The cross stands in the midst of the church in the middle of the lenten season not merely to remind men of Christ's redemption and to keep before them the goal of their efforts,
but also to be venerated as that reality by which man must live to be saved.
"He who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me" (Mt.10:38).
For in the Cross of Christ Crucified lies both
"the power of God and the wisdom of God" for those being saved (1 Cor.1:24).
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
R.  Deo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
March is the month of Saint Joseph since 1855;
2023
22,600 lives saved since 2007

http://www.haitian-childrens-fund.org/
For the Son of man ... will repay every man for what he has done.

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

It is a great poverty that a child must die so that you may live as you wish -- Mother Teresa
 Saving babies, healing moms and dads, 'The Gospel of Life'

The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.
 Eternal Father, strong to save, whose arm doth bind the restless wave, who bidst the mighty ocean deep
 its own appointed limits keep. Oh hear us when we cry to thee, for those in peril on the sea. Amen
-- U.S. Navy hymn

Abba Kyrillos the Sixth, the 116th Pope of Alexandria.
 
A novena is a prayer that is said for nine consecutive days. The purpose is to obtain a special favor from heaven by imploring a particular saint, in this case -Saint Joseph - who is celebrated in the Catholic Church on March 19th.
O glorious Saint Joseph, faithful follower of Jesus Christ, to you do we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the benign Heart of Jesus all the helps and graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly the grace of a happy death, and the special favor we now implore (..state your petition..).  O Guardian of the Word Incarnate, we have confidence that your prayers on our behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God. Amen.
 258 Sts Victor, Nicephorus and Victorinus
At Antioch, the Commemoration of many holy martyrs, some of whom by order of Emperor Maximian were laid on red hot gridirons, not to be burned to death, but to continue their suffering a longer time; others were subjected to different horrible torments, and won the palm of martyrdom.
568 Saint Anastasia Patrician of Alexandria lived in Constantinople; Alexandria founded a small
      monastery not far from the city & a remote skete 28 yrs Lord revealed her day of death
 576 St. Constantine missionary to Scotland under St. Columba and then St. Kentigern
646 Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem From his youth he was distinguished for his piety and his
      love for classical studies proficient in philosophy of monasticism.
 1069 St. Aurea famed for her visions and miracles
1069 St. Amunia Mother of St. Aurea
1615 St. John Ogilvie joined the Jesuits entered Scotland tightening of the penal laws caused his arrest
       refused to apostasize hung there canonized 1976, becoming first Scottish saint since 1250
1770 St. Teresa Margaret Redi discalced Carmelite remarkable prayer life deeply penitential demeanor   

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

March 11 – Madonna Miracolosa (Italy, 1855) - Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem
 Hail Mother of mercy, Mother of God, Mother of forgiveness
  “Hail Mother of mercy, Mother of God, Mother of forgiveness,
Mother of hope, Mother of grace and Mother full of holy gladness.”
In these few words we find a summary of the faith of generations of men and women who, with their eyes fixed firmly on the icon of the Blessed Virgin, have sought her intercession and consolation…Let us, then, pass through the Holy Door of Mercy knowing that at our side is the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Mother of God, who intercedes for us. Let us allow her to lead us to the rediscovery of the beauty of an encounter with her Son Jesus. Let us open wide the doors of our heart to the joy of forgiveness, conscious that we have been given new confidence and hope, and thus make our daily lives a humble instrument of God’s love.

And with the love and affection of children, let us cry out to Our Lady as did the faithful people of God in Ephesus during the historic Council: “Holy Mother of God!” I invite you to repeat together this acclamation three times, aloud and with all your heart and with all your love: “Holy Mother of God! Holy Mother of God! Holy Mother of God!”

The Pope opened the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, on Friday, January 1, Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, and World Day of Peace.
 Pope Francis
Holy Mass and opening of the Holy Door- Basilica of St Mary Major. Homily, January 1, 2016
www.vatican.va

March 11 - Our Lady of the Forests (Great Britain, 1419) To Jesus through Mary, with Joseph
Hail Joseph, blessed with Divine Grace, the Savior rested in your arms and grew before your eyes.
Blessed are you among all men, and blessed is the fruit of your Virginal Spouse, Jesus.
Holy Joseph, foster Father of the Son of God, pray for us, watch over our family, health and work,
until our last day, and let us have recourse to you at the hour of our death.Amen.
As the foster Father of the Son of God, chaste Spouse of the Virgin Mary, and Patron of the universal Church, Joseph was placed alongside Mary like the seraph watching over the Tabernacle. Jesus said "yes" at the Incarnation, in the spirit of Psalm 39, and Mary said "yes" at the Incarnation on behalf of all humanity, but Joseph also said "yes" to be the head of the Holy Family. Joseph was great, righteous, had given his life to God, and he was waiting for the Messiah.
He gladly accepted to "take Mary home" as soon as he understood God's plan.

March 11 – Madonna Miracolosa (Italy, 1855)
 – March 11 - Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem (d. 639) 
From You He Comes Forth Like a Bridegroom Leaving His Chamber
 Truly, you are blessed amongst women. For you have changed Eve's curse into a blessing;
and Adam, who hitherto lay under a curse, has been blessed because of you.
Truly, you are blessed amongst women. Through you the Father's blessing has shone forth on mankind,
setting them free of their ancient curse.
Truly, you are blessed amongst women, because through you your forbears have found salvation.
For you were to give birth to the Savior who was to win them salvation.
Truly, you are blessed amongst women, for without seed you have borne, as your fruit,
him who bestows blessings on the whole world and redeems it from that curse that made it sprout thorns.
(…) You, O Virgin, are like a clear and shining sky, in which God has set up his tent. From you he comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber. Like a giant running his course, he will run the course of his life which will bring salvation for all who will ever live, and extending from the highest heavens to the end of them, it will fill all things with divine warmth and with life-giving brightness.  Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem
 
Why did God choose a holy Virgin?
 Concerning the Incarnation, I believe that God the Word, the only Son of the Father ... moved by compassion for our fallen nature, came from His free movement, by the will of God who generated Him with the divine approval of the Holy Spirit... came down towards our lowliness… and upon entering the womb of Mary, the holy and radiant Virgin, full of a divine wisdom, and free from any stain of the body, heart and spirit, he became incarnate, he who is incorporeal ... he became truly man, he who is still God ... He wanted to become man to purify similar with similar, to save the brother by the brother ...That is why a holy Virgin was chosen; she was purified in body and soul;
being chaste, pure and immaculate, she became the cooperatrix of the Incarnation of the Creator.
Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem
 
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary 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.
        Item sanctórum Mártyrum Gorgónii et Firmi
        Hierosólymis sancti Sophrónii Epíscopi.
 258 Sts Victor, Nicephorus and Victorinus
At Antioch, the Commemoration of many holy martyrs, some of whom by order of Emperor Maximian were laid on red hot gridirons, not to be burned to death, but to continue their suffering a longer time; others were subjected to different horrible torments, and won the palm of martyrdom.
 259 Candidus, Piperion & Companions suffered in Carthage or Alexandria 
 263 St. Heraclius and Zosimus African martyrs suffered in Carthage
 300 Sts. Trophimus & Thalus crucified at Laodicea, Syria
 568 Saint Anastasia Patrician of Alexandria lived in Constantinople; Alexandria founded a small monastery not far from the city & a remote skete 28 yrs Lord revealed her day of death
 576 St. Constantine missionary to Scotland under St. Columba and then St. Kentigern
 646 Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem From his youth he was distinguished for his piety and his love for classical studies proficient in philosophy of monasticism 
 685 St. Vigilius Bishop and martyr successor to St. Palladius as bishop of Auxerre
712 ST Vindician Bishop of Cambrai Monasteries and new convents sprang up plentifully under his fostering care;
 725 St. Benedict Crispus Archbishop of Milan wrote the epitaph for Caedwalla 
 824 St. Aengus 824 ST OENGUS, ABBOT-BISHOP ST OENGUS (or Aengus) sometimes called “the Hagiographer”, is better known as “the Culdee” or “God’s Vassal” a Celtic title which came to be applied to those who practised a particularly rigid observance, especially in the order of divine service, but which was attached specially to him as to one who made an important contribution to the devotional literature of the Church and who lived according to the strictest rule of religion.
 840 Sardis sancti Euthymii Epíscopi, qui, ob cultum sanctárum Imáginum, a Michaéle, Imperatóre Iconoclásta, in exsílium missus est;
 859 Córdubæ, in Hispánia, sancti Eulógii, Presbyteri et Mártyris; qui, in persecutióne Saracenórum
1020 St. Firmian Benedictine abbot of San Piceno in the Acona region of Italy
1069 St. Aurea famed for her visions and miracles
1069 St. Amunia Mother of St. Aurea 
        St. Peter the Spaniard shirt of mail as a penitential reminder
1100 ST AUREA, VIRGIN rewarded by vision of her 3 patron saints who assured her of God’s approval promised her a crown of glory the fame of her penances and miracles spread, her assistance and intercession were eagerly sought
1454 Saint Euthymius archbishop labored in constructing and restoring churches devoted himself to asceticism
1485 BD CHRISTOPHER MACASSOLI
1539 BD JOHN BAPTIST OF FABRIANO miracles were reported to have been worked at his tomb, and a considerable cultus followed confirmed in 1903.
1544 BD. JOHN LARKE, JERMYN GARDINER AND JOHN IRELAND, MARTYRS
JOHN LARKE sometimes erroneously described as Sir Thomas More’s chaplain, he was actually rector of Chelsea, the church which Sir Thomas habitually attended when in London, his town house being situated in that parish.
1615 St. John Ogilvie joined the Jesuits entered Scotland tightening of the penal laws caused his arrest refused to apostasize hung there canonized 1976, becoming first Scottish saint since 1250
1770 St. Teresa Margaret Redi discalced Carmelite nun remarkable prayer life and a deeply penitential demeanor

