
1929  Sundar Singh Von Kind an religiös interessiert, studierte er den Koran, meditierte und erlernte Yoga; Er fand aber keinen inneren Frieden englischen Missionsschule und wandte sich hier vehement gegen das Christentum Theologiestudium in den USA Seine mystische Ausrichtung führte ihn wieder zurück nach Indien.



Commemoration of Archangel Michael {Coptic}
On this day, the church celebrates the commemoration of the honorable Archangel Michael, intercessor of the human race.
The one who appeared to Joshua the son of Nun, encouraged him, and told him,
"Nay, but as captain of the hosts of the Lord am I now come."
He made the city of Jericho to fall into his hands, and he stopped the sun for him.

135 Departure of St. Justus, the Sixth Pope of the See of St. Mark.
On this day also, of the year 135 A.D., St. Justus, the Sixth Pope of the See of St. Mark, departed. This saint was an honorable and learned man before his ordination. He was baptized by St. Mark the Apostle, along with his father, his mother and others. St. Anianus, the second pope, ordained him a deacon, then a priest, and appointed him to preach, and teach the people. He was chosen for the papacy to succeed Pope Primus. He shepherded his people with the best of care for ten years. He departed at a pleasing good old age.  May his prayers be with us. Amen.

1092 Departure of St. Kyrillos the Second, the 67th Pope of Alexandria.
On this day also, the twelfth of Baounah, 808 A.M. (June 6th, 1092 A.D.), the great Pope, St. Kyrillos the Second, the 67th Pope of Alexandria, departed. He became a monk in Sawma'et (Cell) of Singar. Because of his knowledge and righteousness, they chose him a Patriarch, a successor to St. Christodolus, the 66th Pope. His enthronement was on 22nd of Baramhat, 794 A.M. (March 18th, 1078 A.D.).
Some of the bishops disobeyed the Pope and decided to depose him. They assembled a council from forty-seven bishops for this purpose. When the Fatimid governor knew of this dissension, he called the bishops to his orchard. He harshly talked to them with words God had put in his mouth. The overseer of the orchard (Yaseeb) sided with those who opposed the Pope. Peter, the pope's disciple, reproved him and an exchange of words took place between them while the Pope was coming out of the meeting. The Pope told the overseer, "If the Governor has authority, Christ has authority over the heaven and earth." The Pope dismounted his horse, and made a matonia before him, which was on Saturday the 23rd of Misra, 802 A.M. On the next Saturday, the governor became enraged with the overseer of his orchard. He went there and ordered the beheading of the overseer. That was in the same place where the Pope had made the matonia to him and in the same hour.
The Governor told the dissenting bishops, "You all should be in accordance, and obey your Archbishop." Thus, they all were reconciled, and went to the church of St. Marcurius. They celebrated the Divine liturgy on Saturday and Sunday and then went to their parishes rejoicing. This Pope remained on the Chair 14 years, two month, and thirteen days, then departed in peace. May his prayers be with us. Amen.

Departure of St. Euphemia.
This day also, marks the martyrdom of St. Euphemia. She was the wife of a man who feared God, and gave much alms. He kept three festivals each month: the commemoration of the angel Michael, on the twelfth day(1); (1) The pagans in Alexandria worshipped the idol Zuhal, who had a statue and a temple, that was built by Cleopatra on the twelfth day of the month of Baounah.  During the reign of Emperor Constantine, Pope Alexandros preached to the people, explaining to them the error of worshipping the idols that do not move or reason, which are made by human hands, and the error of offering sacrifices to them. He changed the temple of this idol to a church in the name of Michael the Archangel, and destroyed that statue. He asked them to distribute these sacrifices to the poor that Christ had called His brothers, to receive the intercession of the angel Michael. This church was called, at that time, the church of El-Kaisariah.
It was said also that this feast was taken after the Ancient Egyptians. They believed that the flood of the Nile started on the eve of the twelfth of the month of Baounah by "the coming down of the drop." That is to say, the tear of "Isis," the goddess of fertility and motherhood. The tear that she shed grieving for her husband "Osiris," the god of agriculture and abundance, who was killed by "Typhon" the god of evil.
This feast was replaced in Christianity by the feast of Michael the Archangel (Tareekh El-Omah El-koptiah).

He kept three festivals each month: the commemoration of the angel Michael, on the twelfth day(1); the commemoration of the Mother of God (Theotokos), on the twenty-first day; and the commemoration of the Nativity of our Lord, on the twenty-ninth day of each month. When the day of his departure drew near, he commanded his wife, to keep this custom, to not stop the giving of alms, and to do the acts of charity especially on these three festivals. He painted a picture of the honorable angel Michael and gave it to her.

After the departure of her husband, she continued to fulfill his will. Satan was jealous of her, and he came to her disguised as a monk, who talked to her expressing his pity for her. He advised her to get married, to bring forth children, and to refrain from doing charitable deeds lest she finish her money. He told her also that her husband had received the Kingdom and he had no need of the alms giving. She answered saying, "I have vowed not to consort with another man after my husband." She went on saying, "If birds as the doves and the ravens do not take second mates, how then can men who are created in the form and likeness of God do this?" The devil left her angry.

When the feast of the Angel had come, and she had prepared all what she needed as her custom, Satan appeared to her in the form of an angel and said to her, "Peace be to you, the angel Michael has sent me to you, commanding you to cease from these alms, and to marry a believing man." Then he told her, "A woman without a man is like a ship without a captain," and he began to bring her proofs out of the Holy Bible in regard of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and others like them who married wives and pleased God. She replied saying, "If you are an angel of God, where is the Cross, the symbol of your military service? For the soldier of the King never goes to any place without this symbol with him." When Satan heard these words from her, he returned to his original form, and jumped on her to choke her. She cried for the angel Michael, whose feast she was celebrating, and he delivered her immediately from him. The angel Michael told her, "Go and arrange your affairs, for you shall depart from this world today. And behold the Lord has prepared for you what eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, nor has it occurred to the heart of man," then he gave her the greeting of peace, and went up into heaven.

After, St. Euphemia had celebrated the feast of the angel Michael, she sent for the father the bishop and the priests. She gave them all her money to give to the poor and the needy. Then, she took the Picture of the honorable angel Michael and prayed before it. She laid it upon her face and breast, then departed in peace.  May his intercession be with us and Glory be to God forever. Amen.
67 Saint Ursicinus physician in Ravenna condemned for being a Christian
Ravénnæ sancti Ursicíni Mártyris, qui, sub Paulíno Júdice, post plúrima torménta, in Dómini confessióne pérmanens immóbilis, cápitis abscissióne martyrium complévit.
    At Ravenna, St. Ursicinus, martyr, who remained constant through many torments in the confession of martyrdom by being beheaded.

Martyred physician in Ravenna condemned for being a Christian during the persecution of Emperor Nero. His faith began to waver, but he found new strength through the encouragement of Saint Vital is and met his death with resolve.  Ursicinus of Ravenna M (RM) Saint Ursicinus is said to have been a physician in Ravenna who, on being sentenced to death for the faith, wavered, but was encouraged by the soldier Saint Vitalis and accepted martyrdom. In art, Ursicinus is an early Christian bishop in an alb, chasuble and stole, with a book in his hand and a lamp hanging over him (Roeder)
.
80 Jude, one of 12 apostles of Christ, descended from King David and Solomon, son of Righteous Joseph the Betrothed (Sunday after the Nativity of the Lord) by his first wife.
The Holy Apostle John the Theologian writes in his Gospel, "... neither did his brethren believe in Him" (John. 7:5).
Apostel Judas Thaddäus Orthodoxe Kirche: 19. Juni - Apostel Judas der Herrenbruder Katholische, Anglikanische und Evangelische Kirche: 28. Oktober Apostel Judas Thaddäus
St Theophylact, Archbishop of Bulgaria, explains this passage. He says that at the beginning of the Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry, Joseph's sons, Jude among them, did not believe in His divine nature. Tradition says that when St Joseph returned from Egypt, he began to divide his possessions among his sons. He wanted to allot a share to Christ the Savior, born miraculously and incorruptibly from the All-Pure Virgin Mary.
The brothers were opposed to this because Jesus was born of another mother.
Only James, later called "The Brother of God," offered to share his portion with Him.

Jude came to believe in Christ the Savior as the awaited Messiah, and he followed Him and was chosen as one of the twelve Apostles.
Mindful of his sin, the Apostle Jude considered himself unworthy to be called the Lord's brother, and in his Epistle he calls himself merely the brother of James.

The Holy Apostle Jude also had other names: the Evangelist Matthew terms him "Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddeus" (Mt. 10:3).
The Holy Evangelist Mark also calls him Thaddeus (Mark 3:18), and in the Acts of the Holy Apostles he is called Barsabas (Acts 15: 22). This was customary at that time.


After the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, St Jude traveled about preaching the Gospel.
He propagated the faith in Christ at first in Judea, Galilee, Samaria and Idumaia, and later in the lands of Arabia, Syria and Mesopotamia. Finally, he went to the city of Edessa. Here he finished the work that was not completed by his predecessor, St Thaddeus, Apostle of the Seventy (August 21).
There is a tradition that St Jude went to Persia, where he wrote his catholic Epistle in Greek. In the Epistle much profound truth was expressed in a few words.

St Jude's Epistle speaks about the Holy Trinity, about the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, about the good and bad angels, and about the dread Last Judgment. The Apostle urges believers to guard themselves against fleshly impurity, to be diligent in prayer, faith and love, to convert the lost to the path of salvation, and to guard themselves from the teachings of heretics. He also says that it is not enough just to be converted to Christianity, but faith must be demonstrated by good works. He cites the rebellious angels and men punished by God (verses 6 ff.) to support this.
The Holy Apostle Jude died as a martyr around the year 80 near Mt. Ararat in Armenia, where he was crucified and pierced by arrows.
Apostel Judas Thaddäus Orthodoxe Kirche: 19. Juni - Apostel Judas der Herrenbruder Katholische, Anglikanische und Evangelische Kirche: 28. Oktober Apostel Judas Thaddäus
Das Neue Testament nennt - neben Judas Iskariot - Judas, den Bruder Jesu (Matth. 13, 55/Mark. 6, 3), den Apostel Judas Jakobus (Luk. 6, 16/Apg. 1, 13) sowie Judas Barsabbas (Sohn des Sabbas) (Apg. 15, 22 ff.). Die orthodoxe Tradition sieht in diesen drei Nennungen eine Person, den Apostel Judas, den Herrenbruder. Neuere Forschungen gehen dagegen davon aus, dass Judas der Bruder des Herrn und der Apostel Judas zwei unterschiedliche Personen sind. Die orthodoxe Tradition beruht auf der Interpretation der Nennungen bei Lukas und in der Apostelgeschichte als 'Judas Bruder des Jakobus'. Schon von Tertullian und Origines werden die Worte des griechischen Textes 'Judas des Jakobus' zu 'Judas, Bruder des Jakobus' ergänzt. In heutigen Bibelübersetzungen findet sich die der üblichen Namensgebung entsprechende Deutung Judas, Sohn des Jakobus. Der Herrenbruder Judas war nach orthodoxer Überlieferung ein Sohn des Josef aus erster Ehe, nach katholischer Tradition ein Sohn des Kleopas.

