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.
2022May, the month of Mary 22,600 lives saved From 2007 to 2020 http://www.haitian-childrens-fund.org/ For the Son of man ... will repay
every man for what he has done.
May our witness unveil the deception of the "pro-choice" slogan. 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. CAUSES OF SAINTS April The saints are a “cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible. 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.
May 5 – Coptic Patriach Cyril VI approves the Zeitoun apparitions in Cairo (Egypt, 1968) An extraordinary apparition in many respects The apparitions of the Virgin Mary on top of a Coptic church in Zeitoun, Egypt, which began on April 2, 1968, were extraordinary in more ways than one: They were witnessed by Muslim auto mechanics and drivers, and lasted several months, even years. Countless people, Christian and Muslim alike–sometimes crowds of 250,000 people–testified to having seen the apparition The apparitions were accompanied by extraordinary and verifiable phenomena–visible in photos–and many healings The bishops who served on the Inquiry Commission of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Egypt saw these apparitions too. The official recognition was issued by Pope Cyril VI, the Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, on May 5, 1968 The Catholic Coptic Patriarch immediately added his approval and no one ever contradicted the facts. No other religion has ever made known a similar supernatural occurrence. www.lafoichretienne.com May 5 – Approval of the Zeitoun apparitions in Cairo by Coptic Patriarch Kyrillos VI (Egypt, 1968) So I came in person to see you in Cairo On April 2, 1968, in Zeitoun, Egypt
(north district of Cairo), where tradition says that the Holy Family
stopped, throngs of people saw the Virgin Mary as she appeared on top
the central cupola of a Coptic church, (…) several times a week, over
the span of several years. (…).
The witnesses were not only Coptic, Catholic
and Orthodox Christians, but actually in majority Muslim. Many people
were favored with miraculous cures and those facts, known throughout
Egypt, were validated by countless testimonials, investigation reports,
official approvals, and press articles (…).
The Virgin Mary did not say a word. She
came unannounced, most often at night (…). The most striking apparitions
occurred between April 27 and June 15, 1968. After 1970, they became
more infrequent, occurring about once a month. (…)
Jehan Sadat, the former Egyptian first
lady and widow of the assassinated president, wrote this line on behalf
of Mary, in her autobiography entitled An Egyptian Woman: “People of
Egypt, I know that you won't be able to visit me anymore in Jerusalem;
so I came in person to see you in Cairo.”
Father René LaurentinExcerpt from the Dictionnaire des Apparitions de la Vierge, Fayard apotres.amour.free.fr The poor alcoholic and the Mother of God
In 1878, there was a poor farmer, who was a retired soldier
and an alcoholic, from the province of Tula, Russia, who lived in
misery. One night he had a dream in which a starets said, "Go to Serpukhov,
to the monastery of Vladyk. There you will find an icon of Our Lady
"The Inexhaustible Chalice." Recite the office in front of that icon
and you will be healed in mind and body." So the peasant set off for
Serpukhov.
When the drunkard arrived at the monastery
of Vladyk, the sisters were surprised by his request to say the office
in front of the icon of "The Inexhaustible Chalice," because none of
them had ever heard of that icon. They searched everywhere and then
a nun remembered an icon hanging in a passageway leading to the bell
tower. It represented the Mother of God with a chalice. To everyone’s
surprise, the back of the icon was inscribed with the title of "The
Inexhaustible Chalice."
Later, in 1919, after the sack of the
monastery by the Bolsheviks, the icon of "The Inexhaustible Chalice" was
lost. Today there are two copies of it in Serpukhov, one in the women's monastery
of Vladyk, the other in the men's monastery of Vysotsk. Pilgrims come in
great numbers, and often relatives of alcoholics and drug addicts who come
to see the icon miraculously receive what they ask for.
www.lecourrierderussie.comMary'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. If you intend to serve God, prepare your soul for temptation, for it is an infallible truth that no one is exempt from temptation when he has truly resolved to serve God. -- St. Francis de Sales May 4 – Marian Apparitions of Our Lady of Laus approved by Bishop Di Falco (France, 2008) As pilgrims celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Marian Shrine at Lourdes, the Church officially recognized a new pilgrimage site in France On May 4, 2008, Bishop Jean-Michel di Falco of the Diocese of Gap, officially recognized the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Benoite Rencurel at the Shrine of Laus in the area of Hautes-Alpes, France. Rencurel, a poor shepherdess, was born in 1647. The Virgin Mary started appearing to her in 1664 and continued visiting her throughout the rest of her life. Rencurel died in 1718. During the apparitions, the Blessed Mother
asked for a church and a house for priests to be built, with the
intention of drawing people to greater conversion, especially through
the sacrament of penance. The holy site now draws 120,000 pilgrims
annually. Numerous physical healings have also been associated with
the site, especially when oil from a lamp is applied on the wounds
according to the instructions the Virgin Mary gave to Rencurel.