258 Sts Victor, Nicephorus and Victorinus and other disciples of St Quadratus: crushed in a large stone press. 
< SAINT VICTOR

                                                                                SAINT LEIONIDAS ^
Saint Claudius was a disciple of St Quadratus. His hands and feet were cut off.
258 Saint Diodorus disciple of St Quadratus. He was thrown into a fire, receiving the crown of martyrdom.
258 St Serapion was a disciple of St Quadratus, and was decapitated.
Sts Papias and Leonidas were disciples of St Quadratus. They were drowned in the sea.
Saint Leonidas was a disciple of St Quadratus. He was drowned in the sea.

Saint Chariessa  one of those martyred with St Quadratus 258. Many holy women including St Chariessa went voluntarily to suffer for Christ.
 Saint Nunechia was one of those martyred with St Quadratus in 258. 
Saint Basilissa was one of those martyred with St Quadratus in 258.
Saint Nike was one of those martyred with St Quadratus in 258.
Saint Galla was a disciple of St Quadratus.
Saint Galina was one of those who suffered with the holy martyr Quadratus (Codratus) in 258.
Saint Theodora was one of those martyred with St Quadratus in 258.
258 The Holy Martyrs Quadratus of Nicomedia, Saturinus, Rufinus and others suffered during the persecutions of the emperor Decius (249-251) and his successor Valerian (253-259).   St Quadratus was descended from an illustrious family. Possessing considerable wealth, the saint did not spare his means in helping fellow Christians, languishing in prison for the faith.  When the envoy of the impious Decius, the proconsul Perennius, arrived in Nicomedia, St Quadratus voluntarily appeared before him, in order to strengthen the courage of the imprisoned brethren by his self-sacrificing decision. At first Perennius attempted to lure Quadratus from Christ, promising him rewards and honors.
Then, seeing the futility of his attempts, he cast the saint into prison and gave orders to lay him down on a bed of nails and to lay a large stone on him.

Setting out for Nicea, the proconsul commanded that all the imprisoned Christians be brought after him. In that number was St Quadratus. Upon arriving in the city, St Quadratus implored that they be led to the pagan temple. As soon as they untied his hands and feet, he began to overturn and destroy the idols. By order of the proconsul, they gave Quadratus over to torture.
Enduring terrible torments, the saint held firm in spirit and by his act encouraged the other martyrs, whose wounds were seared with burning candles.
< Quadratus_Anastasia_Michael_the_new
During the suffering of the martyrs, suddenly there shone a brilliant cloud, but the pagans found themselves in total darkness. In the ensuing silence was heard the singing of angels glorifying God. Many of those present confessed themselves Christians. Perennius ascribed the miracle to sorcery, and gave orders to take them to prison.

From Nicea the martyrs walked behind the proconsul to Apamea, then to Caesarea, Apollonia and the Hellespont, where they tortured them in all sorts of ways, hoping to make them deny Christ.

They tied St Quadratus into a sack filled with poisonous serpents, and threw it into a deep pit. On the following morning, everyone was astonished to see the martyr whole and unharmed. When they began to beat him mercilessly, two noblemen, Saturinus and Rufinus, were moved with pity for the martyr. This was observed, and Saturinus and Rufinus were beheaded.
Perennius subjected the martyr to even more fierce and refined tortures, but was not able to break his spirit. The saint lost his strength and was hardly able to move. For the last time the proconsul urged the martyr to abjure Christ. Marshalling his strength, the saint firmly replied,
"Since childhood I have acknowledged Christ as the one and only God, and I know no other."

The proconsul gave orders to light the fire, make the iron grate red-hot and throw the martyr on it. Having blessed himself with the Sign of the Cross, St Quadratus laid himself down upon the red-hot couch as upon a soft bed, emerging unharmed from the flames. In frustration, the proconsul gave orders to behead St Quadratus.
259 Candidus, Piperion & Comps suffered in Carthage or Alexandria  MM (RM)
 Alexandríæ pássio sanctórum Cándidi, Piperiónis et aliórum vigínti.
       At Alexandria, the passion of Saints Candidus, Piperion, and twenty others.
The particulars of these 22 African martyrs have been lost. It is believed that they suffered in Carthage or Alexandria either under Valerian or Gallienus (Benedictines).
263 St. Heraclius and Zosimus African martyrs suffered in Carthage.
 Carthágine sanctórum Mártyrum Heráclíi et Zósimi.
      At Carthage, the holy martyrs Heraclius and Zosimus.
Antiochíæ commemorátio plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum, quorum álii, Maximiáni Imperatóris mandáto, candéntibus cratículis superpósiti, non ad mortem sed a diutúrnum cruciátum assáti, álii áliis sævíssimis affécti supplíciis, ad palmam martyrii pervenérunt.
       At Antioch, the Commemoration of many holy martyrs, some of whom by order of Emperor Maximian were laid on red hot gridirons, not to be burned to death, but to continue their suffering a longer time; others were subjected to different horrible torments, and won the palm of martyrdom.
300 Sts. Trophimus & Thalus crucified at Laodicea, Syria
 Laodicéæ, in Syria, sanctórum Mártyrum Tróphimi et Thali, qui in persecutióne Diocletiáni, post multa sǽvaque torménta, corónas glóriæ sunt assecúti.
      At Laodicea in Syria, during the persecution of Diocletian, the holy martyrs Trophimus and Thalus, who obtained their crowns of glory after many severe torments.
Two martyrs put to death at Laodicea (modern Syria), under Emperor Diocletian .
Trophimus and Thalus MM (RM). Trophimus and Thalus were crucified at Laodicea, Syria, under Diocletian (Benedictines).
Item sanctórum Mártyrum Gorgónii et Firmi.       Also, Saints Gorgonius and Firmus.
In fínibus Ambianénsium sancti Firmíni Abbátis.       In the diocese of Amiens, St. Firmin, abbot.
  Hierosólymis sancti Sophrónii Epíscopi.       At Jerusalem, Bishop St. Sophronius.
568 Saint Anastasia Patrician of Alexandria lived in Constantinople, Alexandria founded a small monastery not far from the city & a remote skete 28 yrs Lord revealed her day of death.
Descended from an aristocratic family. She was an image of virtue, and she enjoyed the great esteem of the emperor Justinian (527-565). Widowed at a young age, Anastasia decided to leave the world and save her soul far from the bustle of the capital. She secretly left Constantinople and went to Alexandria. She founded a small monastery not far from the city, and devoted herself entirely to God.  Several years later, the emperor Justinian was widowed and decided to search for Anastasia and marry her. As soon as she learned of this, St Anastasia journeyed to a remote skete to ask Abba Daniel (March 18) for help.
In order to safeguard Anastasia, the Elder dressed her in a man's monastic garb and called her the eunuch Anastasius.

Having settled her in one of the very remote caves, the Elder gave her a Rule of prayer and ordered her never to leave the cave and to receive no one. Only one monk knew of this place. His obedience was to bring a small portion of bread and a pitcher of water to the cave once a week, leaving it at the entrance. The nun Anastasia dwelt in seclusion for twenty-eight years.
Everyone believed that it was the eunuch Anastasius who lived in the cave.

The Lord revealed to her the day of her death. Having learned of her approaching death, she wrote several words for Abba Daniel on a potsherd and placed it at the entrance to the cave. The Elder came quickly and brought everything necessary for her burial. He found the holy ascetic still alive, and he confessed and communed her with the Holy Mysteries. At Abba Daniel's request, St Anastasia blessed him and the monk accompanying him. With the words: "Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit," the saint died in peace (ca. 567-568).