Origines vereinheitlichte die unterschiedlichen Apostellisten der Evangelisten so, daß er Judas des Jakobus (bei Lukas) und Thaddaios (der Mutige) (bei Matthäus und Markus) zu dem Apostel Judas Thaddäus verband. In der Kirchengeschichte wurde der Apostel Judas dann nicht nur mit dem Herrenbruder Judas gleichgesetzt bzw. verwechselt, sondern auch mit dem Verräter Judas Iskariot oder dem Apostel Simon und Thaddäus aus der Schar der 70 Jünger. Judas soll in verschiedenen Ländern Vorderasiens missioniert haben. Er ging schließlich mit Simon nach Persien, wo beide den Märtyrertod erlitten. Nach anderer Überlieferung wurde Judas im Jahr 80 in Armenien gekreuzigt.
2nd v. Gervase and Protase twin sons of Saints Vitalis and Valeria, suffered beheading for the faith martyrs themselves appeared to Saint Ambrose in an apparition MM (RM)
Medioláni sanctórum Mártyrum Gervásii et Protásii fratrum, ex quibus priórem támdiu jussit Astásius Judex plumbátis cædi, quoúsque ille spíritum exhaláret; posteriórem vero, fústibus cæsum, cápite truncári.  Horum córpora, Dómino revelánte, beátus Ambrósius sánguine conspérsa et ita incorrúpta réperit, ac si eo die ipsi fuíssent interémpti; in quorum translatióne cæcus, féretri tactu, lumen recépit, et plúrimi, vexáti a dæmónibus, liberáti sunt.
    At Milan, the holy martyrs Gervase and Protase, brothers.  The former, by order of the judge Astasius, was scourged with leaded whips for so long that he expired.  The latter, after being scourged with rods, was beheaded.  Through divine revelation their bodies were found by St. Ambrose.  They were partly covered with blood, and as free from corruption as if they had been put to death that very day.  When the translation took place, a blind man recovered his sight by touching their relics, and many persons possessed by demons were delivered.

Nazarius, Celsius, Gervasius und Protasius
Orthodoxe Kirche: Nazarius, Celsius, Gervasius und Protasius - 14. Oktober Katholische Kirche: Gervasius und Protasius - 19. Juni
SS. GERVASE AND PROTASE, MARTYRS
IN a letter addressed to his sister, Marcellina, St Ambrose describes the circumstances which led to the finding of the relics of SS. Gervase and Protase, who from that time to the present day have been venerated as the first martyrs of Milan. He tells her that he had completed the famous basilica which bears his name, and was preparing for the dedication, when he was asked by some of his people to solemnize it with all the ceremonial that had dignified his recent consecration of a Roman church dedicated in honour of the Apostles and enshrining some of their relics. "I will do so", he had replied, "if I can find the necessary relics." In order to fulfil his promise-St Augustine says it was as the result of information imparted to him in a vision-he caused excavations to be made in the cemetery church of SS. Nabor and Felix. They revealed the remains of two very tall men buried in close proximity. The heads were severed from the bodies, but the skeletons were otherwise entire. These were identified as being the bones of SS. Gervase and Protase, of whom nothing was remembered except their names and a vague tradition of their martyrdom. The relics were borne on litters, first to the basilica of Faustus, where they were venerated by a great concourse of people, then to the Ambrosian church amid the rejoicings of the whole city.
   A number of miracles reported as having taken place during the translation were regarded as attesting the genuineness of the relics.  St Ambrose, his secretary Paulinus, and St Augustine, who were all three in Milan at the time, particularly mention the case of a blind butcher, Severus, who regained his sight upon touching the fringe of the ornaments that covered the remains. The man made a vow to continue in the service of the church of the saints and was still a servant there in 411, when Paulinus was writing the life of St Ambrose.
No credence can be attached to the so-called acts of these two saints, based as they are on a letter purporting to have emanated from St Ambrose, but now universally admitted to be spurious. They represent Gervase and Protase as the twin sons of the two martyrs, Vitalis and Valeria, and as having suffered in the days of Nero, ten years after the death of their father. Gervase is said to have been beaten to death with leaded whips; Protase was beheaded.
Much controversy has arisen over these two martyrs. Dr J. Rendel Harris has boldly attempted to identify them with the pagan deities Castor and Pollux, whilst others have contented themselves with denying their existence. The majority of modern hagiographers, however, regard them as genuine martyrs whose history has perished, but who belonged to the reign of the Emperor Antoninus or even to an earlier period. The mortal remains of St Ambrose were laid, at his own wish, beside those of St Gervase and St Protase, and one of his successors in the see of Milan, Angilbert II, in the ninth century, placed the three bodies in a porphyry sarcophagus. It was for some time believed that the bones were removed by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, to be subsequently parcelled out to various churches in Germany and France; but this is quite untrue. Actually they remained undisturbed under the high altar of Sant' Ambrogio, where they were rediscovered in 1864. A crypt has since been constructed accessible to worshippers, and there the relics can be viewed behind a panel of glass. From an early date almost all calendars and martyrologies contain an entry commemorating SS. Gervase and Protase on this day, June 19.
The relevant passages of St Ambrose, St Augustine, Paulinus, etc., will be found quoted in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. iv, as also the pseudo-Ambrosian letter which professes to narrate the history of the martyrs. For a general discussion of St Ambrose's discovery of the bodies, see F. Savio, Gli antichi Vescovi d'Italia, Milano, pp. 788-810; F. Lanzoni, Diocesi d'Italia, vol. ii, pp. 1000-1007; and CMH., pp. 325-326. There is a certain difficulty in reconciling the statements of St Ambrose and St Augustine regarding the date and day of the week on which the bodies were found and transferred to Sant' Ambrogio; on this, Delehaye has written in some detail in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xlix (1931), pp. 30-34. The attempted identification of Gervase and Protase with the Dioscuri has been dealt with by P. Franchi de' Cavalieri in the Nuovo Bullettino di archeologia cristiana, vol. ix (1903), pp. 109-126, and cf. Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxiii (1904), pp. 427-432.

Nazarius war ein Römer. Er war von Linus getauft worden. Nazarius zog als Wanderprediger durch Italien und kam nach Mailand. Hier traf er Gervasius und Protasius, die Söhne von Vitalis und Valeria. Ihre Eltern hatten bereits den Märtyrertod gefunden. Nazarius kümmerte sich um die Waisen, wurde aber vertrieben und wanderte weiter nach Gallien. Hier konnte er viele Menschen bekehren und taufen. Unter ihnen war auch Celsius, der Nazarius auf seinen weiteren Reisen begleitete. Beide wurden ergriffen und wilden Tieren vorgworfen. Als diese sie nicht anrührten, sollten sie ertränkt werden. Auch dies mißlang und die Folterer bekehrten sich zu Christus und ließen die beiden frei. Nazarius und Celsius kehrten nach Mailand zurück und besuchten Gervasius und Protasius. Sie wurden hier gefangengesetzt und vor Nero gerbacht, der sie köpfen ließ. Auch Gervasius und Protasius wurden hingerichtet. Ihre Gebeine wurden am 17.6.386 von Bischof Ambrosius (nach himmlischen Hinweisen) feierlich erhoben. Es ist das erste bekannte Beispiel einer Auffindung (inventio) von Märtyrerreliquien. Ihre Reliquien befinden sich heute unter dem Hochaltar von S. Ambrogio in Mailand sowie im Breisacher Münster.


2nd century. Tradition relates that Gervase and his twin brother Protase, the sons of Saints Vitalis and Valeria, suffered beheading for the faith. Gervase was said to have been beaten to death with a lead-tipped whip, and Protase was beheaded. They are considered the first martyrs of Milan ever since Saint Ambrose, guided by a vision, unearthed their remains in 386 (see Saint Augustine's City of God, 22).
Saint Paulinus of Nola in his Life of Saint Ambrose says that the martyrs themselves appeared to Saint Ambrose in an apparition.

Ambrose was about to dedicate a new church, which was later called Saint Ambrose the Great, and the people wanted him to do it with the same solemnity as he had at the church dedicated to the holy Apostles. He, however, had no relics for the basilican church. After the vision Ambrose caused the area inside the rails enclosing the tomb of SS. Nabor and Felix to be dug up. There he found the bodies of two very big men, with their bones entire, and in their natural position, but the heads separated from their bodies, with a large quantity of blood, and all the marks which could be desired to ascertain the relics.
Even at the time the relics were discovered by Ambrose nothing was remembered about them except their names and that they were martyrs in an early persecution, perhaps under Nero.

These saints are pictures as youths holding the palm of martyrs. At times one may be holding a scourge loaded with lead and the other a sword, or they may hold stones and be shown with their father, Saint Vitalis. These martyrs are venerated in Milan (Roeder).

150 St. Gervase; tradition has Gervase and his twin brother, Protase, the sons of Vitalis and Valeria, who suffered martyrdom for their Faith. Both children were also martyred for their Faith; Gervase was beaten to death with a lead tipped whip and Protase was beheaded. They are considered the first martyrs of Milan ever since St. Ambrose, guided by a vision, unearthed their remains there 386 .
110 St. Zosimus Martyr at Spoleto, Umbria, Italy
Sozópoli, in Pisídia, sancti Zósimi Mártyris, qui, in persecutióne Trajáni, sub Domitiáno Præside, post acérbos cruciátus, cápite amputáto, victor migrávit ad Dóminum.
    At Sozopolis, under the governor Domitian, during the persecution of Trajan, St. Zosimus, martyr, who suffered bitter tortures, was beheaded, and thus triumphantly went to heaven.