Bishop di Falco, in his homily at the
Mass broadcast throughout the country by France-2 Television, said, "344
year ago, Our Lady chose to address a simple shepherdess to open the way
of penitence and conversion, to invite pilgrims to reconcile themselves with
the world and with God."
"Benoite, an uncultured country girl, received
her mission from Our Lady: For 54 years, she guided pilgrims, and
called for conversion and mercy. To the poor and the small, God reveals
himself. And Benoite, a laywoman, was the messenger of God. How can we not see in her the very example of the responsible layman?" Sancti Pii Quinti, ex Ordine Prædicatórum, Papæ et Confessóris, qui Kaléndis mensis hujus obdormívit in Dómino. Pope St. Pius V, confessor of the Order of Preachers, who went to sleep in the Lord on the 1st of May. Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for May is: "That, following the example of the Virgin Mary, all Christians should allow themselves to be guided by the Word of God and always remain attentive to the signs of the Lord in their own lives." mission intention "That in mission territories there may be no lack of good and enlightened teachers in the major seminaries and in the institutes of consecrated life." |
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Edmund
Ignatius Rice The Christian Brothers are especially active in educating Irish boys at the primary and secondary level. They also pioneered schools for delinquents. In various parts of the world, both Orders also entered into university training and a major source of the training of teachers for Catholic schools (Montague, http://www.cin.org/jp961006.html, http://www.iol.ie/resource/ga/archive/1996/Apr25/news/27.html, http://www.vc.bc.ca/vc/extpages/Brothers/Beatification.html). |
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Silvanus,
apostle of the Seventy Companion of Saint Paul
300 St. Jovinian Martyred bishop missionary companion of St. Peregrinus of Auxerre. Martyr Irene (peace) dedicated herself to Christ her miracles converted thousands blinded and healed an entire army beheaded, buried then resurected St. Crescentia, Martyr, at Lucanium Commemorated on June 15, is also on May 16 350 St. Maximus of Jerusalem crippled by tortures dedicated enemy of the Arians 381 Eulogius of Edessa opposition to Arianism bishop of Edessa B (RM) 386 St Brito Bishop of Trier Germany opposed Priscillian heretics but always refused to hand over to the state for punishment 445 St. Nectarius Bishop of Vienne severe political and religious disputes 470 Geruntius of Milan succeeded Saint Eusebius united monastic with clerical life. B (RM) 449 St. Hilary Bishop of Arles known for austerities aid to the poor and ransoming captives 449 St. Nicetius 15th Bishop of Vienne, Gaul aided monastic expansion defended his see in a turbulent political era Euthymius of Alexandria martyred Deacon M (RM) 5th v. St. Hydroc patron saint of Lanhydroc Cornwall 5th century 5th v. Crescentiana 5th century Martyr honored by a church in Rome dating to the reign of Pope Symmachus. 550 St. Theodore of Bologna Bishop aided the people of his see and served as patron of local abbeys 560 St. Sacerdos Bishop of Saguntum Sagunto noted for his holiness and fervor Spain 7th v. Diuma B (AC) Scottish priest bishop His monastery Saint Peter's grew into Peterborough 701 St. Maurontus Benedictine abbot founder 767 St. Echa Anglo-Saxon priest monk-hermit link to early Desert Fathers of Egypt 1180 St Aventinus Hermit consecrated himself to service of the poor and strangers companion of St. Thomas Becket 1220 St Angelo martyred early Carmelite Jews of Jerusalem parents converted to Christianity by vision of our Lady converted many sinners by teaching/miracles Our Lord appeared to him to offer the sacrifice of his life in Sicily 1260 St. Jutta Widowed noblewoman of Thuringia: Jutta received wonderful graces, for besides being favoured with many visions and revelations, she was given an infused understanding of the Holy Scriptures. She once said that three things could bring one very near to God— painful illness, exile from home in a remote corner of a foreign land, and poverty voluntarily assumed for God’s sake 1426 Ephraim priest 27 years; The holy New Martyr wonderworker imitated life of the great Fathers/ascetics of the desert Turkes tortued him to death but after 500 years he is quick to answer the prayers of those who call upon him 1442 Saint James of Zhelezny Bor. Today we celebrate the Uncovering of the Relics of the Kostroma Wonderworker 1535 Bl. John Haile elderly martyred secular priest 1572 ST PIUS V. POPE1844 Bl. Edmund Ignatius Rice founder of the Congregation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools devout man dedicated to charitable works attention to bands of ragged youth in the streets1878 The "Inexhaustible Chalice" Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos 1900 Bl Anna Rose Gattorno co-founded an order of nuns dedicated to working with the sick and poor. By the time of her death the order had grown to more than 3500 sisters. |