When the grave was prepared, the Elder gave his disciple his outer garment and ordered him to dress the deceased "brother" in it. As he was putting on the rassa, the monk noticed that she was a woman, but he did not dare to say anything. However, when they returned to the monastery after they buried the nun, the disciple asked Abba Daniel whether he knew the "brother" was a woman, and the Elder related to the young monk the life of St Anastasia. Later, the abba's narrative was written down and received wide acclaim.
The relics of St Anastasia were transferred to Constantinople in the year 1200, and put not far from the church of Hagia Sophia.
576 St. Constantine king of Cornwall missionary to Scotland under St. Columba and then St. Kentigern
Constantine was  Unreliable tradition has him married to the daughter of the king of Brittany who on her death ceded his throne to his son and became a monk at St. Mochuda monastery at Rahan, Ireland. He performed menial tasks at the monastery, then studied for the priesthood and was ordained. He went as a missionary to Scotland under St. Columba and then St. Kentigern, preached in Galloway, and became Abbot of a monastery at Govan.  In old age, on his way to Kintyre, he was attacked by pirates who cut off his right arm, and he bled to death. He is regarded as Scotland's first martyr.

6th v. ST CONSTANTINE
ACCORDJNG to the lessons in the Aberdeen Breviary the early career of King Constantine of Cornwall gave no promise of the holiness to which he afterwards attained; but after the death of his wife, daughter of the king of Brittany, he was so grief-stricken that he resolved to mend his ways and gave up his kingdom to his son. Concealing his rank and identity, he found his way to Ireland, where he entered the monastery of St Mochuda at Rahan. There he served for seven years, performing the most menial offices and carrying sacks of corn to and from the mill; According to the legend, he was finally identified by a monk who happened to be in the granary one day and overheard him laughing over his work and saying to himself: “Is this indeed King Constantine of Cornwall who formerly wore a ‘helmet’ and breastplate and who now drudges at a handmill?”

He learnt letters, was raised to the priesthood, and was sent to Scotland, where he was associated first with St Columba and then with St Kentigern. He is said to have preached the faith in Galloway and then to have become abbot of a monastery at Govan. As an old man Constantine went on a mission into Kintyre, but was attacked by pirates, who cut off his right arm. Calling his followers he gave them his blessing; and slowly bled to death. Scotland regarded him as her first martyr, and his feast is still observed in the diocese of Argyll and the Isles.

Cornwall, Wales, and Ireland also had traditions of a Cornish king named Constantine who became a monk, but no confidence can be placed in their often contradictory details; nor is there any good reason to suppose that Constantine of Cornwall was identical with Gildas’s “tyrannical Whelp of the unclean Lioness of Domnonia”.

The principal source is the Aberdeen Breviary and Martyrology. The Bollandists (Acta Sanctorum, March, vol. ii) seem to have adopted in the main the conclusions of Colgan in his Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae. See KSS., pp. 311—314, and especially Canon Doble’s excellent summary, St Constantine (1930), no. 26 in his Cornish Saints series. The annals of Tigernach (so-called) enter under the date 588 “Conversio Constantini ad Dominum”; the Annals of Ulster however, record it in 587, and the Annales Cambriae give it under 589.

Constantine of Scotland M (AC) feast in Cornwall and Wales is March 9. King Constantine of Cornwall is reputed to have been married to the daughter of the king of Brittany and to have led a life full of vice and greed until he was led to conversion by Saint Petroc. Upon the death of his wife, he is said to have ceded his throne to his son in order to become a penitent monk at St. Mochuda Monastery at Rahan, Ireland. He performed menial tasks at the monastery, then studied for the priesthood and was ordained. Constantine became a missionary to the Picts in Scotland under Saint Columba and then Saint Kentigern, preached in Galloway, and founded and became abbot of a monastery at Govan near the River Clyde. In his old age, on his way to Kintyre, he was attacked by pirates who cut off his right arm, and he bled to death. He is regarded as Scotland's first martyr, although his story is often contradictory and unreliable. It is probable that the Scottish martyr is not the same person as the British king. There are two places in Cornwall called Constantine: one on the Helford River and the other near Padstow. The church on the first site was the larger and survived as a monastery until the 11th century.
He was also patron of the Devon churches of Milton Abbot and Dunsford (Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Husenbeth).
646 Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem From his youth he was distinguished for his piety and his love for classical studies proficient in philosophy of monasticism
Born in Damascus around 560. From his youth he was distinguished for his piety and his love for classical studies. He was especially proficient in philosophy, and so he was known as Sophronius the Wise.
The future hierarch, however, sought the true philosophy of monasticism, and conversations with the desert-dwellers.

638 ST SOPHRONIUS, PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM
ST SOPHRONIUS was born in Damascus. Although threatened at one time with blindness through over-study, he eventually became so great an adept in Greek philosophy that he was surnamed “the Sophist”. Falling under the influence of the celebrated hermit John Moschus, he joined forces with him, and they travelled widely in Syria, in Asia Minor and in Egypt, where he appears to have taken a monk’s habit about the year 580. The two friends lived together for some years in the laura of St Sabas and at the monsatery of St Theodosius near Jerusalem. Ever eager to advance in the practice of asceticism they visited the monasteries and many famous solitaries in Egypt and then went on to Alexandria, where St John the Almsgiver, the patriarch, detained them for two years to assist him in reforming his diocese and opposing heresy. It was in that city that John Moschus wrote his Spiritual Meadow, which he dedicated to Sophronius. About 620 Moschus died in Rome, where they had gone on pilgrimage, and Sophronius eventually returned to Palestine, where his piety, learning and orthodoxy led to his being elected patriarch of Jerusalem.

No sooner was he established in his see than he assembled all the bishops of his patriarchate to condemn monothelite teaching, and composed a synodal letter to explain and state the Catholic doctrine on the subject contested. This letter, which was afterwards confirmed in the sixth general council, was sent by St Sophronius to Pope Honorius and to Sergius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who had persuaded Honorius to write evasively on this question as to one or two wills in Christ. It seems evident that Honorius never professed to pronounce upon the matter in dispute, but his silence was ill-timed, as it gave the appearance of con­niving at heresy. Sophronius, seeing that the emperor and many Eastern prelates were fighting against the truth, felt that it was his duty to defend it with greater zeal than ever. He took his suffragan Stephen, Bishop of Dor, to Mount Calvary, and there adjured him by Christ who was crucified on that spot, and by the account he would have to render at the last day, “to go to the Apostolic See, where are the foundations of holy doctrine, and not to cease to pray till those in authority there should examine and condemn the novelty”. Stephen obeyed and remained in Rome for ten years, until he saw the monothelite heresy condemned by Pope St Martin I at the Council of the Lateran in 649.

Sophronius soon had other troubles to contend with.  The Saracens had in­vaded Syria and Palestine, taking Damascus in 636 and Jerusalem in 638. During that time he had done all he could to help and strengthen his flock, sometimes at the peril of his life. He preached to them a most pathetic Christmas sermon when the Mohammedans were beleaguering the city and the faithful could not go out to keep the festival at Bethlehem according to custom. After the town fell, St Sophronius fled, and is thought to have died of grief soon afterwards, perhaps in Alexandria.

Besides the synodal letter, St Sophronius wrote biographies and homilies, as well as hymns and anacreontic odes of considerable merit. The Life of John the Almsgiver, which he compiled in collaboration with John Moschus, has not come down to us, and another large work, in which he cited 600 passages from the fathers in support of the doctrine of Christ’s twofold will, has likewise perished.

The identity of Sophronius “the Sophist” with Sophronius the patriarch of Jerusalem has been called in question: see S. Vailhé in the Revue de l’Orient chrétien, vols. vii and viii (1902—1903). We have no direct evidence that the patriarch was associated with John Moschus. It has, however, been generally assumed that “the Sophist” who travelled with Moschus is the man who was afterwards patriarch; so e.g. by the Bollandists (Acta Sanctorum March, vol. ii). Cf. Bardenhewer, Patrology (Eng. trans.), pp. 559—561 and 564—565; and DCB., vol. iv, pp. 719—725.