The Martyr Zosimus lived in the city of Apollona (Thrace) during the reign of Trajan (89-117), the persecutor of Christians. The saint was consumed with the desire to become a Christian. When he heard about the start of a persecution of Christians, he left military service, was baptized, and devoted himself to prayer and good deeds.
It was reported to the prefect Domitianus of Antioch that Zosimus had betrayed the emperor by taking off his military insignia and attaching himself to Christians. At the trial, St Zosimus confessed his faith in Christ and refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. He was subjected to fierce torments but, strengthened by the grace of God, he did not feel the pain. The prefect gave orders to heat a copper bed red-hot and to put the saint on it. The martyr made the Sign of the Cross, laid down on the bed, but remained unharmed.

Departing the city, Domitianus gave orders to place iron sandals with sharp nails in the soles on the martyr's feet, and to have Zosimus follow after him. The Lord gave St Zosimus the strength to follow after the horses. The martyr was locked in prison, where they tormented him with hunger and thirst, but an angel of the Lord fortified him with bread and water. St Zosimus still refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Finally, he was beheaded, and surrendered his soul to God.

Zosimus (d. 110) + Martyr. He was executed in Umbria, Italy, during the reign of Emperor Trajan    (r. 98-117).
Zosimus of Spoleto M (RM)  Martyr at Spoleto, Umbria, Italy, under Emperor Trajan (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
364 Saint Gaudentius Bishop his deacon Culmatius  his wife, children, and 53 companions martyred MM (RM)
Arétii, in Túscia, sanctórum Mártyrum Gaudéntii Epíscopi, et Culmátii Diáconi, qui, témpore Valentiniáni, furóre Gentílium cæsi sunt.
    At Arezzo in Tuscany, the holy martyrs Gaudentius, bishop, and Culmatius, deacon, who were murdered by the furious heathen, during the reign of Valentinian.
Died at Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy, 364. Bishop Gaudentius and his deacon Culmatius are said to have been martyred under Valentinian I.
A layman, named Andrew, his wife, children, and 53 companions suffered with them (Benedictines).
400 St Paisius the Great lived in Egypt. His parents, Christians, distributed generous alms to all the needy; a seer and a wonderworker famed throughout the whole of Egypt
After the death of her husband his mother, on the suggestion of an angel, gave her young son Paisius to the clergy of the church.

The youth Paisius loved monastic life and spent his time in one of the Egyptian sketes. Renouncing his own will, he lived under the spiritual guidance of St Pambo (July 18), finishing all the tasks assigned him. The Elder said that a new monk in particular needs to preserve his sight, in order to guard his senses from temptation. Paisius, heeding the instruction, went for three years with his eyes cast downwards. The saintly ascetic read spiritual books, and he was known for his ascetic fasting and prayer. At first he did not eat any food for a week, then two weeks. Sometimes, after partaking of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, he survived without food for seventy days.

St Paisius went into the Nitrian desert in search of solitude. There he lived in a cave carved out by his own hands. The saint was granted a wondrous vision: the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to him that through his labors the Nitrian wilderness would become inhabited by ascetics. He asked the Lord where the monks would obtain the necessities of life in the desert. The Lord said that if they would fulfill all His commandments, He Himself would provide all their necessities, and would deliver them from demonic temptations and cunning.

In time, a number of monks and laymen gathered around St Paisius, and a monastery was established. The most important rule of St Paisius was that no one would do anything by his own will, but in all things would fulfill the will of his elders.
Since his tranquility was being disturbed by so many people, the saint withdrew to another cave farther away. Once, he was transported to a paradisical monastery and partook of the immaterial divine food. After his ascetic labors for salvation, the Lord granted His saint the gift of prescience and healing the souls of men.
   One of his disciples, with the saint's blessing, went to sell his handicrafts in Egypt. On the way he encountered a Jew, who told the simple-minded monk that Christ the Savior is not the Messiah, and that another Messiah will come. Confused, the monk said, "Maybe what you say is true," but he did not attribute any particular significance to his words. When he returned, he saw that St Paisius would not acknowledge his arrival, and he asked the reason for his anger. The saint said, "My disciple was a Christian. You are not a Christian, for the grace of Baptism has departed from you." The monk repented with tears, and begged to have his sin forgiven. Only then did the holy Elder pray and ask the Lord to forgive the monk.
A certain monk on his own initiative left the desert and moved near a city. There he had encounters with a woman, who hated and blasphemed Christ the Savior. Under her influence, he not only left the monastery, but also scorned faith in Christ, and finally he reached a state of total disbelief.
   Once, through the blessed Providence of God, Nitrian monks came by his home. Seeing them, the sinner remembered his own former life and he asked the monks to ask St Paisius to pray for him to the Lord. On hearing the request, the saint prayed fervently, and his prayer was heard. The Lord, appearing to His saint, promised to forgive the sinner. Soon the seduced monk's woman companion died, and he returned to the desert where, weeping and distressed for his sins, he began to labor at deeds of repentance.
   St Paisius distinguished himself by his great humility, and performed ascetic deeds of fasting and prayer, but he concealed them from others as far as possible. When the monks asked which virtue is the highest of all, the saint replied, "Those which are done in secret, and about which no one knows."
St Paisius died in the fifth century at a great old age, and he was buried by the monks. After some time his relics were transferred by St Isidore of Pelusium (February 4) to his own monastery and placed beside the relics of his friend St Paul, with whom St Paisius was particularly close during his life.

Paisius der Große Orthodoxe Kirche: 19. Juni
Paisius der GroßePaisius lebte in Ägypten. Nach einigen Jahren als Mönch in einer Skete ging er auf der Suche nach tieferer Einsamkeit in die Nitriawüste. Hier lebte er in einer selbstgegrabenen Höhle. In einer Vision enthüllte ihm Christus, dass die Nitriawüste Heimstätte vieler Einsiedler sein werde. Um die Höhle von Paisius entstand ein Kloster und Paisius zog sich weiter zurück. Auch um seine neue Einsiedlei entstand ein Kloster. Paisius starb in hohem Alter im 5. Jahrhundert.

Our Holy Father Paisius the Great SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
    He was an Egyptian by birth and by language. After a vision in a dream, his mother dedicated him to the service of God, and he went to St Pambo while still a youth. Pambo accepted him as a disciple, and he was a fellow-disciple there of St John the Dwarf, who wrote Paisius's life. To the joy of his spiritual father, Paisius piled labour upon labour, one ascetic feat upon another. The Prophet Jeremiah, whom he especially revered and read frequently, appeared to him often, and also the Lord Christ. `Peace be to thee, My beloved in whom 1 am well-pleased!', the Lord said to him. By God's great grace, Paisius had the particular gift of being able to abstain completely from food. He would often not eat bread for a fortnight, even more often for a week, and once, according to the testimony of John the Dwarf, he went for seventy days without tasting a thing. He waged a tremendous war against evil spirits, that sometimes appeared to him in their own form and sometimes as angels of light. But God's servant, filled with grace, never once let himself be deceived and led astray. He was a seer and a wonderworker famed throughout the whole of Egypt. He went to the Lord in the year 400.
Isidore of Pelusium took his relics to his own monastery and buried them there.
449 Arsenius der Große Kaiser Theodosius (379-395) hörte von der Gelehrsamkeit des Arsenius und bat ihn, die Erziehung seiner Söhne Arcadius und Honorius zu übernehmen;  Eines Tages hörte er eine Stimme, die ihm sagte: "Arsenius, flieh die Menschen und du wirst gerettet"
Orthodoxe Kirche: 8. Mai Katholische Kirche: 19. Juni
Arsenius der GrosseArsenius wurde 354 in Rom geboren. Er erwarb sich ein umfangreiches Wissen, wollte aber lieber Gott dienen und wurde Diakon an einer römischen Stadtkirche. Kaiser Theodosius (379-395) hörte von der Gelehrsamkeit des Arsenius und bat ihn, die Erziehung seiner Söhne Arcadius und Honorius zu übernehmen. Arsenius lehnte diese Aufgabe ab, wurde aber von Papst Dymas 383 nach Konstantinopel entsandt. Arsenius flehte ständig zu Gott, ihm zu zeigen, wie er sein Heil finden könne. Eines Tages hörte er eine Stimme, die ihm sagte: "Arsenius, flieh die Menschen und du wirst gerettet". Daraufhin verließ er heimlich Konstantinopel und ging in ein ägyptisches Skete-Kloster. Hier hörte er nach einiger Zeit wiederum eine Stimme, die ihm sagte: "Arsenius, flieh die Menschen und bleibe in der Stille". Arsenius ging daraufhin aus dem Kloster und lebte in einer Einsiedelei. Einem Mönch, der ihn fragte, warum er sich von den Menschen fernhielte, erwiderte Arsenius "Ich liebe alle, aber ich kann nicht gleichzeitig mit Gott und Menschen zusammen sein. Ich kann aber Gott nicht im Stich lassen, um mit den Menschen zu leben". Arsenius gab den Mönchen, die zu ihm kamen, kurze aber treffende Antworten auf ihre Fragen. Als ihn immer mehr Menschen aufsuchten, zog er in eine andere Einsiedelei. Mehrmals ging Arsenius in eine neue Einsiedelei, weil ihm zu viele Menschen seinen Rat und seinen Segen suchten. Arsenius gehört zu den großen "Wüstenvätern" Er starb in hohem Alter 449 oder 450.

559 Saint  Innocent Bishop of Le Mans for over 40 years B (AC)
 Bishop Innocent governed the see of Le Mans for over 40 years (Benedictines)
.
586 Saint John the Hermit an ascetic in Palestine; passed his days in fasting and prayer in a cave near Jerusalem. The uncovetous ascetic had only an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, before which a lampada was always lit.
The holy Elder often visited the holy places of Jerusalem, and Mount Sinai, and he went to pray at the graves of the holy martyrs and ascetics. Whenever he went out, the saint left the lampada burning before the icon of the Queen of Heaven and he asked Her blessing for the journey. When he returned after a month, or even after six months, the Elder found the lampada burning and filled with oil.
Once, he happened to go on a narrow trail, with two sides so overgrown with bushes, that it was impossible for two people on foot to pass each other. Suddenly, the saint saw a lion coming toward him. The beast stood up on its hind legs and cleared the way for the saint.
Another time , a monk came to the cave to visit St John. Since he did not notice even the bare necessities, he asked Abba John why he lived in such poverty. The holy Elder said that his cave contained spiritual riches greater than any earthly treasures.
St John the Hermit reposed in the sixth century in extreme old age, and was numbered with the saints.
  Our Holy Father John the Solitary SerbianOrthodoxChurch.net
He lived the ascetic life near Jerusalem in the sixth century. His asceticism brought him to a high degree of purity and spiritual power, so that the wild beasts were obedient to him. He entered into rest in the Lord in 586, at a great age
.
679 Saint Deodatus Bishop of Nevers, France, from about 655, and a hermit. He was abbot-founder of Ebersheimmunster, near Strasbourg, France. Deodatus is also cited with founding Jointures Abbey.