Silvanus,
apostle of the Seventy Companion of Saint Paul Romæ sancti Silváni Mártyris. At Rome, the martyr St. Silvanus. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us; by me, Silvanus, and Timothy; was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. (2 Corinthians 1:19). Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1). By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly. (1 Peter 5:12). |
300 St. Jovinian Martyred
bishop missionary companion of St. Peregrinus of Auxerre. Antisiodóri pássio sancti Joviniáni Lectóris. At Auxerre, the martyrdom of St. Jovinian, lector. |
The
holy Great Martyr Irene (peace) dedicated herself to Christ her miracles
converted thousands blinded and healed an entire army beheaded, buried
then resurected
Finally, a raven flew in carrying a snake,
which it dropped on the table. Penelope was puzzled by these events
and wondered what they meant.Thessalonícæ natális sanctórum Mártyrum Irenǽi, Peregríni et Irénes, qui, ígnibus combústi, palmas martyrii percepérunt. At Thessalonica, the birthday of the holy martyrs Irenæus, Peregrinus, and Irene, who were burned alive. Irene was born in the city of Magedon in Persia during the fourth century. She was the daughter of the pagan king Licinius, and her parents named her Penelope. Penelope was very beautiful, and her father kept her isolated in a high tower from the time she was six so that she would not be exposed to Christianity. He also placed thirteen young maidens in the tower with her. An old tutor by the name of Apellian was assigned to give her the best possible education. Apellian was a Christian, and during her lessons, he told the girl about Christ the Savior and taught her the Christian Faith and the Christian virtues. When Penelope reached adolescence, her parents began to think about her marriage. One day, a dove flew through the window carrying an olive branch in its beak, depositing it upon a table. Then an eagle swooped in with a wreath of flowers in its beak, and also placed it upon the table. Apellian explained that the
dove signified her education, and the olive branch stood for the grace of
God which is received in Baptism. The eagle with the wreath of flowers represented
success in her future life. The raven and the snake foretold her
future suffering and sorrow. At the end of the conversation
Apellianus said that the Lord wished to betroth her to Himself and
that Penelope would undergo much suffering for her heavenly Bridegroom.
After this Penelope refused marriage, was baptized by the priest Timothy,
and she was named Irene (peace). She even urged her own parents to become
Christians. Shortly after this, she destroyed all her father's idols.
Since St Irene had dedicated
herself to Christ, she refused to marry any of the suitors her father
had chosen for her. When Licinius learned that his daughter refused
to worship the pagan gods, he was furious. He attempted to turn her
from Christ by having her tortured. She was tied up and thrown beneath
the hooves of wild horses so that they might trample her to death, but
the horses remained motionless. Instead of harming the saint, one
of the horses charged Licinius, seized his right hand and tore it from
his arm. Then it knocked Licinius down and began to trample him.
They untied the holy virgin, and through her prayers Licinius rose
unharmed in the presence of eyewitnesses with his hand intact.
Seeing such a miracle, Licinius
and his wife, and many of the people, (about 3000 men) believed
in Christ and turned from the pagan gods. Resigning his administrative
duties, Licinius devoted himself to the service of the Lord Jesus
Christ. St Irene lived in the house of her teacher Apellian,
and began to preach Christ among the pagans, converting them to the
path of salvation.