He arrived in Jerusalem at the monastery of St Theodosius, and there he became close with the hieromonk John Moschus, becoming his spiritual son and submitting himself to him in obedience. They visited several monasteries, writing down the lives and spiritual wisdom of the ascetics they met. From these notes emerged their renowned book, the LEIMONARION or SPIRITUAL MEADOW, which was highly esteemed at the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
To save themselves from the devastating incursions of the Persians, Sts John and Sophronius left Palestine and went to Antioch, and from there they went to Egypt. In Egypt, St Sophronius became seriously ill. During this time he decided to become a monk and was tonsured by St John Moschus.
After St Sophronius recovered his health, they both decided to remain in Alexandria. There they were received by the holy Patriarch John the Merciful (November 12), to whom they rendered great aid in the struggle against the Monophysite heresy. At Alexandria St Sophronius had an affliction of the eyes, and he turned with prayer and faith to the holy Unmercenaries Cyrus and John (January 31), and he received healing in a church named for them. In gratitude, St Sophronius then wrote the Lives of these holy Unmercenaries.
When the barbarians began to threaten Alexandria, Patriarch John, accompanied by Sts Sophronius and John Moschus, set out for Constantinople, but he died along the way. Sts John Moschus and Sophronius then set out for Rome with eighteen other monks. St John Moschus died at Rome. His body was taken to Jerusalem by St Sophronius and buried at the monastery of St Theodosius.
In the year 628, Patriarch Zacharias of Jerusalem (609-633) returned from his captivity in Persia. After his death, the patriarchal throne was occupied for two years by St Modestus (December 18). After the death of St Modestus, St Sophronius was chosen Patriarch.
St Sophronius toiled much for the welfare of the Jerusalem Church as its primate (634-644).  Toward the end of his life, St Sophronius and his flock lived through a two year siege of Jerusalem by the Moslems. Worn down by hunger, the Christians finally agreed to open the city gates, on the condition that the enemy spare the holy places. But this condition was not fulfilled, and St Sophronius died in grief over the desecration of the Christian holy places.
Written works by Patriarch Sophronius have come down to us in the area of dogmatics, and likewise his "Excursus on the Liturgy," the Life of St Mary of Egypt (April 1), and also about 950 troparia and stikheras from Pascha to the Ascension.  While still a hieromonk, St Sophronius reviewed and made corrections to the Rule of the monastery of St Sava the Sanctified (December 5).
The saint's three Odes Canons for the Holy Forty Day Great Fast are included in the the contemporary Lenten Triodion.
685 St. Vigilius Bishop and martyr successor to St. Palladius as bishop of Auxerre
France, in 661, he was murdered in the forest near Compiegne at the order of Warator, Frankish mayor of the palace, because of a disagreement. He was thus venerated as a martyr.
712 ST VINDICIAN, BISHOP OF CAMBRAI Monasteries and new convents sprang up plentifully under his fostering care;
BULLECOURT near Bapaume was the birthplace of St Vindician who, upon the death of St Aubert about 669, was elected to succeed him as bishop of Cambrai. We are told that he visited all the parishes in his diocese and converted many sinners. He translated the body of St Maxellendis, who had been murdered by Harduin, a nobleman whom she had refused to marry. A great sensation was caused on that occasion by the, sudden cure of blindness and conversion of the murderer. At Caudry, where the relics were deposited, Vindician settled an establishment of pious women to serve God and to watch over them. Monasteries sprang up plentifully under his fostering care, and we find him soon afterwards consecrating the chapels of two more new convents and assisting, when invited by St Amand, at the consecration of the church of the monastery of Elnone.
     Upon his return to his own diocese, St Vindician found that it had become, the scene of a terrible tragedy. St Leger (Leodegar), Bishop of Autun, had incurred the displeasure of the savage Ebroin, mayor of the palace, who had blinded him, mutilated his face and had him beheaded in the forest of Sarcy in Artois. The horror-stricken bishops held a consultation as to what should be done. Tradition says that they decided to send Vindician as their spokesman to King Thierry to make a solemn protest. It was an embassy fraught with danger, but he accepted it and succeeded in gaining access to the king.
     Vindician came straight to the point. It was the duty of a bishop, he said, to reprove those who have fallen from grace lest they perish in their sin and the bishop with them. He went on to call upon the king to listen to a solemn expostulation in regard of the murder of St Leger which had been perpetrated with his connivance. It was a crime so great that the assembled bishops hardly knew what atonement could be made for such an outrage. The king must humbly seek reconciliation with God, acknowledging his fault and saying with the patriarch Job, “I have not concealed my fault, but have confessed it in the presence of all the people”.
     King Thierry declared that he recognized his offence and would try to make amends. The monastery of Arras—since called Saint-Vaast——became the special recipient of his bounty as being near the place where St Leger had died. That monastery, which had been begun by St Aubert on the spot where St Vaast used to retire for prayer and contemplation, had become for St Vindician the object of his particular solicitude. Carrying out the intentions of his predecessor, he was anxious to establish at Arras a community of men eager for the sanctification of souls. With that end in view he spared neither pains nor expense, and has consequently always been considered the primary benefactor of the abbey. He attempted to obtain for Arras the body of St Leger, but after some contention it was given to Poitiers. We find the holy bishop concerned in one more consecration, when he dedicated the church of the abbey of Hamage. No special events mark the rest of his life. He continued to rule over his diocese, and in his old age would often retire to Mont-Saint-Eloi or to Saint-Vaast to renew his fervour. He had reached his eightieth year when he was seized with the fever which proved fatal. He was on a visit to Brussels, but his body at his own request was buried on Mont-Saint-Eloi.
There is no early biography of St Vindician, and it is to be feared that some of the details incorporated in the account of him furnished by the Bollandists (Acta Sanctorum, March, vol. ii) and by the Abbé Destombes (Vies des Saints des dioceses de Cambrai et Arras, vol. 1, pp. 320—335) are based upon a forgery. See the article of A. Poncelet, Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxvii, pp. 384—390. But there can be no question as to the important part played by this saint in the ecclesiastical history of the Low Countries in the seventh century: Van der Essen, Saints Mérovingiens, pp. 276—277.
725 St. Benedict Crispus Archbishop of Milan wrote the epitaph for Caedwalla
 Medioláni sancti Benedícti Epíscopi.       At Milan, St. Benedict, bishop.
Italy, listed in the Roman Martyrology. Benedict was involved in a lawsuit of some sort during his forty-five years as archbishop. He also wrote the epitaph for Caedwalla, the English king of Wessex, who was buried in St. Peter's in Rome.
725 ST BENEDICT, ARCHBISHOP OF MILAN
VERY little is known about St Benedict Crispus. After he became archbishop of Milan he had a great lawsuit at Rome, being what Ughelli describes as “a very earnest defender” of his episcopal rights but he lost his case. He has an interest for English people as he composed the epitaph for the tomb in St Peter’s of the young Anglo-Saxon prince Caedwalla (April 20). Benedict is named in the Roman Martyrology.
See the Acta Sanctorum, March, vol. ii.
824 ST OENGUS, ABBOT-BISHOP ST OENGUS (or Aengus) sometimes called “the Hagiographer”, is better known as “the Culdee” or “God’s Vassal” a Celtic title which came to be applied to those who practised a particularly rigid observance, especially in the order of divine service, but which was attached specially to him as to one who made an important contribution to the devotional literature of the Church and who lived according to the strictest rule of religion.