ST DEODATUS, OR DIE, BISHOP OF NEVERS (A.D. 679?)
KNOWN in his native land as Dié and Didier, St Deodatus was formerly widely venerated in France and no less than nine translations of his relics are recorded between 1003 and 1851. He became bishop of Nevers about 655, and in 657 he attended the Synod of Sens, together with St Amandus of Maestricht, St Eligius of Noyon, St Ouen of Rouen, St Palladius of Auxerre and St Faro of Meaux. After occupying the episcopal chair for several years he resigned, retiring into the Vosges to lead the solitary life. His story during the ensuing period is largely based on uncertain tradition, and we find his name linked with that of several holy men, not all of whom seem to have been even his contemporaries. According to his biographers he was driven from his retreat by the enmity of the people of the surrounding country and withdrew to an island near Strasbourg, where a few solitaries were already leading a common life. St Deodatus became their leader, and with the help of King Childeric built a church.
The growing community was the nucleus from which the abbey of Ebersheim was afterwards to develop. Finding his temporal duties incompatible with the contemplative life, Deodatus left and sought elsewhere a place where he could serve God undisturbed. Everywhere, however, he found himself opposed or persecuted.
Eventually he returned to the Vosges, and there, in what he called the Vale of Galilee, now the Vale of Saint-Dié, he settled down. Disciples soon gathered round, and for them was founded a monastery, which was called Jointures because it stood at the junction of the Rothbach and the Meurthe. The rule followed was that of St Columban. Not far from Jointures (now Saint-Dié) was Moyenmoutier, where another retired bishop, St Hidulf of Trier, was ruling another community of hermits. The two saints became close friends, periodically exchanging visits, and it was to St Hidulf, who came to administer the last sacraments to him, that St Deodatus commended his monastery. He was then extremely old, but had retained the direction of the community whilst spending the greater part of his time in a cell near at hand.
The long life written in the tenth century and printed in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. iv, is of little or no historical value. The part of Deodatus in the founding of Jointures is doubtful. See also Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. ii, p. 484.

Deodatus of Jointures, OSB B (AC) (also known as Didier, Dié) Born in western France; died June 19, c. 680. Another bishop of Nevers, France, Deodatus took the cathedra in 655. He filled all his episcopal duties with great fear and trembling. About 664, he resigned, lived as a hermit for a time, and then founded the abbey of Jointures (Val-de-Galilée), which he placed under the Rule of Saint Columban, and later changed to that of Saint Benedict. Fearing the responsibility for other souls, he continued to live in a little cell nearby. He died in the arms of Saint Hidulphus.
The town of Saint- Dié grew up around his monastery (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
679 St. Didier bishop of Nevers attended the synod of Sens in 657 hermit invoked for rain and against thunderstorm, evil spirits, and plague

Deodatus was a native of Gaul and known in France as Die' and Didier. He became bishop of Nevers about 655, attended the synod of Sens in 657, and several years later resigned his See to become a hermit, at first in the Vosges, and when driven out by the inhabitants, on an island near Strasbourg, which later developed into the famous monastery of Ebersheim.
He founded and became abbot of the monastery of Ebersheimmünster near Strasburg (Benedictines, Encyclopedia). In art, Saint Deodatus's hand stretches to thunder clouds or he is shown exorcising a woman (Roeder).
He is invoked for rain, and against thunderstorm, evil spirits, and plague (Roeder).
He later returned to the Vosges and founded a monastery, Jointures, of which he became abbot and remained there till his death.

Deodatus of Nevers B (AC) (also known as Dié, Didier, Dieudonné, Adéodat) Bishop Deodatus of Nevers resigned his see to live as a hermit in the Vosges. He founded and became abbot of the monastery of Ebersheimmünster near Strasburg (Benedictines, Encyclopedia). In art, Saint Deodatus's hand stretches to thunder clouds or he is shown exorcising a woman (Roeder).
He is invoked for rain, and against thunderstorm, evil spirits, and plague (Roeder).

827 Saint  Hildegrin missions to the Saxons bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne retired to Werden as monk
Bishop of Chalons sur Marne , France, and younger brother of Saint  Ludger.

It is believed that Hildegrin retired to become a Benedictine abbot at Werden. Hildegrin of Châlons-sur-Marne B (AC) Hildegrin was the younger brother of Saint Ludger whom he accompanied in his missions to the Saxons. About 802, he became bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne, but is believed to have retired to Werden and ended his life as a monk (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

1009 Saint Bruno (Boniface) of Querfurt received the habit of a Camaldolese monk from the founder Saint Romuald missionary to Germany  "the Second Apostle of the Prussians"OSB Cam. BM (RM)
Eódem die sancti Bonifátii, Epíscopi et Mártyris; qui fuit beáti Romuáldi discípulus.  Hic, a Gregório Quinto, Románo Pontífice, ad prædicándum Evangélium in Rússiam missus, ibi, cum per ignem transísset illæsus, Regémque ac pópulum baptizásset, a furénte Regis fratre necátus est, atque sic optátam martyrii corónam accépit.
    Also, St. Boniface, martyr, a disciple of blessed Romuald, who was sent by the Roman Pontiff, Gregory V, to preach the Gospel in Russia.  Having passed through fire uninjured, and baptized the king and his people, he was killed by the enraged brother of the king, and thus gained the palm of martyrdom which he ardently desired.
Bruno von Querfurt Orthodoxe Kirche: 19. Juni  Katholische und Evangelische Kirche: 9. März
ST BRUNO, OR BONIFACE, OF QUERFURT, BISHOP AND MARTYR (A.D. 1009)
THIS missionary monk was born about the year 974 of a noble Saxon family at Querfurt, and was baptized Bruno. He was educated in St Adalbert's city of Magdeburg, from whence he went to the court of Otto III, who regarded him with much confidence and affection and made him a court chaplain. When Otto went to Italy in 998, Bruno accompanied him and, like his master, came under the influence of St Romuald. With the memory of St Adalbert of Prague fresh in mind (who had been martyred the previous year) he received the monastic habit at the abbey of SS. Boniface and Alexis in Rome, and about 1000 he joined St Romuald. In the following year the emperor founded a monastery for them at Pereum, near Ravenna.
It was here that there came to Boniface (as he was now named) the call to carry the Christian message to the Veletians and Prussians and thus to continue the work of St Adalbert, whose life he had set himself to write. This scheme met with imperial approval, and two monks were sent in advance to Poland to learn Slavonic, while Boniface went to Rome for a papal commission; but these two, Benedict and John, with three others, were murdered by robbers on November 10, 1003, at Kazimierz, near Gniezno, before he could join them. These were the Five Martyred Brothers, whose biography Boniface subsequently wrote.
   With the authorization of Pope Silvester II duly granted, he set out for Germany in the depth of a winter so severe that his boots sometimes froze tight to the stirrups. After interviewing the new emperor, St Henry II, at Regensburg, he was consecrated a missionary bishop by the archbishop of Magdeburg at Merseburg-perhaps "missionary archbishop" would be more accurate, for he had received a pallium from the pope, which has given rise to the suggestion that Boniface was in fact meant to be a metropolitan for eastern Poland. But owing to political difficulties he had to work for a time among the Magyars around the lower Danube; here he had no great success, and he went on to Kiev where, under the protection of St Vladimir, he preached Christ's gospel among the Pechenegs.

Eventually Boniface made another attempt to reach the Prussians from the Polish territories of Boleslaus the Brave, after writing an eloquent but fruitless letter to the Emperor St Henry, imploring him not to ally himself with the heathen against the Christian Boleslaus. While much is uncertain in his career we can accept without hesitation the statement made by the chronicler Thietmar, bishop of Merseburg, who was related to Boniface. He tells us that his kinsman encountered violent opposition in his efforts to evangelize the borderland people in eastern Masovia; and that when he persisted in disregarding their warnings he was cruelly slain with eighteen companions on March 14, 1009. The saint's body was purchased by Boleslaus, who removed it to Poland; and the Prussians afterwards honoured his memory by giving his name to the town of Braunsberg, on the reputed site of his martyrdom. St Boniface was a missionary of large ideas, including the evangelization of the Swedes, to whom he sent two of his helpers, perhaps from Kiev; but his achievements were, humanly speaking, disappointing.
Because he was sometimes called Bruno and sometimes Boniface, several later historians, including Cardinal Baronius in the Roman Martyrology (June 19 and October 15), have made the mistake of regarding Boniface and Bruno of Querfurt as different persons.
Sources for this life are not copious. There is a passage in the chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg, another in St Peter Damian's Life of St Romuald, a short passio attributed to Wibert, who claimed to be a companion of the martyr, and a set of legendae in the Halberstadt Breviary. A rather tantalizing document has been published by H. G. Voigt, which, though preserved in a manuscript of very late date, has some pretensions to retain traces of a much older biography. It was first edited in the periodical Sachsen und Anhalt, vol. iii (1917), pp. 87-134; but it has since been included in Pertz, MGH., Scriptores, vol. xxx, part II. See also H. G. Voigt, Bruno von Querfurt ... (1907) and Bruno als Missionar der Ostens (1909); the Historisches Jahrbuch, vol. xiii (1891), 493-500; the Stimmen aus MariaLaach, vol. liii (1897), pp. 266 seq.; F. Dvornik, The Making of Central and Eastern Europe (1949), pp. 196-204 and passim; and the Cambridge History of Poland, vol. i (1950), pp. 66-67.