When Sedecius, the new prefect
of the city, heard of this miracle he summoned Apellian and questioned
him about Irene's manner of life. Apellian replied that Irene, like
other Christians, lived in strict temperance, devoting herself to
constant prayer and reading holy books. Sedecius summoned the saint
to him and urged her to stop preaching about Christ. He also attempted
to force her to sacrifice to the idols. St Irene staunchly confessed
her faith before the prefect, not fearing his wrath, and prepared to undergo
suffering for Christ. By order of Sedecius she was thrown into a pit
filled with vipers and serpents. The saint spent ten days in the pit
and remained unharmed, for an angel of the Lord protected her and brought
her food. Sedecius ascribed this miracle to sorcery, and he subjected St
Irene to many other tortures, but she remained unharmed.
Under the influence of her preaching and miracles
even more people were converted to Christ, and turned away from the
worship of inanimate idols.Sedecius was deposed by his
son Savorus, who persecuted Christians with an even greater zeal than his
father had done. St Irene went to her home town of Magedon in Persia to meet
Savorus and his army, and ask him to end the persecution. When he refused,
St Irene prayed and his entire army was blinded. She prayed again and they
received their sight once more.
In spite of this, Savorus refused to recognize
the power of God. Because of his insolence, he was struck and killed
by a bolt of lightning.After this, St Irene walked
into the city and performed many miracles. She returned to the tower built
by her father, accompanied by the priest Timothy. Through her teaching, she
converted five thousand people to Christ.
Next, the saint went to the city of Callinicus, or Callinicum (possibly on the Euphrates River in Syria). The ruler of that place was King Numerian, the son of Sebastian. When she began to teach about Christ, she was arrested and tortured by the pagan authorities. She was placed into three bronze oxen which were heated by fire. She was transferred from one to another, but miraculously she remained uninjured. Thousands of idolaters embraced
Christianity as a result of this wondrous event.
Sensing the approach of death, Numerian instructed
his eparch Babdonus to continue torturing the saint in order to
force her to sacrifice to idols. Once again, the tortures were ineffective,
and many people turned to Christ. Christ's
holy martyr then traveled to the city of Constantina, forty miles northeast
of Edessa. By 330, the Persian king Sapor II (309-379) had heard of St Irene's
great miracles. To prevent her from winning more people to Christ,
she was arrested, beheaded, and then buried. However, God sent an
angel to raise her up again, and she went into the city of Mesembria.
After seeing her alive and hearing
her preach, the local king was baptized with many of his subjects.
Wishing to convert even more
pagans to Christianity, St Irene went to Ephesus, where she taught
the people and performed many miracles. The Lord revealed to her that
the end of her life was approaching. Then St Irene left the city accompanied
by six people, including her former teacher Apellian. On the outskirts
of the town, she found a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried.
After making the Sign of the Cross, she went inside, directing her companions
to close the entrance to the cave with a large stone, which they did.
When Christians visited the cave four days later, they did not find
the body of the saint.
Apellian returned after only
two days, and found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. Thus
did God glorify St Irene, who loved Him and devoted her life to serving
Him. Although many of these miracles may seem improbable to those
who are skeptical, nothing is impossible with God.
St Irene led thousands of people
to Christ through her preaching, and by her example. The Church
continues to honor her memory and to seek her heavenly intercession.
The holy, glorious Great Martyr
Irene is invoked by those wishing to effect a swift and happy marriage.
In Greece, she is also the patron saint of policemen. St Irene is
also one of the twelve Virgin Martyrs who appeared to St Seraphim of
Sarov (January 2) and the Diveyevo nun Eupraxia on the Feast of the
Annunciation in 1831. By her holy prayers, may the Lord have mercy
upon us and save us.