He came of royal race in Ulster, and was born about the middle of the eighth century. In early youth he entered the famous monastery of Clonenagh in Leix, which, under its saintly abbot Maelaithgen, then enjoyed a great reputation for learning, for sanctity and for its numbers. Here he made rapid advance until he had reached a point at which it could be said of him that no one in his time could be found in Ireland to equal him in virtue and in sacred knowledge. To shun the world more entirely he retired to a cell at Dysartenos some seven miles from the monastery, where he hoped to continue unnoticed the austerities he practised. Besides making three hundred genuflexions, it was his custom to recite the whole Psalter daily, dividing it into three parts, one of which he recited in his cell, another under a spreading tree, and the third whilst he stood tied by the neck to a stake, with his body partially immersed in a tub of cold water. His fame soon attracted too many visitors, and he departed secretly from his hermitage.
At the church of Coolbanagher, Oengus had a vision of angels who seemed to surround a particular tomb, singing hymns of celestial sweetness. Inquiry from the local priest elicited the fact that the tomb was that of a poor old man who formerly lived at the place. “What good did he do?” asked Oengus. “I saw no particular good done by him”, replied the priest, “but that his customary practice was to recount and invoke the saints of the world, as far as he could remember them, both at his going to bed and his getting up, in accordance with the custom of the old devotees.”—“Indeed”, said Oengus, “he who would make a poetical composition in praise of the saints should doubtless have a high reward, when so much has been vouchsafed to the efforts of this holy devotee.” From this moment his metrical hymn in honour of the saints began to shape itself in Oengus’s mind, although he did not immediately put it into words, fearing that he was unworthy and that his verses might not be dignified enough for so lofty a subject.
Continuing his journey, he finally reached the great monastery of Tallaght near Dublin, and asked to be received as a serving-man——concealing his name and scholarship. He was accepted by the abbot, St Maelruain, and for seven years he was given the meanest and most laborious offices, but he was well satisfied because he found plenty of time to raise his heart and thoughts to Heaven. His identity, however, was discovered in a singular way. One day as he was working in the monastery barn a scholar, who did not know his lesson and was therefore playing truant, took shelter in the granary and asked to be allowed to stay. Oengus took the little fellow in his arms and lulled him to sleep. When he awoke he had learnt his lesson perfectly. That, at least, was what he told the abbot, who cross-questioned him after hearing him repeat his lesson with unprecedented fluency and intelligence. Whether Maelruain thought that a miracle had been performed, or whether he realized that the humble serving-man was a teacher of exceptional ability, he ran out to the barn and embraced St Oengus with tender affection, divining or eliciting that he was the missing Oengus of Dysartenos.
Blamed for the misplaced humility which had deprived the community of the benefit of his learning and experience, he fell on his knees and begged the abbot’s pardon. From that moment the two saints became the closest of friends, and St Oengus, freed from menial work, set about composing the metrical hymn known in the Irish language as the Félire and in Latin as the Festilogium, although it does not appear to have been circulated until after the death of St Maelruain in 787, for the name of that abbot is included and he is called the “Bright Sun of Ireland”.
   As he meant to imitate the practice of the old man who was buried at Coolbanagher, Oengus could hardly be expected, consistently with the recital of the whole Psalter and his other devotions, to do more than invoke the principal saints in this metrical hymn, the repetition of which he is said to have added to his daily exercises. He remained on for some years at Tallaght, but after the death of St Maelruain he turned his steps back to Clonenagh, where he had spent his youth. Here he appears to have been made abbot in succession to Maelaithgen, and to have been raised to episcopal dignity in accordance with the practice prevalent in Ireland at the time of making the superiors of religious houses bishops without a definite see.
As he felt his end approaching, he withdrew to Dysartbeagh and there finished his Félire and perhaps composed some of his other works now lost, but whether he built a monastery in that place or whether he had a hermitage whilst continuing to guide a religious community elsewhere is uncertain. The exact date of his death is contested, but it is not thought that he lived to a great age. As he is said to have died on a Friday we may choose between 819, 824, and 830, in each of which years March 11, which is certainly his day, fell on a Friday.
The Life of St Oengus printed by the Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum (March, vol. ii) is taken from Colgan. There seems to be no early biography in either Latin or Irish, and the saint is not commemorated liturgically in any Irish diocese. Some useful illustrative material has been collected by Whitley Stokes in the edition of the Félire which he edited for the Henry Bradshaw Society. See also Abp J. Healy, Ireland’s Ancient Schools and Scholars, pp. 404—413 J. O’Hanlon in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record for 1869, as also in his LIS. and L. Gougaud, Christianity in Celtic Lands (1932).
824 St. Aengus  "the Culdee," author Festlology of the Saints of Ireland, The Felire  he communed with angels
Called Dengus and "the Culdee," a hermit and author of the Festlology of the Saints of Ireland, The Felire. The term Culdee refers to Aengus' love of solitude: Ceile De was a name given to the hermits of the time.
Aengus, born in Clonengh, Ireland, became a solitary monk on the banks of the river Nore, where he communed with angels. In time he sought a more remote site near Maryborough, erecting a small hermitage there. Visitors drawn by his reputation for holiness drove Aengus to the monastery of Tallaght, near Dublin, then under the control of St. Maelruain. He tried to enter as a simple lay brother, not telling anyone who he was. Aengus, along with Maelruain (who had discovered the Culdee's real identity), wrote the Martyrology of Tallaght together in 790. Aengus completed his Felire in 805 in his Maryborough hermitage, having returned there when Maelruain died. Aengus passed away on March 11, 824, and was buried in Clonenagh.
840 Sardis sancti Euthymii Epíscopi, qui, ob cultum sanctárum Imáginum, a Michaéle, Imperatóre Iconoclásta, in exsílium missus est; ac demum, Theóphilo imperánte, búbulis nervis, inhumániter cæsus, martyrium consummávit.
At Sardis, St. Euthymius, bishop, who was sent into exile by the Iconoclast emperor Michael for the veneration of sacred images. 
Afterwards, in the reign of Theophilus, he was barbarously beaten with knotted clubs, which completed his martyrdom.
Euthymius von Sardes BM Sardes um 840
859 Córdubæ, in Hispánia, sancti Eulógii, Presbyteri et Mártyris; qui, in persecutióne Saracenórum, ob præcláram et intrépidam Christi confessiónem, verbéribus et álapis cæsus ac decollátus gládio, adjúngi ejúsdem urbis Martyribus méruit, quorum pro fide certámina scribéndo fúerat æmulátus.
       At Cordova in Spain, St. Eulogius, priest, who deserved to be associated with the martyrs of that city because, in writing of their trials for the faith, he had envied their happiness.  On account of his own fearless and intrepid confession of Christ, he was scourged and beaten with rods, and finally beheaded during the Saracen persecution.
Eulogius von Cordoba Pr M 859
859 ST EULOGIUS OF CORDOVA, MARTYR “If you [moslems] could but conceive the reward which awaits those who persevere in the faith until the end, you would resign your dignities in exchange for it!”
ST EULOGIUS has been described as the principal glory of the Spanish church in the ninth century. The descendant of a stock which had owned land in Cordova since the Roman occupation, he was one of a family of four brothers and two sisters. Cordova was then in the hands of the Moors, who had made it their capital, and Christianity, although to a certain extent tolerated, was hampered by vexatious restrictions public worship was allowed on payment of a monthly tax, but Christians were forbidden under pain of death to make converts. At the same time many of them held high office under their conquerors, and the saint’s youngest brother Joseph was an important official in the court of Abdur Rahman II.
Eulogius received his early education from the priests of Saint Zoilus, and when he had learnt all they could teach him he placed himself under the illustrious writer and abbot Sperandeo. Here he had as fellow pupil Paul Alvarez, and they contracted a lifelong friendship, Alvarez afterwards becoming his biographer. Their studies completed, Eulogius was raised to the priesthood, whilst his friend married and took up a literary career. The two carried on a voluminous correspondence, but agreed to destroy their letters as being too effusive and lacking in polish.
   In his Life of St Eulogius, Alvarez gives a delightful description of his friend, whom he represents as pious, mortified, learned in all branches of knowledge, but especially in the Holy Scriptures, of an open countenance, so humble that he often deferred to the opinions of those whose judgement was greatly inferior to his own, and so kindly that he won the love of all who had dealings with him. Visiting hospitals and monasteries was his recreation, and he was in such high esteem that he was asked by the monks to draw up new rules for them. To do this he not only went to stay in Spanish houses, but also visited monasteries in Navarre and Pamplona, comparing their regulations and selecting what was best in each code.
In 850 the Moors started a sudden persecution of Christians in Cordova, either because certain Christians were indiscreet in inveighing openly against Mohammed, or else because they had attempted the conversion of some of the Moors. Matters were made worse for the faithful when an Andalusian bishop called Reccared, instead of defending the flock of Christ, opened the door of the fold to the fury of the wolves. Why he should have turned against his own clergy is not clear:  probably he was a “moderate” man and preferred peace and toleration to missionary zeal and persecution. Whatever the reason, it was he who was responsible for the arrest of the priests of Cordova and of their bishop. They were shut up in prison and Eulogius, who was of their number, occupied himself in reading the Bible to the rest and in encouraging them to remain faithful to God. From his dungeon he wrote his Exhortation to Martyrdom, addressed to two maidens, Flora and Mary.

“They threaten to sell you as slaves and dishonour you”, he said, but be assured that they cannot injure the purity of your souls, whatever infamy they may inflict upon you. Cowardly Christians will tell you in order to shake your constancy that the churches are silent, deserted and deprived of the sacrifice on account of your obstinacy that if you will but yield temporarily you will regain the free exercise of your religion. But be persuaded that, for you, the sacrifice most pleasing to God is contrition of heart, and that you can no longer draw back or renounce the truth you have confessed.”

The girls were spared the threatened humiliation and were executed with the sword, declaring with their dying breath that as soon as they should find themselves in the presence of Jesus Christ they would ask for the release of their brethren. Six days after their death the prisoners were set free, and Eulogius immediately composed a metrical account of the passion of the martyrs in order to induce others to follow in their footsteps. His brother Joseph was deprived of his office at court and he himself was compelled to live from thenceforth with the traitor Reccared, but he continued to instruct and confirm the faithful both by his voice and by his pen.

In 852 several others suffered martyrdom, and that same year the Council of Cordova forbade anyone to provoke arrest of set purpose. As the persecution waxed hotter under Abdur Rahman’s son and successor the zeal of Eulogius only increased, and he kept numerous weak Christians from falling away, besides encouraging others to martyrdom.
In the three volumes which he entitled The Memorial of the Saints he described the sufferings and death of all who perished in that persecution. He also wrote an Apologia, directed against those who denied to these victims the character of true martyrs on the grounds that they had wrought no miracles, that they had sought death instead of awaiting it, that they had perished at one blow without previous torture, and that they had been killed, not by idolaters, but by men who acknowledged the one true God. In defending these he was also defending himself, because he had approved and encouraged their action.