Born at Querfurt, Germany, in 974; died at Braunsberg, Germany, on February 14, 1009; the Roman Martyrology also shows his feast as Bruno on October 15. Born into a noble Saxon family, Saint Bruno studied at the cathedral school of Magdeburg. He joined the court of Otto III, was made court chaplain, an accompanied the emperor to Rome c. 998. Near Ravenna, he received the habit of a Camaldolese monk from the founder Saint Romuald and the name Boniface.
The following year he entered a monastery at Pereum founded by Otto. When two of its monks, Benedict and John, and three companions (the Five Martyred Brothers whose story he wrote) were martyred in 1003 at Kazimierz, near Gniezno, Romuald sent Boniface as a missionary to Germany. He was appointed missionary archbishop, preached to the Magyars with considerable success, and then went to Kiev to preach to the Pechenegs. He eventually worked to evangelize the Prussians, and on February 14, he and 18 companions were massacred on the Russian border near Braunsberg, Poland.
He is often called "the Second Apostle of the Prussians" (Benedictines, Delaney).
Bruno von Querfurt Orthodoxe Kirche: 19. Juni  Katholische und Evangelische Kirche: 9. März
Bruno, Sohn des Grafen von Querfurt, wurde 974 geboren. Er wurde an der Domschule in Magdeburg ausgebildet und zum Priester geweiht. Nach seinem Vorbild Adalbert von Prag beschloß Bruno, Missionar zu werden und ging in ein Kloster nach Rom. Mit den Benediktinern Benedikt und Johannes gründete er eine Einsiedelei bei Ravenna. Von hier gingen Benedikt und Johannes zur Mission nach Polen. Bruno wollte ihnen folgen. Der Papst ernannte ihn 1002 zum Leiter dieser Mission, die vom polnischen König Boleslaw erbeten worden war. Heinrich II., ein Verwandter Brunos, sicherte ihm die Unterstützung des deutschen Reiches zu. Bruno ging aber nicht nach Polen, das inzwischen im Krieg mit Heinrich lag, sondern nach Ungarn und Siebenbürgen. Seine Mitbrüder wurden in ihrer Einsiedelei von Räubern ermordet. 1004 suchte Bruno Heinrich II. auf. Er wurde zum Missionserzbischof geweiht und stiftete die Burgkirche in Quedlinburg. Bruno ging dann gegen den Willen des Kaisers wieder nach Siebenbürgen und dann 1008 nach Kiew. Hier wirkte er als Missionar unter den Petschenegen. Obwohl sich der polnische König wegen seiner Auseinandersetzungen mit Heinrich II. nicht in der Lage sah, die Mission in Preußen zu unterstützen, ging Bruno 1009 nach Preußen, um hier zu missionieren. Schon nach kurzer Zeit wurde er (am 14.2. oder 9.3. 1009) am Braunsberg mit seinen 18 Gefährten von den Preußen erschlagen. Bruno wird auch 2. Apostel der Preußen und - da er als Mönch den Namen Bonifatius angenommen hatte - Bonifatius des Ostens genannt.

1027 St. Romuald early life wasted in service of the worldly pleasures abbot Like all the saints fought lifelong battle against assaults of devils and men old age, he increased his austerities; the founder of the Camaldolese monks
In monastério Vallis Castri, in Picéno, natális sancti Romuáldi Ravennatis, Anachorétæ et Monachórum Camaldulénsium Patris; qui collápsam in Itália eremíticam disciplínam restítuit ac mirífice propagávit.  Ejus tamen festívitas recólitur séptimo Idus Februárii, quo die sacræ ipsíus relíquiæ Fabriánum sunt translátæ.
    At the monastery in the valley of Castro in Piceno, the birthday of St. Romuald, anchoret, a native of Ravenna.  He was the founder of the Camaldolese monks, and he restored and greatly extended monastic discipline, which was much relaxed in Italy.  His feast is observed on the 7th of February, on which day his sacred relics were transferred to Fabriano.

[Note: By the Apostolic Constitution Calendarium Romanum, promulgated in 1969,  the feast of St. Romuald was assigned, as an "Optional Memorial," to 19 June, the day of his death.]
ST ROMUALD, ABBOT, FOUNDER OF THE CAMALDOLESE BENEDICTINES (A.D. 1027)
ST ROMUALD, of the family of the Onesti, Dukes of Ravenna, was probably born about the year 950. The statement of his biographer, St Peter Damian, that he lived to the age of 120 years is now universally rejected.
Though he grew up a worldly youth and a slave to his passions, yet he occasionally experienced aspirations after higher ideals. His father, whose name was Sergius, had agreed to decide by duel a dispute he had with a relation over some property, and Romuald was an unwilling spectator of the encounter. Sergius slew his adversary and Romuald, horrorstricken, fled to the monastery of Sant' Apollinare-in-Classe near by. In this house he passed three years in such fervour and austerity that his observance became a standing reproach to certain lax and unfaithful monks, who were yet more exasperated when he reproved their conduct. So, with the abbot's consent, he left the monastery and, retiring to the neighhourhood of Venice, placed himself under the direction of a hermit named Marinus. Under him Romuald made great advance in the way of perfection. Romuald and Marinus are said to have been concerned in the retirement of the doge of Venice, St Peter Orseolo, to Cuxa, and to have lived there for a time as solitaries. The example of St Romuald had such an influence on his father Sergius that to atone for his sins he entered the monastery of San Severo, near Ravenna. After a time he was tempted to return to the world, whereupon his son went thither to dissuade him from that infirmity of purpose. He succeeded in this, and Sergius stayed in the monastery for the rest of his life.
Romuald seems to have spent the next thirty years wandering about Italy, founding hermitages and monasteries. He stayed three years in a cell near that house which he had founded at Parenzo. Here he laboured for a time under great spiritual dryness, but suddenly, one day, as he was reciting the words of the Psalmist, "I will give thee understanding and will instruct thee" he was visited by God with an extraordinary light and a spirit of compunction which from that time never left him. He wrote an exposition of the Psalms full of admirable thoughts, he often foretold things to come, and he gave counsel inspired by heavenly wisdom to all who came to consult him. He had always "longed for martyrdom, and at last obtained the pope's licence to preach the gospel in Hungary; but he was stricken with a grievous illness as soon as he set foot in the country, and as the malady returned each time he attempted to proceed, he concluded it was a plain indication of God's will in the matter and he accordingly returned to Italy, though some of his associates went on and preached the faith to the Magyars.
Subsequently he made a long stay at Monte di Sitrio, but whilst there he was accused of a scandalous crime by a young nobleman whom he had reprimanded for his dissipated life. Extraordinary as it seems, the monks believed the tale, enjoined on him a severe penance, forbade him to celebrate Mass, and excommunicated him. He bore all in silence for six months, but was then admonished by God to submit no longer to so unjust a sentence, pronounced without authority and without a shadow of foundation. He passed six years in Sitrio, observing strict silence, and, in spite of old age, increasing rather than relaxing his austerities. Romuald had some significance in missions to the Slavs and Prussians through the monastery founded for him and St Bruno of Querfurt at Pereum near Ravenna, by Otto III in 1001. A son of Duke Boleslaus I of Poland was a monk in this monastery, and on behalf of his father presented Romuald with a fine horse. He exchanged it for a donkey, declaring that he felt closer to Jesus Christ when astride such a mount.
The most famous of all St Romuald's monasteries is that of Camaldoli, near Arezzo in Tuscany, founded by him about the year 1012. It lies beyond a mountain, the descent from which on the farther side is almost a sheer precipice looking down upon a pleasant valley, which then belonged to a lord called Maldolo, who gave it the saint, and from him it retained the name Camaldoli (Campus Maldoli). In this place St Romuald built a monastery, and by the several observances he added to St Benedict's rule he gave birth to that new congregation called the Camaldolese, in which he united the cenobitic and eremitical life. After their benefactor had seen in a vision monks climbing a ladder to heaven all dressed in white garments, Romuald changed the habit from black to white. The hermitage is two short miles distant from the monastery. It is on the mountain-side overshaded by a dark wood of fir trees. In it are seven clear springs of water. The very sight of this solitude in the midst of the forest helps to fill the mind with compunction and a love of contemplation. On the left side of the church is the cell in which St Romuald lived when he first established these hermits. Their cells, built of stone, have each a little garden walled round, and each cell has a chapel in which the occupant may celebrate Mass.
After some years at Camaldoli Romuald returned to his travels, and eventually died, alone in his cell, at the monastery of Val-di-Castro, on June 19, 1027. A quarter of a century before he had prophesied that death would come to him in that place and in that manner. His chief feast is kept today because it was on February 7, 1481 that his incorrupt body was translated to Fabriano: it was so fixed when Pope Clement VIII added his name to the general calendar in 1595.
The principal source of information for the life of St Romuald is the biography written by St Peter Damian, which has been printed in the Acta Sanctorum, February, vol. ii, and in many other collections. See BHL., n. 7324. But much subsidiary material is also available in the Life or St Peter Orseolo, the Chronicon Venetum, and the two Lives of St Bononius of Lucedio. A valuable preliminary study of these sources has been made by W. Franke, Quellen und Chronologie zur Geschichte Romualds von Camaldoli und seiner Einsiedlergenossenschaften im Zeitalter Ottos III (1910). See Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxxi (1912), pp. 376-377; and also W. Franke in Hist. Studien, vol. cvii (1913). Two Italian lives were published in 1927, by A. Pagnani and C. Ciampelli; and cf. A. Giabbini, L'eremo (1945).