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St. Crescentia, Martyr, at
Lucanium Commemorated on June 15, is also commemorated on May 16
Thessalonícæ natális sanctórum Mártyrum Irenǽi, Peregríni et Irénes, qui, ígnibus combústi, palmas martyrii percepérunt. At Thessalonica, the birthday of the holy martyrs Irenæus, Peregrinus, and Irene, who were burned alive. St. Crescentia suffered for Christ during the reign of Emperor Diocletian along with the holy martyrs Vitus and Modestus. She was St. Vitus’ governess, and tried to save the boy when his father wanted to kill him because he would not abandon his faith in Christ. St. Crescentia and the boy’s tutor, St. Modestus, were both Christians, and secretly took the child from his home. They found a boat at the river, and an angel entered the boat with them. They reached the Italian district of Lucanium, where they lived quietly, hiding from their persecutors. St. Vitus healed the sick and converted pagans to Christianity. His fame soon spread throughout the region. Ss. Vitus and Modestus were arrested and thrown into prison and then tortured upon the orders of Emperor Diocletian. St. Crescentia came out of the crowd of spectators and confessed herself a Christian and reproached the emperor for his cruelty. She was thereafter sentenced to be tortured. St. Vitus called out to God, “O God, save us by Thy power and deliver us.” An earthquake then struck the city, and the pagans perished beneath the collapsed buildings. Diocletian fled to his chambers in fear. An angel released Sts. Vitus, Modestus and Crescentia from the pillars and took them to Lucanium. St. Vitus prayed that God would accept their souls in peace and not deprive those who kept their memory of His benefaction. A Voice came from Heaven, “Thy prayer is heard.” The saints then joyfully surrendered their souls to God. St. Crescentia is also commemorated on May 16. |
350 St. Maximus
of Jerusalem crippled by tortures dedicated enemy of the Arians Hierosólymis sancti Máximi Epíscopi, qui a Maximiáno Galério Cǽsare, post óculum effóssum pedémque igníto ferro adústum, ad metálla damnátus est; atque, liber inde abíre permíssus et Ecclésiæ Hierosolymitánæ præpósitus, ibi, confessiónis glória præclárus, in pace tandem quiévit. At Jerusalem, St. Maximus, bishop, whom Maximian Galerius Caesar condemned to the mines, after having plucked out one of his eyes and branded him on the foot with a hot iron. He was afterwards freed, and allowed to rule the church at Jerusalem, where he died in peace, renowned for the glory of his confession. Successor to St. Macanus as bishop of Jerusalem around 335. He was crippled by tortures that were inflicted upon him during the persecution of his era. Maximus opposed St. Athanasius originally but realized his error and became a dedicated enemy of the Arians. Despite his repentance, he was not revered traditionally among the defenders of orthodoxy during the Arian Controversy. |
381 Eulogius of Edessa
opposition to Arianism bishop of Edessa B (RM) Edéssæ, in Syria, sancti Eulógii, Epíscopi et Confessóris. At Edessa in Syria, St. Eulogius, bishop and confessor. Father Eulogius of Edessa was banished to the Thebaid for his opposition to Arianism. Upon his return from the desert after the death of Emperor Valens, he was chosen bishop of Edessa (Benedictines). |
386 St. Brito Bishop
of Trier Germany opposed Priscillian heretics but always refused
to hand over to the state for punishment Also called Britonius. Brito opposed the Priscillian heretics in his region and worked to convert them. He refused to hand them over to state authorities, not wanting to see them persecuted. Brito of Trèves B (AC) (also known as Britonius of Trier) Died 386. Bishop Brito of Trier, Germany, was a staunch opponent of the Priscillian heretics, whom he nevertheless always refused to hand over to the state for punishment because he believed that the civil powers had no authority in Church affairs (Benedictines). |
445 St. Nectarius Bishop of Vienne severe political and religious
disputes. France. During his term, Vienne was involved in severe political and religious disputes. Nectarius of Vienne B (AC). Nectarius
was the bishop of Vienne in the Dauphiné (Benedictines).