After the death of the archbishop of Toledo, the clergy and people cast their eyes upon St Eulogius as the most prominent leader of the Church, but although he was canonically elected he did not live to be consecrated. For his activities he was a marked man and could not long escape the fate to which he had urged others. There was a young woman in Cordova called Leocritia who had been converted to Christianity by a relative and baptized, although her parents were Moslems. For a follower of Islam to become a Christian was punishable by death, and the girl’s parents discovering her change of faith beat her and treated her cruelly in order to induce her to apostatize. She made her sufferings known to St Eulogius, who with the help of his sister Anulona assisted her to escape and concealed her amongst faithful friends. Her place of hiding, however, was discovered, and she and all those concerned in her escape were brought before the kadi. Eulogius, undaunted, offered to show the judge the true road to heaven, and declared that the prophet Mohammed was an impostor. The kadi threatened to have him scourged to death. The martyr replied that it would be to no purpose as he would never change his religion. The kadi then gave orders that he should be taken before the king’s council.
   There one of the council led him aside and said, “Although ignorant people rush headlong to their death, a man of your learning and standing ought not to imitate their folly. Be guided by me. Say but one word—since necessity requires it: afterwards you may resume your own religion and we will promise that no inquiry shall be made.”
   Eulogius replied with a smile, “If you could but conceive the reward which awaits those who persevere in the faith until the end, you would resign your dignities in exchange for it!” He then began boldly to proclaim the gospel to them, but the council, to avoid listening, promptly sentenced him to death. As he was being led away, one of the servants struck him on the face for having spoken against Mohammed: he at once turned the other cheek and meekly received a second blow. He was led out of the city to the place of execution, and with great composure allowed himself to be decapitated. St Leocritia suffered four days later.

As stated above, for our knowledge of the history of St Eulogius we are almost entirely dependent upon the short Latin biography of his friend Alvarez or Alvarus. This has been printed in the Act Sanctorum, March, vol. ii, and also in Migne, PL., vol. cxv, cc. 705—720, and other collections. See further Gams, Kirchengeschichte von Spanien, vol. ii, pp. 299—338, and the article “Eulogius” in the Kirchenlexikon. Cf. Dozy, Histoire des Musulmans d’Espagne, vol. ii, pp. 1—174, and W. von Baudissin, Eulogius und Alvar (1872). There is a popular account tr. into English, J. Perez de Urbel, A Saint under Moslem Rule (1937).
1020 St. Firmian Benedictine abbot of San Piceno in the Acona region of Italy.
 In fínibus Ambianénsium sancti Firmíni Abbátis
1069 St. Amunia Mother of St. Aurea.
She joined her daughter in the life of a hermitess after the death of her husband.
1069 St. Aurea famed for her visions and miracles
Aurea was a native of Villavelayo, Spain. During the Moorish occupation of Spain, she became a nun at a nearby Benedictine San Millan de la Cogolla abbey and lived as a solitary famed for her visions and miracles.
ST AUREA, VIRGIN (c. A.D. 1100)
         WHEN Spain lay under the Moorish yoke it became the custom for those Christians who desired to live the religious life to build their monasteries in desolate mountain fastnesses where their conquerors seldom troubled to molest them. One of these was San Millán de la Cogolla above the Upper Ebro in the diocese of Calahorra.
         It was primarily a Benedictine abbey for men but, as was not unusual at the time, there was a settlement for women a short distance away, and these women were under the direction of the abbot of La Cogolla. Down below, in the village of Villavelayo, lived a couple, Garcia Nunno, or Nunnio, and Amunia his wife, with their daughter Aurea. Constant study of the Holy Scriptures and meditation on the lives of St Agatha, St Eulalia and St Cecilia determined her to devote herself to God in the religious life, and she sought admittance to the convent of San Millán.
         Receiving the habit she lived a life of complete abnegation as a solitary. Aurea was rewarded by a vision of her three patron saints who assured her of God’s approval and promised her a crown of glory; the fame of her penances and miracles spread, and her assistance and intercession were eagerly sought. She became the victim of a painful disease, dying in her mother’s arms, in the presence of the monk who wrote her life, tier mother, who did not long survive her, was buried by her side.
        The evidence is not very satisfactory. Mabillon in the Annales says nothing of St Aurea
         but a summary account is in the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum, March, vol. ii.

Aurea of San Millán, OSB V (AC) (also known as Oria) Saint Aurea, a Spanish virgin, was a hermit attached to the Benedictine abbey of San Millán de la Cogolla in La Rioja, Spanish Navarre. Her spiritual direction was provided by Saint Dominic of Silos. Her mother, Saint Amunia, joined her before her death at the age of 27 (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).
1100 ST AUREA, VIRGIN rewarded by a vision of her three patron saints who assured her of God’s approval and promised her a crown of glory the fame of her penances and miracles spread, and her assistance and intercession were eagerly sought
WHEN Spain lay under the Moorish yoke it became the custom for those Christians who desired to live the religious life to build their monasteries in desolate mountain fastnesses where their conquerors seldom troubled to molest them. One of these was San Millán de Ia Cogolla above the Upper Ebro in the diocese of Calahorra. It was primarily a Benedictine abbey for men but, as was not unusual at the time, there was a settlement for women a short distance away, and these women were under the direction of the abbot of La Cogolla. Down below, in the village of Villavelayo, lived a couple, Garcia Nunno, or Nunnio, and Amunia his wife, with their daughter Aurea. Constant study of the Holy Scriptures and meditation on the lives of St Agatha, St Eulalia and St Cecilia determined her to devote herself to God in the religious life, and she sought admittance to the convent of San Millán. Receiving the habit she lived a life of complete abnegation as a solitary. Aurea was rewarded by a vision of her three patron saints who assured her of God’s approval and promised her a crown of glory the fame of her penances and miracles spread, and her assistance and intercession were eagerly sought. She became the victim of a painful disease, dying in her mother’s arms, in the presence of the monk who wrote her life. Her mother, who did not long survive her, was buried by her side.
The evidence is not very satisfactory. Mabillon in the Annales says nothing of St Aurea but a summary account is in the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum, March, vol. ii.
1454 Saint Euthymius archbishop labored in constructing and restoring churches devoted himself to asceticism
in Baptism John, was born in answer to the fervent prayers of the presbyter Micah and his wife Anna. For many years they had been childless, and they vowed that if they had a son, they would dedicate him to God.
   The boy read priestly books and frequently attended church services, often helping his father in the small church of St Theodore. All this sanctified young John's soul. In the year 1411, he left his parental home for a monastery at the age of fifteen.
Twelve versts from Novgorod, in a wilderness spot named Vyazhisch, three monks, Euphrosynus, Ignatius and Galacteon, settled in the forests and the swamps. They were soon joined by the priest Pimen, who was tonsured with the name Pachomius. Here they lived in complete solitude at a wooden chapel they built in honor of St Nicholas. They lived in unceasing prayer and struggled with the severe conditions of nature in the northern regions.
The young John also came to these ascetics seeking salvation. The igumen Pachomius accepted him fondly and tonsured him into monasticism with the name Euthymius.
His tonsure at such a young age is an indication of the young ascetic's outstanding spiritual traits.
    During this time the See of Novgorod was occupied by Archbishop Simeon, a simple monk who became a hierarch. The virtuous life of St Euthymius became known to the archbishop. St Euthymius was summoned to Novgorod and after a long talk with Archbishop Simeon, he was appointed as the archbishop's steward.
At that time the Archbishops of Novgorod occupied a unique position. Independent of princely authority, they were elected directly by the assembly and they assumed a large role in secular matters. Moreover, they administered vast land-holdings. Under these conditions, an archbishop's steward had to combine administrative talent with the utmost non-covetousness and deep Christian humility. St Euthymius fervently entreated the archpastor to send him back to Vyazhisch, but then agreed to stay.
    St Euthymius evoked general astonishment and esteem, occupying such an important position, and being at the center of business life in a large city. As a monk he devoted himself to asceticism as fervently as he would have done in the deep forest.
Archbishop Simeon died in 1421. Under the new hierarch, Euthymius I, St Euthymius again withdrew to his monastery. Soon, however, the monks of a monastery on Lisich Hill chose the saint as their igumen. With the death of Archbishop Euthymius I in 1429, St Euthymius was then chosen as archbishop. On November 29, he entered into the temple of St Sophia. For four years the saint administered the Novgorod diocese, while putting off being installed as archbishop. Only on May 24, 1434 was he consecrated at Smolensk by Metropolitan Gerasimus.
St Euthymius wisely governed his diocese for twenty-nine years, zealous in fulfilling his archpastoral duty. St Euthymius labored in constructing and restoring churches, especially after the devastating fires of the years 1431 and 1442.
St. Peter the Spaniard shirt of mail as a penitential reminder
Penitent. According to tradition, Peter was a Spaniard who went on a pilgrimage to Rome and, being so moved, settled near Rome and spent the rest of his days as a hermit. He supposedly wore a shirt of mail as a penitential reminder.
1485 BD CHRISTOPHER MACASSOLI
THIS Bd Christopher of Milan must not be confused with a Dominican of the same name and place who is commemorated on March 1.
Christopher Macassoli entered the Franciscan Order at an early age. Love of poverty, great purity of heart and complete trust in God were his distinguishing characteristics. As a priest he converted many by his preaching and example. At Vigevano he helped to enlarge the friary in which he lived, and thousands of people flocked to receive his counsel and to ask his intercession with God. He died in 1485 and Pope Leo XIII in 1890 confirmed the local cultus which had been unbroken since his death. We are told that the little chapel of St Bernardino at Vigevano, where his remains repose in a tomb built into the wall, is covered with votive offerings made by the faithful in acknowledgment of miraculous answers to prayer.
See Mark of Lisbon, Croniche del Minori (Italian adaptation by B. Barezzi), vol. iv, pp. 251—252.
1539 BD JOHN BAPTIST OF FABRIANO miracles were reported to have been worked at his tomb, and a considerable cultus followed, which was confirmed in 1903.
THE life led by John Baptist Righi of Fabriano is much extolled in the, chronicles of the Order of Friars Minor. He was a priest, but though said to be a man of great natural ability he would never, out of humility, acquire more learning than was needful for ordination. The rigour of his fasts recalled the asceticism of the fathers of the desert. He often passed the entire week from Sunday to Sunday without taking food, and during the long Lent which he kept from the Epiphany until Easter day he never ate except on Sundays and Thursdays. After the termination of the night office, instead of retiring to his cell to rest, he used to remain praying in the church, and on one occasion was discovered there by the sacristan rapt in ecstasy, while diffusing around him a heavenly perfume which had attracted the intruder to the corner in which John Baptist had hidden himself. He was a little man and very frail, but he would not consent to protect himself from the cold by using any more clothing than his single patched habit. He wore himself out rendering services to others, for though he was most earnest in insisting that the rule should be observed with strict fidelity, he spared no pains to secure for his brethren, and especially for the sick, such alleviations as they really needed. After his death at the friary of Massaccio in 1539 miracles were reported to have been worked at his tomb, and a considerable cultus followed, which was confirmed in 1903.
See Ciro da Pesaro, Vita e culto del B. Giovanni Righi (1904) the author has made use of a short biography written shout sixty years after Father John’s death. Cf. also Mark of Lisbon, Croniche del Minori, vol. iii, pp. 602-603.
1544 BD. JOHN LARKE, JERMYN GARDINER AND JOHN IRELAND, MARTYRS
JOHN LARKE is sometimes erroneously described as having been Sir Thomas More’s chaplain, whereas he was actually rector of Chelsea, the church which Sir Thomas habitually attended when in London, his town house being situated in that parish. We have no details concerning Larke’s parentage, birth or upbringing, but it is conjectured that he must have been an old man when he suffered martyrdom. In 1504 he had been appointed rector of St Ethelburga, Bishopsgate, the incumbency of which he continued to hold until shortly before his death.* [* A remarkable painting of Larke may be seen in this interesting church, one of the few in the City to be spared by the great fire of 1666.]
 In 1526 he became rector of Woodford in Essex, but he resigned the living four years later when he was nominated to Chelsea by Sir Thomas More, who as lord chancellor held the right of appointment from the abbey of Westminster. He seems to have had the greatest veneration for his patron, and Cresacre More in his life of Sir Thomas says that “his death so wrought on the mind of Dr Larke, his own parish priest, that he, following the example of his own sheep, afterwards suffered a most famous martyrdom in the same cause of supremacy”. The title of “doctor” appears to have been one of courtesy only. Though he never took the oath or sacrificed his principles to preserve his life and benefices, Larke does not appear to have been molested until 1544, when he was arrested and charged with treason, together with a secular priest named John Ireland, of whom little is known, and a young man called German or Jermyn Gardiner, a secretary and probably a relation of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester. German was a zealous Catholic who, though sometimes spoken of as a priest, was almost certainly a layman.