Born at Ravenna, probably about 950; died at Val-di-Castro, 19 June, 1027. St. Peter Damian, his first biographer, and almost all the Camaldolese writers assert that St. Romuald's age at his death was one hundred and twenty, and that therefore he was born about 907. This is disputed by most modern writers. Such a date not only results in a series of improbabilities with regard to events in the saint's life, but is also irreconcilable with known dates, and probably was determined from some mistaken inference by St. Peter Damian. In his youth Romuald indulged in the usual thoughtless and even vicious life of the tenth-century noble, yet felt greatly drawn to the eremetical life. At the age of twenty, struck with horror because his father had killed an enemy in a duel, he fled to the Abbey of San Apollinare-in-Classe and after some hesitation entered religion. San Apollinare had recently been reformed by St. Maieul of Cluny, but still was not strict enough in its observance to satisfy Romuald. His injudicious correction of the less zealous aroused such enmity against him that he applied for, and was readily granted, permission to retire to Venice, where he placed himself under the direction of a hermit named Marinus and lived a life of extraordinary severity. About 978, Pietro Orseolo I, Doge of Venice, who had obtained his office by acquiescence in the murder of his predecessor, began to suffer remorse for his crime. On the advice of Guarinus, Abbot of San Miguel-de-Cuxa, in Catalonia, and of Marinus and Romuald, he abandoned his office and relations, and fled to Cuxa, where he took the habit of St. Benedict, while Romuald and Marinus erected a hermitage close to the monastery. For five years the saint lived a life of great austerity, gathering round him a band of disciples. Then, hearing that his father, Sergius, who had become a monk, was tormented with doubts as to his vocation, he returned in haste to Italy, subjected Sergius to severe discipline, and so resolved his doubts. For the next thirty years St. Romuald seems to have wandered about Italy, founding many monasteries and hermitages. For some time he made Pereum his favourite resting place. In 1005 he went to Val-di- Castro for about two years, and left it, prophesying that he would return to die there alone and unaided. Again he wandered about Italy; then attempted to go to Hungary, but was prevented by persistent illness. In 1012 he appeared at Vallombrosa, whence he moved into the Diocese of Arezzo. Here, according to the legend, a certain Maldolus, who had seen a vision of monks in white garments ascending into Heaven, gave him some land, afterwards known as the Campus Maldoli, or Camaldoli. St. Romuald built on this land five cells for hermits, which, with the monastery at Fontebuono, built two years later, became the famous mother-house of the Camaldolese Order. In 1013 he retired to Monte-Sitria. In 1021 he went to Bifolco. Five years later he returned to Val-di-Castro where he died, as he had prophesied, alone in his cell. Many miracles were wrought at his tomb, over which an altar was allowed to be erected in 1032. In 1466 his body was found still incorrupt; it was translated to Fabriano in 1481. In 1595 Clement VIII fixed his feast on 7 Feb., the day of the translation of his relics, and extended its celebration to the whole Church. He is represented in art pointing to a ladder on which are monks ascending to Heaven.

[Note: By the Apostolic Constitution Calendarium Romanum, promulgated in 1969, the feast of St. Romuald was assigned, as an "Optional Memorial," to 19 June, the day of his death.]


St. Romuald was born at Ravenna about the year 956. In spite of an infinite desire for virtue and sanctity, his early life was wasted in the service of the world and its pleasures. Then one day, obliged by his father, Sergius, to be present at a duel fought by him, he beheld him slay his adversary. The crime made such an impression upon him that he determined to expiate it for forty days, as though it were entirely his own. For this purpose he retired to a Benedictine monastery of St. Apollinare, near Ravenna, where he became Abbot. After founding several monasteries, he laid the foundations of the austere Order of Camaldoli in Tuscany. Like all the saints, he fought a lifelong battle against the assaults of devils and men. In the beginning of his spiritual life he was strongly assailed by numerous temptations, which he conquered by vigilance and prayer. More than one attempt was made on his life, but Divine Providence enabled him to escape from the danger. Like many servants of God, he also became the victim of calumny, which he bore in patience and silence. In his old age, he increased his austerities instead of diminishing them. After a long life of merit, he died in the monastery of Castro, which he founded in Marquisate of Ancona. His death occurred on June 19, about the year 1027.

Romuald, OSB, Abbot Founder (RM) Born at Ravenna, Italy; died Val di Castro, Piceno, Italy, on February 7 (or June 19?), 1027; he has a second (local) feast day on February 7. Today celebrates the anniversary of the translation of his relics from Val di Castro, near Camaldoli to Fabriano.

Born into the Honesti (or Onesti) family, son of Serge, duke of Ravenna, Romuald had an uneventful childhood and was an unremarkable youth. One day he witnessed his hot-tempered father kill a relative in a duel over some land. Romuald, his father's second in the duel, is shaken at the wages of avarice. It is said that while Romuald was hunting in the forest one day, he stopped, began to pray, and resolved to atone for this crime. Whether the incident is true or not, at age 20, Romuald retired to Sant'Apollinare Monastery in Classe (about a mile from Ravenna) for 40 days to expiate his father's sin and his own complicity.

He would have returned to his normally loose lifestyle had he not made the friendship of a holy lay-brother and experienced conversion. Instead of returning home, Romuald requested the Benedictine habit. At first the abbot feared Serge's anger over his son's becoming a monk, but the archbishop of Ravenna, another Onesti, intervened and Romuald entered the order. After three years at that monastery, he left in quest of a more austere life and became a disciple of the hermit Marinus near Venice.

Romuald's early experience in his family made him very stern against those who pursued their public careers violently. About 978, Marinus and Romuald, together with Abbot Guarinus (Guerin) of Cuxa in Catalonia persuaded Peter Orseolo, doge of Venice, to resign (he had become doge by murdering or acquiescing to the murder of his predecessor).

Peter accompanied Marinus and Romuald back to Cuxa and became a Benedictine there, while Romuald and Marinus built a hermitage near the monastery and lived as hermits. Romuald returned to Italy ten years later to help his father, Serge, who had become a monk at Saint-Severin, resolve his doubts about his vocation. (His father died a short time later.)

Emperor Otto III appointed Romuald abbot of Sant'Apollinare in Classe, the place Romuald first sought refuge, but he left after two years to live as a hermit near Pereum (Piseno). He then set out to evangelize the Magyars in Hungary but was forced to turn back because of illness and probably by his age. Romuald spent the rest of his life founding monasteries and hermitages in northern and central Italy, notably at Vallombrosa in 1012, and in 1023 at Camaldoli near Arezzo. The five hermitages he built at Camaldoli developed into the mother house of the Camaldolese Order, which combined the cenobitic tradition of the West and the Eastern type of eremitical life under a modified Benedictine rule that Romuald drew up. The order was approved in 1072--about 45 years after its founder's death (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia).

Saint Romuald can be identified as a White Benedictine (Camaldolese) abbot pointing to a ladder by which monks ascend--two by two--to heaven. Sometimes he may be shown (1) experiencing this vision without a ladder; (2) old and bearded with a hermit's tau-staff; (3) enthroned with a long candle, surrounded by votaries, also with candles, as he points to Christ above; or (4) enthroned with a book and a model of the monastery (Roeder). Saint Fra Angelico painted a picture of Saint Romuald.  He is venerated at Camaldoli and Fabriano (Roeder).

June 19, 2010 St. Romuald  (950?-1027) 
After a wasted youth, Romuald saw his father kill a relative in a duel over property. In horror he fled to a monastery near Ravenna in Italy. After three years some of the monks found him to be uncomfortably holy and eased him out.  He spent the next 30 years going about Italy, founding monasteries and hermitages. He longed to give his life to Christ in martyrdom, and got the pope’s permission to preach the gospel in Hungary. But he was struck with illness as soon as he arrived, and the illness recurred as often as he tried to proceed.  During another period of his life, he suffered great spiritual dryness. One day as he was praying Psalm 31 (“I will give you understanding and I will instruct you”), he was given an extraordinary light and spirit which never left him.
At the next monastery where he stayed, he was accused of a scandalous crime by a young nobleman he had rebuked for a dissolute life. Amazingly, his fellow monks believed the accusation. He was given a severe penance, forbidden to offer Mass and excommunicated, an unjust sentence he endured in silence for six months.  The most famous of the monasteries he founded was that of the Camaldoli (Campus Maldoli, name of the owner) in Tuscany. Here he founded the Order of the Camaldolese Benedictines, uniting a monastic and hermit life.
His father later became a monk, wavered and was kept faithful by the encouragement of his son.
Comment:  Christ is a gentle leader, but he calls us to total holiness. Now and then men and women are raised up to challenge us by the absoluteness of their dedication, the vigor of their spirit, the depth of their conversion. The fact that we cannot duplicate their lives does not change the call to us to be totally open to God in our own particular circumstances.
Romuald Katholische Kirche: 19. Juni
Romuald wurde um 925 in Ravenna geboren. Er wurd zunächst Benediktinermönch, verließ aber 975 das Kloster und lebte an verschiedenen Orten als Einsiedler. 978 grüdete er in den Pyrenäen eine Einsiedlergemeinschaft. 998 ernannte ihn Otto III. zum Abt von St. Apollinare, aber Romuald legte das Amt nach wenigen Monaten nieder und zog weiter druch Italien, reformierte Klöster und gründete Einsiedlergemeinschaften. Er starb am 19.6.1027 in seiner Klause in der Nähe des Klosters Val di Castro. Seine Gebeine befinden sich in Fabriano. Zu den Gründungen Romualds gehört auch das Kloster Camaldoli bei Arezzo, das er um 1012 erichtete. Dieses Kloster wurde Mutterhaus der Kamaldulenser, eines Reformzweiges der Benediktiner .
1113 Blessed Odo of Cambrai founded a community of Benedictines  one of the most erudite scholars of his time OSB B (AC)