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449 St. Hilary Bishop
of Arles known for austerities aid to the poor and ransoming captives
Areláte, in Gállia, sancti Hilárii Epíscopi, doctrína et sanctitáte conspícui. At Arles in France, the bishop St. Hilary, noted for his learning and sanctity. From the lives of Saintes by Alban Butler
From his life, by a contemporary bishop of his province, who
had been his disciple, Ceillier shows this author to have been St. Honoratus,
bishop of Marseilles. See Rivet, Hist. Litter. de la France, t, 2, p.200
449 ST. HILARY, ARCHBISHOP OF ARLES, C. THIS saint was nobly born about the year 401, and was related to St. Honoratus of Arles, and of the same country in Gaul, which was probably Lorraine, or some other part of Austrasia. He was brought up in a manner suitable to his birth, in the study of the liberal arts, and of every branch of polite learning, especially of eloquence and philosophy. But how little value we ought to set on all things that appear great in the eyes of the world, he himself has taught us. "We are all equal," says he, "in Jesus Christ; and the highest degree of our nobility is to be of the number of the true servants of God. Neither science, nor birth, according to this world, can exalt us, but in proportion to our contempt of them." Before God had put these sentiments into his heart, he seems to have been not altogether insensible to the advantages of this world, in which he was raised to the highest dignities. His kinsman, St. Honoratus, who had forsaken his country to seek Christ in the solitude of the isle of Lerins, where he had founded a great monastery, was the instrument made use of by the Almighty to open his eyes. This holy man had always loved Hilary, and thought he could not give him more solid proof of his friendship than by endeavoring to gain him entirely to God. He therefore left his retirement for a few days to seek him out, and endeavored to move him by the same powerful, weighty reflections, which had made the deepest impression on his own mind, and induced him to break the chains of the world. “What floods of tears," says St. Hilary, “did this true friend shed to soften the hardness of my heart! How often did he embrace me with the tenderness and compassionate affection, to obtain of me that I would take into serious consideration the salvation of my soul. Yet, by an unhappy victory, I still remained conqueror." Honoratus, finding his endeavors to wean him from the charms of a deceitful world ineffectual, had recourse to prayer, his ordinary refuge. "Well," said he to Hilary, "I will obtain of God, what you will not now grant me." Upon which they took leave of each other. Hilary, reflecting on what Honoratus had said to him, was not long before he began to feel a violent conflict within himself. "On one side," says he, "I thought I saw the Lord calling me on the other the world of bringing me its seducing charms and pleasures. How often did I embrace and reject, will and not will the same thing! But in the end Jesus Christ triumphed in me. And three days after Honoratus had left me, the mercy of God, solicited by his prayers, subdued my rebellious soul." He then went in person to seek St. Honoratus, and appeared before him as humble and tractable as the saint had left him haughty and indocile. From this moment there appeared in Hilary that wonderful change which the Holy Ghost produces in a soul which he truly converts. His words, looks, and whole comportment breathed nothing but humility, patience, sweetness, mortification, and charity. Every one saw in him a man who began to labor in earnest to save his soul, and who had put his hand to the plough to look no more behind him, or to send a single thought after what he had left for Christ's sake. Aspiring to perfection, he sold all his several estates to his brother, and distributed all the money accruing from the sale among the poor, and the most indigent monasteries, thus disengaged from the world, and naked, no less in the inward disposition of soul than in lu exterior, he, like Abraham, took leave of his own country, an made the best of his way to Lerins; where from his first entrance he made it appear that he was worthy to live in the company of saints. He set out in the pursuit of monastic perfection with such zeal and fervor as to become in it short time the pattern of those on whose instructions and example he came to form his own conduct. His application to prayer and mortification, and his watchfulness and care to avoid the smallest faults and imperfections, prepared him to receive the gift of tears. It is thought that his baptism was posterior to his retirement. St. Honoratus having been chosen archbishop of Arles, in 420, Hilary followed him to that city; but it was not long before his love of solitude occasioned his return to Lerins. All the holy inhabitants of that isle testified as great joy to receive him again, as he felt to see himself among them. But God, wanted other designs upon him, did not permit him to enjoy long his beloved retirement. St. Honoratus begged his assistance, and the comfort of his company, and as he did not yield to entreaties, went himself to fetch him from Lerins. Soon after God called Honoratus to himself, his death happening in 428 or 429. Hillary, though sensibly afflicted for the loss of such a friend, rejoiced however to see himself at liberty, and set out directly for Lerins. But no sooner were the citizens apprised of his departure, than messengers posted after him with such expedition, that he was overtaken, brought back, and consecrated archbishop, though only twenty-nine years of age. In this high station the virtues which he had acquired in solitude