The trial of Larke, Ireland and Gardiner took place at Westminster on February 15, 1544, and the record in the state papers contains the following statement:
The Jury say upon their oath that John Heywood, late of London, gentleman, John Ireland, late of Eltham in the county of Kent, clerk, John Larke, late of Chelsea in the county of Middlesex, clerk, and German Gardiner, late of Southwark in the county of Surrey, gentleman, not weighing the duties of their allegiance nor keeping God Almighty before their eyes, but seduced by the instigation of the devil, falsely, maliciously and traitorously [have acted] like false and wicked traitors against the most serene and Christian prince, our Lord Henry VIII, by the grace of God King of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and upon earth Supreme Head of the English and Irish Church—choosing, wishing and desiring and cunningly machinating, inventing, practising and attempting—together with many other false traitors unknown, in confederacy with them to deprive our said King Henry VIII of his royal dignity, title and name of “Supreme Head of the English and Irish Church” which has been united and annexed to his imperial crown by the laws and proclamations of this his realm of England.

The prisoners were all condemned and sentenced to death, but John Heywood, whose name figures first in the report of the trial, recanted after he had been placed on the hurdle, and received the king’s pardon. The rest remained steadfast and perished at Tyburn on March 7, 1544. The feast of John Larke in the diocese of Brentwood is assigned to this day.
See Camm, LEM., vol. i, pp. 541—547.
1615 St. John Ogilvie joined the Jesuits entered Scotland tightening of the penal laws caused his arrest refused to apostasize hung there; canonized 1976, becoming first Scottish saint since 1250 (c. 1579-1615)

John Ogilvie's noble Scottish family was partly Catholic and partly Presbyterian. His father raised him as a Calvinist, sending him to the continent to be educated. There John became interested in the popular debates going on between Catholic and Calvinist scholars. Confused by the arguments of Catholic scholars whom he sought out, he turned to Scripture. Two texts particularly struck him: "God wills all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth," and "Come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you."
Slowly, John came to see that the Catholic Church could embrace all kinds of people. Among these, he noted, were many martyrs.
He decided to become Catholic and was received into the Church at Louvain, Belgium, in 1596 at the age of 17.

John continued his studies, first with the Benedictines, then as a student at the Jesuit College at Olmutz. He joined the Jesuits and for the next 10 years underwent their rigorous intellectual and spiritual training. Ordained a priest in France in 1610, he met two Jesuits who had just returned from Scotland after suffering arrest and imprisonment. They saw little hope for any successful work there in view of the tightening of the penal laws. But a fire had been lit within John. For the next two and a half years he pleaded to be missioned there.
Sent by his superiors, he secretly entered Scotland posing as a horse trader or a soldier returning from the wars in Europe. Unable to do significant work among the relatively few Catholics in Scotland, John made his way back to Paris to consult his superiors. Rebuked for having left his assignment in Scotland, he was sent back. He warmed to the task before him and had some success in making converts and in secretly serving Scottish Catholics. But he was soon betrayed, arrested and brought before the court. His trial dragged on until he had been without food for 26 hours. He was imprisoned and deprived of sleep. For eight days and nights he was dragged around, prodded with sharp sticks, his hair pulled out. Still, he refused to reveal the names of Catholics or to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the king in spiritual affairs. He underwent a second and third trial but held firm. At his final trial he assured his judges: "In all that concerns the king, I will be slavishly obedient; if any attack his temporal power, I will shed my last drop of blood for him. But in the things of spiritual jurisdiction which a king unjustly seizes I cannot and must not obey."
Condemned to death as a traitor, he was faithful to the end, even when on the scaffold he was offered his freedom and a fine living if he would deny his faith.
His courage in prison and in his martyrdom was reported throughout Scotland.
John Ogilvie was canonized in 1976, becoming the first Scottish saint since 1250.
Comment:    John came of age when neither Catholics nor Protestants were willing to tolerate one another. Turning to Scripture, he found words that enlarged his vision. Although he became a Catholic and died for his faith, he understood the meaning of “small-c catholic,” the wide range of believers who embrace Christianity.
Even now he undoubtedly rejoices in the ecumenical spirit fostered by the Second Vatican Council and joins us in our prayer for unity with all believers.

 March 11, 2010 St. John Ogilvie (c. 1579-1615) 
John Ogilvie's noble Scottish family was partly Catholic and partly Presbyterian. His father raised him as a Calvinist, sending him to the continent to be educated. There John became interested in the popular debates going on between Catholic and Calvinist scholars. Confused by the arguments of Catholic scholars whom he sought out, he turned to Scripture. Two texts particularly struck him: "God wills all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth," and "Come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you."

Slowly, John came to see that the Catholic Church could embrace all kinds of people. Among these, he noted, were many martyrs. He decided to become Catholic and was received into the Church at Louvain, Belgium, in 1596 at the age of 17.

John continued his studies, first with the Benedictines, then as a student at the Jesuit College at Olmutz. He joined the Jesuits and for the next 10 years underwent their rigorous intellectual and spiritual training. Ordained a priest in France in 1610, he met two Jesuits who had just returned from Scotland after suffering arrest and imprisonment. They saw little hope for any successful work there in view of the tightening of the penal laws. But a fire had been lit within John. For the next two and a half years he pleaded to be missioned there.