Born at Orléans, France; Saint Odo was the headmaster of the cathedral school of Tournai. About 1090, his heart was converted by reading Saint Augustine on free will. He then founded a community of Benedictines in the abandoned abbey of Saint Martin at Tournai. In 1105, he was promoted to bishop of Cambrai, but, on refusing to receive secular investiture, he was exiled to the abbey of Anchin, where he died. Odo was one of the most erudite scholars of his time (Benedictines)
.
BD ODO, BISHOP OF CAMBRAI
OF the distinguished scholars who taught in the great French schools of the eleventh century one of the most learned and influential was Odo, afterwards bishop of Cambrai. Where he was educated is not known, but he was a native of Orleans and, while still young, wrote a poem on the Trojan War which obtained considerable popularity. He had been teaching for several years at Toul when the canons of Tournai gave him the post of scholasticus-actually director-in their cathedral school. There he soon evinced a genius for teaching and a skill in disputation which, combined with a powerful and attractive personality, drew to him young men not only from the neighbouring towns, but also from Normandy, Saxony and Italy. A follower of Boethius and an exponent of realistic philosophy, he contended so successfully against the nominalism taught by Raimbert of Lille that he ended by winning over most of Raimbert's followers. Besides philosophy, rhetoric, and dialectics he also taught astronomy, and was often to be seen seated on the cathedral steps on a starry night demonstrating to his pupils the position of the constellations and the movement of the planets.
Immersed in secular studies Odo had little or no time to spare for theology or the writings of the fathers. He had been at Tournai five years when some lectures he was giving on Boethius led him to consult for the first time St Augustine's book on free will. Almost from the beginning it riveted his attention, and as he read on he was reduced to tears and overwhelmed with a sense of the futility of his past career. It was a case of sudden and complete conversion. At once he restricted his times for instruction, gave away all his money to the poor, began to spend long hours in church, and embarked upon such severe mortifications that he soon resembled a walking skeleton. Obviously, he would not remain satisfied with a secular life, and the bishop and citizens of Tournai, anxious to retain him in their midst, bestowed upon him the disused abbey of St Martin. At first he and a number of his former pupils lived there as canons, but after three years, by the advice of his friend Aimeric, abbot of Anchin, he gave them the Benedictine rule.
Odo had been abbot of St Martin's for thirteen years when, in 1105, he was chosen bishop of Cambrai in the place of Gaucher, whom Pope Paschal II had excommunicated and deposed for simony and for having accepted investiture from Henry IV. The emperor's party, however, was in the ascendant at Cambrai, and not until his death a year later could Odo obtain possession of his see. Even then he was unable to retain it. Within a very short time he was driven into exile because he refused to accept the ring and the cross from Henry V. He found a refuge with Aimeric at Anchin, where he occupied himself in writing books. He appears to have returned to Cambrai for a brief period towards the close of his life, but he died and was buried at Anchin. Amongst his numerous writings may be mentioned an exposition of the canon of the Mass, a treatise on original sin, another on the coming of the Messias, harmony of the gospels and a polyglot psalter in four languages.
Although no lengthy biography of early date is available we have a letter of Amand de Castello, prior of Anchin, which gives a sketch of Odo's career, and another account attributed to Herman of Tournai. These have been printed in Pertz, MGH., Scriptores, vol. xv, pp. 942-945, and vol. xiv, pp. 210-221, and cf. pp. 274-318. See especially Histoire littéraire de la France, vol. viii, pp. 399-400; Berlière, Monasticon BeIge, vol. i, pp. 273-275; Auger, Etudes sur les Mystiques des Pays' Bas, pp. 66-71, and three articles by Labis in the Revue Catholique de Louvain, vol. xiv (1856).
1340 Juliana Falconieri birth answer to prayers of old childless couple they built magnificent church Annunciation at Florence founded Third Order of Servites; Austere. zealous. charitable. sympathetic to all, OSM V (RM)
Floréntiæ sanctæ Juliánæ Falconériæ Vírginis, quæ Sorórum Ordinis Servórum beátæ Maríæ Vírginis fuit Institútrix, et a Cleménte Duodécimo, Pontífice Máximo, in sanctárum Vírginum númerum reláta est.
    At Florence, St. Juliana Falconieri, virgin, foundress of the Sisters of the Order of the Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was placed among the holy virgins by the Sovereign Pontiff, Clement XII.

1341  ST JULIANA FALCONIERI, VIRGIN, FOUNDRESS OF THE SERVITE  NUNS
ST JULIANA was one of the two glories of the noble family of the Falconieri, the other being her uncle, St Alexis, one of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order. Her father, Chiarissimo, and her mother, Riguardata, were a devout couple of great wealth who had built at their own cost the magnificent church of the Annunziata in Florence. They were childless and already well advanced in age when, in 1270, Juliana was born-the answer to prayer. After the death of her father, which occurred while she was still quite young, her uncle Alexis shared with Riguardata the direction of her upbringing. She never cared for the amusements and occupations which interested other girls, but loved to spend her time in prayer and in church. Sometimes, indeed, her mother would tell her that if she continually neglected her needle and spinning-wheel she would never find a husband. The threat, however, had no terror for Juliana, and when she found that her relations were trying to arrange a suitable match for her she expressed her determination to consecrate herself to God and to renounce the world. She was then fifteen. After being carefully instructed by her uncle Alexis, she was invested with the Servite habit by St Philip Benizi in the church of the Annunziata, and a year later she was professed a tertiary of the order.
The ritual employed on this occasion appears to have been identical with that used in the profession of a Servite brother. Juliana continued to live at home, and Riguardata, who had originally opposed her profession, ended by placing herself under her daughter's direction. Bereft of her mother in 1304, when she was thirty-four, Juliana moved to another house, where she led a community life with a number of women who devoted themselves to prayer and works of mercy. Their habit resembled that of the men of the Servite Order, but to facilitate their work they wore short sleeves, which caused them to be nicknamed "Mantellate", a term subsequently applied to women tertiaries in general. With great reluctance Juliana accepted the post of superior at the urgent desire of her companions. For them she drew up a code of regulations which was formally confirmed 120 years later for their successors by Pope Martin V. Just as the Order of the Servants of Mary is commonly ascribed to St Philip Benizi because he framed their constitutions, so also for the same reason St Juliana is honoured as a foundress by all the women religious of the Servite Order, although she was not the first to be admitted into its ranks.
Those who were her contemporaries and were privileged to live under her guidance testified that she outstripped them all in her zeal, her charity and her austerities. Her sympathies extended to all with whom she came into contact, nor did she ever let slip an opportunity of helping others, especially when it was a question of reconciling enemies, of reclaiming sinners and of relieving the sick. Her mortifications seriously impaired her health, and towards the close of her life she suffered much from gastric derangement. She had been in the habit of making her communion three times a week, and it was a source of deep sorrow to her in her last illness that her frequent attacks of sickness precluded her from receiving the sacrament of the altar. Juliana died in 1341, in her seventy-first year, and she was canonized in 1737.
In the collect appointed for St Juliana's feast reference is made to the eucharistic miracle by which she is said to have been comforted in her last moments. In memory of this also the members of her order wear upon the left breast of their habit the device of a Host surrounded with rays. It is stated that a document is still in existence which claims to have been drawn up and witnessed eighteen days later by those who were present at her death-bed. The original is in Latin, but it may be translated as follows:
"He hath made a memorial of His wonderful works" [ps. cx 4]. Let it be placed on record how eighteen days ago our Sister Juliana died and flew to heaven with her spouse Jesus; and it was in this manner.
Being more than seventy years old her stomach had become so weakened from her voluntary sharp penances, from fasts, from chains, from an iron girdle, disciplines, nightly vigils and spare diet, that she was no longer able to take or retain food. When she knew that because of this she must be deprived of the viaticum of the most sacred Body of Christ, no one could believe how much she grieved and wept, so much so that they were afraid she would die from the vehemence of her sorrow.
She, therefore, most humbly begged Father James de Campo Reggio that at least he would bring the most holy sacrament in a pyx and set it before her, and this was done. But when the priest appeared carrying the Body of our Lord, she straightway prostrated herself upon the ground in the form of a cross and adored her Master.
Then her face became like the face of an angel. She desired, since she was not allowed to unite herself to Jesus, at least to kiss Him, but this the priest refused. She then begged piteously that over the burning furnace of her breast they would spread a veil upon which they might put the Host. This was granted her. But-O wonderful prodigy!-scarcely had the Host touched this loving heart than it was lost to sight and never more was found. Then Juliana, when the Host had disappeared, with a tender and joyous face, as if she were rapt in ecstasy, died in the kiss of her Lord, to the amazement and admiration of those who were present-to wit, of Sister Joanna, Sister Mary, Sister Elizabeth, Father James and others of the house.

The Sister Joanna whose name is appended to this is the Bd Joan Soderini (September I) who succeeded the foundress in her office of superior general. What strikes one as curious is the fact that no mention is made of the discovery on St Juliana's left breast of a mark resembling the impression upon the Host, as was averred later. No earlier authority has been adduced for this prodigy than a sentence occurring in a manuscript entitled Giornale e Ricordi, written by the Servite Nicholas Mati about the year 1384. In this volume, when he has occasion to refer to Joan Soderini, he remarks: "She was the happy disciple who, sooner than Sister Elizabeth or the others, discovered upon the breast of St Juliana that astounding marvel of the figure of Christ nailed to the cross impressed upon her flesh within a circle like a Host." It must be admitted, however, that Father Mati speaks of the prodigy as a thing which was in his time generally known.
The information obtainable about the life of St Juliana is very scanty. The promoters of the cause of her beatification seem to have contented themselves with producing proof of an immemorial cultus and of miracles worked by her relics. The Bollandists had to be satisfied with printing in the Acta Sanctorum, June, vol. iv, a short life translated from the Italian of Father Archangelo Giani. There is an English life (1898) translated from the French of Fr Soulier, another in French by Cardinal Lépicier, and in Italian by Poletti (1903), Barbagallo (1912), and Panichelli (1928); a popular life in English was published in 1951, by M. Conrayville. A copy of the Latin original of the statement above is printed by Father V. de Buck in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. xii, pp. 403-404, in a notice he compiled of the life of Bd Joan Soderini.

Born at Florence, Italy, 1270; died there in 1340; canonized in 1737. Saint Juliana was born into the noble Falconieri family and niece of Saint Alexis (the only one of the Seven Founders of the Servites to remain a lay brother). She seems destined for Christian glory. Her father, Chiarissimo, and her mother, Riguardata, were both devout. At their own expense they built the magnificent church of the Annunciation at Florence, Italy. Juliana's birth was an answer to the prayers of this older, childless couple.


After her father's death while she was still very young, her uncle Alexis shared in her upbringing. She never cared for the amusements that interested other girls, and when she learned, at age 15, that her relatives were trying to arrange her marriage, she told them that she wanted to consecrate her life to God. After being carefully instructed by her uncle, Juliana was given the Servite habit by Saint Philip Benizi in the Church of the Annunciation. A year later she was professed as a tertiary, which permitted her to continue to live at home for the next 18 years.

Although Riguardata originally opposed Juliana's chosen vocation, she eventually placed herself under her daughter's direction. When Riguardata died in 1304, Juliana moved to another house, where she founded the Third Order of Servites. At that house a number of women lived in community and devoted themselves to a life of prayer and ministry to the sick. Their habit resembled that of the male Servites, but to facilitate that work, they wore short sleeves, which caused them to be nicknamed "Mantellate," a term later used for women tertiaries in general.

Reluctantly, Juliana acquiesced to her community's request for her to become their general. She drew up a code of regulations that were formally confirmed 120 years later for their successors by Pope Martin V. Juliana is considered the founder of the order because she framed their constitutions, although she was not the first to be admitted into its ranks.

The rest of her life was spent in Florence where, like her spiritual benefactor, Philip Benizi, she was particularly active in reconciling enemies--this was a time when the quarrels between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines were sowing discord in almost every town in Italy. Austere and zealous, she was also charitable and sympathetic to all.