shone with lustre to mankind. The higher he was exalted by his dignity, the more did he humble himself beneath all others in his heart? He reduced himself in everything to the strictest bounds of necessity: and he had only one coat for winter and summer, he applied himself diligently to meditation on the holy scriptures, and preaching the word of God, was assiduous in prayer, watching, and fasting. He had his hours also for manual labor, with a view of gaining something for the poor; choosing such work as he could join with reading or prayer, he travelled always on foot, and had attained to so perfect an evenness of temper, that his mind seemed never ruffled with the least emotion of anger. He had an admirable talent in preaching. When he spoke before the learned of the world, his elocution, his accent, his discourse, his action, were such as the greatest orators justly admired, but despaired ever to come up to. Yet when he instructed the illiterate, he changed his manner of address, and proportioned his instructions to the capacities of the most simple and ignorant, though always supporting the dignity of the divine word by a manner and expression suitable to its majesty. He preached the truth in its purity, without flattering the great. He had often in private admonished a certain judge in the province of a criminal partiality in the administration of justice, but without effect. One day the magistrate came into the church, attended by his officers, while the saint was preaching. The holy bishop broke off his sermon on the spot, and gave his surprised audience for reason, that he who had so often neglected the advice he had given him for his salvation, was not worthy to partake of the nourishment of the divine word. The judge no sooner heard his reflection, but withdrew in confusion, and the saint resumed his discourse. Observing one day that many went out of the church immediately after the reading of the gospel, just as he was going to preach, he prevailed with them to return, by saying: "You will not so easily get out of hell, if you are once unhappily fallen into its dungeons." He had such a love for the poor, that to have the more to bestow on them, he lived himself in the greatest poverty: he never kept a horse, and labored hard in digging and manuring the ground, though educated according to the dignity of his family. To redeem captives he caused the church plate to be sold, not excepting the sacred vessels; making use of patens and chalices of glass in the celebration of the divine mysteries. If his compassion for the corporal miseries or the faithful was so tender, we may judge how much more he was moved to pity at their spiritual necessities. He bore the weak with tenderness, but never indulged the passions or sloth of any. When he put any one in a course of penance he was himself bathed in tears; whereby he both excited the penitent to the like, and with ardent sighs and prayer obtained for him of God the grace of compunction and pardon. he visited the bishops of his province, and endeavored to make them walk in the perfect spirit of Christ, the prince of pastors. He established many monasteries, and took particular care to enforce a strict observance of monastic discipline among them. He had a close friendship with St. Germanus, whom he called his father, and respected as an apostle. He presided in the council of Ries in 439, in the first council of Orange in 441, in the council of Vaison in 442, and probably in 413, in the second council of Arles, in which several canons of discipline were framed. His zeal exasperated several tepid persons; and some of these, by misconstruing his actions, gave the holy pope St. Leo a disadvantageous character of him. His zeal, indeed, had been on some occasions too hasty and precipitate: but this owed in him to mistake, not to passion; for the circumstances of his actions, and of his eminent piety, oblige us to interpret his intention by the same spirit by which he governed himself in his whole conduct. This disagreement between St. Leo and St. Hillary proved a trial for the exercise of zeal in the former, and of patience in the latter, for his greater sanctification by humility, submission, and silence. Chelidonius, bishop of Besançon, had been deposed by St. Hilary upon an allegation, that, before he was consecrated bishop, he had married a widow, and had condemned persons to death as magistrate; both which were looked upon as irregularities or disqualifications for holy orders. Chelidonius hereupon set out for Rome, to justify himself to the pope, St. Leo, who received his appeal from his metropolitan, and acquitted him of the irregularity with which he stood charged. St. Hillary, upon hearing that his suffragan was gone for Rome, followed him thither on foot, and in the midst of winter. The pope having assembled a council to judge this affair, St. Hillary took his seat among the other bishops that composed it: but from his not attempting to prove the irregularity which had been alleged against Chelidonius the saint seemed to own that he had been imposed on as to the matter of fact. But he pretended, that the cause ought not to be judged otherwise than by commissaries deputed by the pope to take cognizance of it in the country that gave it birth, a point for which some Africans had contended. This plea was overruled, the contrary having been frequently practiced, when both parties could appear at Rome: though the manner of judging appeals is only a point of discipline, which may vary in different places. Another affair brought St. Hilary into a greater difficulty. Projectus, a bishop of his province, being sick, St. Hilary, upon information, hastened to his see, and ordained a new