Sent by his superiors, he secretly entered Scotland posing as a horse trader or a soldier returning from the wars in Europe. Unable to do significant work among the relatively few Catholics in Scotland, John made his way back to Paris to consult his superiors. Rebuked for having left his assignment in Scotland, he was sent back. He warmed to the task before him and had some success in making converts and in secretly serving Scottish Catholics. But he was soon betrayed, arrested and brought before the court. His trial dragged on until he had been without food for 26 hours. He was imprisoned and deprived of sleep. For eight days and nights he was dragged around, prodded with sharp sticks, his hair pulled out. Still, he refused to reveal the names of Catholics or to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the king in spiritual affairs. He underwent a second and third trial but held firm. At his final trial he assured his judges: "In all that concerns the king, I will be slavishly obedient; if any attack his temporal power, I will shed my last drop of blood for him. But in the things of spiritual jurisdiction which a king unjustly seizes I cannot and must not obey."

Condemned to death as a traitor, he was faithful to the end, even when on the scaffold he was offered his freedom and a fine living if he would deny his faith. His courage in prison and in his martyrdom was reported throughout Scotland.
John Ogilvie was canonized in 1976, becoming the first Scottish saint since 1250.
Comment:  John came of age when neither Catholics nor Protestants were willing to tolerate one another. Turning to Scripture, he found words that enlarged his vision. Although he became a Catholic and died for his faith, he understood the meaning of “small-c catholic,” the wide range of believers who embrace Christianity. Even now he undoubtedly rejoices in the ecumenical spirit fostered by the Second Vatican Council and joins us in our prayer for unity with all believers.
1770 St. Teresa Margaret Redi discalced Carmelite nun remarkable prayer life and a deeply penitential demeanor; The devotion paid to her, especially in the city of Florence, has been attended with many miracles.
Anna Maria Redi was a native of Florence, Italy. She entered the Carmelites in 1765 and took the name Sister Teresa Margaret. She died at the age of twenty-three, but in the very brief time of her life in the cloister, she displayed a remarkable prayer life and a deeply penitential demeanor. She was canonized in 1934 by Pope Pius XI (r. 1922-1939).

1770 ST TERESA MARGARET REDI, VIRGIN
To the list of youthful saints who of late years have been honoured by the Church is now to be added the name of the Carmelite nun, Teresa-Margaret-of-the-Sacred Heart, canonized in 1934.
Anne Mary Redi, as she was called in the world, belonged to Arezzo, but the greater part of her life was spent at Florence and within convent walls. Born in 1747, she was sent to Florence at the age of ten to be educated by the nuns of the community of St Apollonia. She remained with them for seven years, giving a most admirable example of obedience, modesty, prayerfulness, diligence and all the virtues appropriate to a child. At school, reclaimed by her parents when her education was completed, she remained for a few months at home, but received what seemed to her a supernatural admonition from St Teresa of Avila that she was called to the Carmelites. She accordingly entered the convent of St Teresa at Florence in 1765. She would have wished to enter as a lay-sister, but this was not allowed, and after a most edifying noviceship she took her vows as a choir-nun.
There is not much to chronicle in the retired life Teresa Margaret led in a cloistered order, but those who had known her during the five years she was spared to them spoke in glowing terms of her extraordinary fidelity to her Christian vocation. We have the actual words used by her fellow Carmelites when summoned to give evidence in the episcopal process instituted not long after her death in view of her beatification. She was especially devout to the Sacred Heart and marvelously charitable, putting to profit every opportunity which a cloistered life could afford of sacrificing herself for the benefit of others. Her prayers, penances and a practice of poverty far more rigid than the rule required probably shortened her life. Moreover, she was much employed in tending the sick of the community, maintaining an unclouded brightness and equanimity even when she herself was far more fit to be a patient than a nurse. After her death at the age of twenty-three her body lay exposed for fifteen days without a sign of decomposition, and it has remained incorrupt until the present time. The devotion paid to her, especially in the city of Florence, has been attended with many miracles.
The summarium de virtutibus printed for the process of beatification may be found in the library of the British Museum. See also Fr Lorenzo, La b. Teresa Margherita (1930) and Fr Stanislas, Un angelo del Carmelo (1930), of which there is an adapted English version by Mgr J. F. Newcomb, St Theresa Margaret...(1934). She is honoured liturgically among the Carmelites on March 11, though March 7 was the day of her death.
Teresa Margaret Redi, OCD V (RM) (Baptized as Anna Maria Redi) Born in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy, July 15, 1747; died March 7, 1770; canonized 1934. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was born of a distinguished family, baptized Anna Maria, and raised by the Benedictine nuns of Santa Apollonia in Florence.
One day on entering her room, she distinctly heard herself addressed with the words: "I wish to have you among my daughters." She felt herself irresistibly drawn to the chapel, where the same voice said to her: "I am Teresa of Jesus, and I tell you that soon you will be in my convent."

Teresa Margaret returned to her parents' house for a few weeks, then, in the summer of 1764, was received on probation in the convent of the discalced Carmelites in Florence. The nuns were amazed at this novice, who set them an example of the perfect conventual life. Her motto was: "To suffer, to love, to be silent."

Under the spiritual sufferings of the path of purification she matured quickly to mystical union with God. On the evening of March 6, 1770, she was suddenly overcome by violent pains, and the very next day she peacefully and joyfully gave back her soul to God, whom she had always loved and for whom she had constantly yearned. She was 22 at the time of her death. The rumor that a saint had died rapidly spread through Florence, and her body had to be kept above ground for 15 days (Benedictines, Schamoni).


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 281

It is good to give praise to the Virgin Mary: and to sing glory to her is the prosperity of the mind.

To declare her merits rejoices the mind: and to imitate her works makes glad the angels of God.

He who obtains her favor: is recognized by the dwellers in Paradise.

And he who shall bear the character of her name, shall be written in the book of life.

Arise, O Lady, and judge our cause: and deliver us from those who rise up against us.

Withdraw not thy right hand from the sinner: and meet with thy sword the darts of the destroyer.

Let every spirit praise Our Lady

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea. 
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences. 
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.  Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.   God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven:  only saints are allowed into heaven.
The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
There are over 10,000 named saints beati  from history
 and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources
Patron_Saints.html  Widowed_Saints html  Indulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines   India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes 1858  China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine  Loreto, Italy  Marian Apparitions (over 2000)  Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
  Links to Related MarianWebsites  Angels and Archangels  Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell
Widowed Saints  html
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Of_The_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  Uniates  Chalcedon
Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BC  Lay Saints  Miraculous_Icons  Miraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
Miracles by Century 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800  1900 2000
Miracles 100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000  
 1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800   1900 Lay Saints

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

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

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

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

680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.  Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine.  The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches.  The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice."  According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates.  Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor.  Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims.
Meeting of the Saints  walis (saints of Allah)
Great men covet to embrace martyrdom for a cause and principle.
So was the case with Hazrat Ali. He could have made a compromise with the evil forces of his time and, as a result, could have led a very comfortable, easy and luxurious life.  But he was not a person who would succumb to such temptations. His upbringing, his education and his training in the lap of the holy Prophet made him refuse such an offer.
Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country.
Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.”
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA) 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life.
801 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya Sufi One of the most famous Islamic mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions.  Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq.  She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186).  Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186).  She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218).
Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching.  As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director.  She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222).  A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid.  The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218)
Rabi'a was of this second kind.  She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca:  "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God.  She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker.  Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219).  During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything.
"...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?'  I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them.  I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162)
When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said,
"O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me?  Is it not God Who wills it?  When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will?  It is not  well to oppose one's Beloved." (221)
She was an ascetic.  It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187).  She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world.  A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill.  Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied,
"I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?"  (186-7)
A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold.  She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him.  And she added an ethical concern as well:
"...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187)
She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance.  She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did.  For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself.  The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other.  When they asked her to explain, she said:
"I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188)
She was once asked where she came from.  "From that other world," she said.  "And where are you going?" she was asked.  "To that other world," she replied (219).  She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end.  Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love.  In this quest, logic and reason were powerless.  Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220).
Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition.  Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved.  Through this communion, she could discover His will for her.  Many of her prayers have come down to us:
       "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart,
        But my body is available for those who seek its company,
        And my body is friendly towards its guests,
        But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul."  [224]
To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:
Eternal Word Television Network 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Irondale, AL 35210  USA
  Catholic Television Network  Supported entirely by donations from viewers  help  spread the Eternal Word, online Here
Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey  Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited. 
In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez - brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy:  “Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you.” 

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Paqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).
LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000)  India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858 
China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798  
Links to Related Marian Websites  Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  Uniates, 281 2023