Her mortifications seriously impaired her health, and towards the end of her life she suffered from gastric problems. She had been in the habit of receiving Communion three times weekly, which made these stomach ailments all the more sorrowful. When she was dying and could not receive Communion, the corporal and host were laid on her breast. Almost as soon as It touched her, the Host disappeared, miraculously incorporated into her body. A mark of the host was found on her breast after death. This image of a host emanating rays of light is now worn on the left breast of Servite nuns (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Martindale, Walsh) .
1535 Bl. Sebastian Newdigate Carthusian martyr of England priest after wife passed on

Born at Harefield, Middlesex, England, he studied at Cambridge and was married. His wife died in 1524 and he became a priest. Before entering the Carthusians in the London Charterhouse, he also served as King Henry VIII’s privy counselor. When Sebastian and fellow monks refused to accept the declaration of King Henry VIII’s Supremacy over the Church of England, they were arrested. Sebastian was executed at Tyburn on June 19 with Blesseds Humphrey Middlemore and William Exmew.
1535 Bl. William Exmew Carthusian martyr Englishman, he was educated at Cambridge and entered the Carthusians, eventually becoming sub-prior of the London Charterhouse
Owing to their refesal to accept the reforms of King Hemy VIII (r. 1509-1547), William was executed with Blesseds Sebastian Newdigate and Humphrey Middlemore. They were beatified in 1886.
1573 Bl. Thomas Woodhouse ordination as a secular priest incarceration 12 years Society of Jesus English martyr

BD THOMAS WOODHOUSE, MARTYR (A.D. 1573)
THE second priest to suffer martyrdom under Elizabeth was Thomas Woodhouse. Ordained in the days of Queen Mary and appointed rector of a small Lincolnshire parish, he was obliged at the outbreak of persecution after her death to resign the living he had only held for a year and afterwards a post as tutor in Wales. In 1561 he was arrested in the act of saying Mass and was committed to the Fleet: he was destined to remain a prisoner for twelve years. During the early part of his captivity he was allowed considerable freedom: he said his office daily, celebrated Mass in his cell, and even tried to make converts by discussions with his fellow prisoners and by writings which he attached to stones and threw out of the window. When plague broke out in London in 1563, he and other prisoners for religion were removed to the country house of Tyrrell, the warden of the Fleet, who was sympathetic to the Catholics.
About the year 1572, after negotiations had been secretly carried on with the provincial in Paris, he was admitted by letter into membership of the Society of Jesus-and in the first fervour of his reception he wrote a letter to Lord Burleigh, in which he urged him to persuade Queen Elizabeth to submit to Pope Pius V, by whose decree, he pointed out, she was already de jure deposed. In a personal interview with Burleigh, and under examination before the Council, he was still more outspoken, his fearlessness causing him to be classed as a dangerous fanatic. At his final trial in the Guildhall, in April, 1573, he challenged not only the authority of the judges, but also the right of a secular court to try a priest. He was found guilty of high treason. As he stood on the scaffold he was told to ask pardon of God, the queen and the country. He replied: "Nay, on the part of God I demand of you and of the queen that ye ask pardon of God and of holy mother Church because, contrary to the truth, ye have resisted Christ the Lord, and His vicar upon earth, the pope."
See Camm, LEM., vol. ii, pp. 187-203; Foley, REPS]., vol. viii; and DNB., vol. lxii, P·403.

A resident of Lincolnshire, he received ordination as a secular priest and took up a post there. Forced to resign from this post, he became a tutor in Wales. He was arrested in 1561 for celebrating a Mass and was sent to Fleet Prison. During the period of his incarceration, which lasted twelve years, he entered the Society of Jesus Thomas was tried in 1570. He was hanged at Tyburn.

Blessed Thomas Woodhouse, SJ M (AC) beatified in 1886. During the persecutions in England, Father Woodhouse lived in Lincolnshire and worked as a private tutor in Wales. In 1561, he was taken to Fleet prison where he remained until his death. During this time, he was admitted by letter to the Society of Jesus. He was hanged at Tyburn (Benedictines)
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1607 Saint Job; first Patriarch of Moscow Many  incorrupt and fragrant relics became the source of healing for many who were afflicted by physical and mental illnesses at his grave
Born into the family of pious tradesmen in Staritsa near Tver in the 1530s. His baptismal name was John.  After his death in 1607, the relics of Patriarch Job were buried by the western doors of the Dormition Church of the monastery in Staritsa. Many miracles took place at his grave.  In 1652, on the recommendation of Metropolitan Nikon of Novgorod, Tsar Alexei ordered that the relics of St Job and St Philip (January 9) be transferred to Moscow.
Metropolitan Barlaam of Rostov presided at the uncovering of St Job's relics in Staritsa. The Patriarch's incorrupt and fragrant relics became the source of healing for many who were afflicted by physical and mental illnesses.
On March 27 a procession set off for Moscow with the relics. On Monday of the sixth week of Lent (April 5), the relics of Patriarch Job were brought to the Passions Monastery. From there, the procession proceeded to the Kremlin, and the relics of the saint were placed in the Dormition cathedral. A few days later, Patriarch Joseph died and was buried next to St Job.
St Job has long been revered as a worker of miracles. The Altar Crosses in the churches of the Staritsa monastery and the Tver cathedral contained particles of his holy relics.
18th v. Saint Paisius of Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos wrote The History of the Slavo-Bulgarians, a book upholding the Christian Faith and awakening the national self-awareness of the subjugated Bulgarian nation.

Born in 1722 in Bansko into a pious family. One of his brothers, Laurence, was igumen of Hilandar Monastery, and another was noted as a generous benefactor of Orthodox temples and monasteries. St Paisius himself went through his obedience at Rila Monastery.

In 1745 at age twenty-three, St Paisius went to his brother in the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos, where he received monastic tonsure. The ascetic matured spiritually on the Holy Mountain. He studied Holy Scripture and he was found worthy of ordination to the holy priesthood.

In the year 1762 St Paisius wrote The History of the Slavo-Bulgarians, a book upholding the Christian Faith and awakening the national self-awareness of the subjugated Bulgarian nation.

Amid the darkness of foreign oppression the saint rekindled the lamp of Orthodoxy, lit formerly by Sts Cyril and Methodius (May 11). The time and place of the saint's blessed end is unknown.

On June 26, 1962 the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church under the presidency of His Holiness Patriarch Cyril, and with the participation of all the Metropolitans, expressed the indebtedness of the Church and country to St Paisius. They decreed that Paisius of Hilandar and Bulgaria be glorified as a saint, and directed that his memory be celebrated on June 19, "when, according to the Orthodox calendar, St Paisius the Great is commemorated."
The name of St Paisius is borne by a state university in Plovdiv, and by many institutes and schools in other cities and villages of Bulgaria. This testifies to the deep veneration of the saint by the Bulgarian nation

1884 Ludwig Richter war zwar katholisch, fühlte sich aber auch der evangelischen Kirche zugehörig
Evangelische Kirche: 19. Juni
Ludwig Richter wurde am 28.9.1803 als Sohn eines Zeichners und Kupferstechers in Dresden geboren. Er ging bei seinem Vater in die Lehre, entwickelte sich aber zu einem Zeichner und Maler, der in tiefer inner Gläubigkeit vor allem das Leben des Volkes und der Familie darstellte. Seine Illustrationen zu den Bechsteinschen Märchen oder den Geschichten Johann Peter Hebels sind auch heute noch bekannt. Richter war zwar katholisch, fühlte sich aber auch der evangelischen Kirche zugehörig. In seinen letzten Lebensjahren war er mit Christoph Blumhardt und Johann Christoph Blumhardt eng befreundet. Er starb am 19.6.1884 in Dresden.

1929  Sundar Singh Von Kind an religiös interessiert, studierte er den Koran, meditierte und erlernte Yoga; Er fand aber keinen inneren Frieden englischen Missionsschule und wandte sich hier vehement gegen das Christentum Theologiestudium in den USA Seine mystische Ausrichtung führte ihn wieder zurück nach Indien
Anglikanische Kirche: 19. Juni Evangelische Kirche: 16. April
Sundar Singh wurde 1889 geboren. Von Kind an religiös interessiert, studierte er den Koran, meditierte und erlernte Yoga. Er fand aber keinen inneren Frieden. Er lernte an einer englischen Missionsschule und wandte sich hier vehement gegen das Christentum. Als 15jähriger verbrannte er am 18.12.1904 die Bibel und beschloß, sich zu töten, wenn er in dieser Nacht nicht den Weg zum Frieden finde. Am Morgen hatte er eine Christusvision, die sein weiteres Leben prägte. Seine Familie verstieß ihn und versuchte ihn zu töten. Ein Mordanschlag mißlang und Sundar Singh wurde am 3.9.1905 getauft. Nach seiner Taufe wanderte er durch Indien und verkündete das Evangelium. 1909 begann er ein zweijähriges Theologiestudium in den USA, wandte sich aber von dem theologischen Intellektualismus ab. Er wurde Diakon der anglikanischen Kirche, legte sein Amt aber wieder nieder, um ganz für Christus frei zu sein. Auf Reisen durch ganz Indien wurde er aus mancher Gefahr und Verfolgung wunderbar errettet. Seine Berichte über das Wirken Gottes in seinem Leben haben große Aufmerksamkeit in Europa und Amerika erfahren. Sundar Singh reiste 1922 nach Europa und konnte hier Verständnis für den indischen Weg des Christentums wecken. Er empfand Europa als ein zutiefst heidnisches Land mit wenigen wahren Christen. Seine mystische Ausrichtung führte ihn wieder zurück nach Indien. Von einer Predigtwanderung nach Tibet 1929 kehrte er nicht zurück; es ist nicht bekannt, ob er den Märtyrertod erlitt oder als Einsiedler im Himalaya weiterlebte
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THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 150

Deliver me, O Lady, from all evil: and from the infernal enemy defend me.

Against me he hath drawn his bow: and in his craftiness he hath laid snares for me.

Restrain his evil power: and powerfully crush his craft.

Turn back his iniquity on his own head: and let him speedily fall into the pit which he hath made.

But we will rejoice in thy service: and we will glory in thy praise.


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 heavenonly saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
There are over 10,000 named saints beati  from history
 and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources

Patron_Saints.html  Widowed_Saints htmIndulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines  
India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes 1858  China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine  Loreto, Italy  Marian Apparitions (over 2000Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
 
Links to Related MarianWebsites  Angels and Archangels  Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell

Widowed Saints  html
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Of_The_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  UniateChalcedon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

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


God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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