bishop: after which Projectus recovering, there were two bishops contending for the same see, and Hillary supported the last ordained; perhaps because the first might remain disabled for his functions. Thu author of St. Hilary’s life does not clear up his conduct in this particular: but we cannot doubt of the sincerity of his intention, Moreover the Discipline of the church in such matters was not at that time so clearly settled by the canons as it has been since. St. Hilary therefore imagined a metropolitan might have a discretionary power in such matters. However St. Leo rightly judged such an ordination irregular, liable to great inconveniences’, and productive of schisms. Wherefore he forbade St. Hilary to ordain any bishops for the future. Our holy prelate cancelled his mistakes by his patience, and St. Leo, writing immediately after the saint's death, to his successor Ravenuus, calls him, Hilary of holy memory.' Exhausted by austerities and labors, St. Hillary passed to a better life on the 5th of May, 449, being only forty-eight years old. St. Honoratus, the eloquent bishop of Marseilles, who has given us an abstract of his life, relates several miraculous cures wrought by the saint while he was living. His body lies in a subterraneous chapel, under the high altar, in the church of St. Honoratus at Arles with an elegant ancient epitaph. The name of St. Hillary stands in the Roman Martyrology. That this saint never gave in to the Semi-Pelagian doctrine, though it had not been then condemned by any decree of the pastors of the church, is clearly shown by Tillemont and Dom. Rivet. This is proved from several passages in his life by St. Honoratus and in the Martyrologies of Rabanus and Notker it is mentioned that he vigorously exerted his zeal in bringing to light in correcting the Pelagian heresy, which is taught in the conferences of Cassian. His exposition of the creed, commended by the ancients, is now lost: his homilies on all the feasts of the year were much esteemed, but are not known at present. The best edition of his works is given by John Salinas regular canon of St John Lateran, in Italy, in 1731. Born 400 France friend and relative of St. Honoratus. He was born to a noble family in Lorraine and was successful, although he gave up his secular career to join St. Honoratus at Lerins Abbey. When Honoratus died after being named the bishop of Arles, Hilary was chosen as his successor in 429. He was known for his austerities, his aid to the poor, and for ransoming captives. On two occasions Hilary became
embroiled in controversies with Pope St. Leo I the Great,
but they were reconciled, and Hilary's sanctity brought him great veneration.
May 5, 2007 St. Hilary
of Arles (400-449)
449 ST HILARY, BISHOP OF ARLES THE birthplace of St Hilary of Arles is not known, but he came of a noble family and was nearly related to St Honoratus, the founder and first abbot of the monastery of Lérins. Having received an excellent education and being endowed with exceptional abilities, he had the prospect of a successful career in the world. But St Honoratus, who had always loved him, was convinced that he was called to the special service of God. The holy abbot actually abandoned for a short time his island retreat to seek out his young kinsman with the object of inducing him to embrace the religious life. Hilary, however, seemed proof against all his entreaties and fears. “I will obtain from God what you will not concede!” the monk exclaimed as they bade each other farewell. His prayers were quickly answered. Two or three days later Hilary found himself a prey to a violent interior contest. “On the one side I felt that the Lord was calling me, whilst on the other hand the seductions of the world held me back”, he afterwards wrote. “My will swayed backwards and forwards, now consenting, now refusing. But at last Christ triumphed in me.” Once he had definitely made
up his mind, he had never looked back: he distributed to the poor
the proceeds of his patrimony, which he sold to his brother, and then
went to join St Honoratus at Lérins. He has left us a description
of the holy, happy life led there by the monks, amongst whom, as
it turned out, he was not destined to remain very long. In 426 St Honoratus
was elected bishop of Arles and being an old man, greatly desired the
assistance and companionship of his favourite relation. Hilary was
loath to leave Lérins, but Honoratus went in person to fetch
him and they remained together until the bishop’s death. Grieved though
he was at the loss of his spiritual father, the young monk rejoiced at
the prospect of returning to his abbey. He had started on his journey
when he was overtaken by messengers, sent by the citizens of Arles, who
desired to have him for their archbishop. He was obliged to consent and
was duly consecrated, although only twenty-nine. In his new station Hilary
observed the austerities of the cloister, while carrying out with immense
energy all the duties of his office. He allowed himself only the bare necessaries
of life, wore the same cloak summer and winter, travelled everywhere
on foot. Besides observing the canonical hours for prayer, he set aside
stated times for manual work, the proceeds of which he gave to the poor.
So great was his anxiety to ransom captives that he sold even the church
plate to obtain money, contenting himself with a chalice and paten of glass.
The limits of his province
as metropolitan of Southern Gaul had never been satisfactorily settled,
and once, when he was on a visitation in debatable territory, he
deposed a certain bishop called Chelidonius on the plea that before
he had received holy orders he had married a widow and, as a magistrate,
had passed a death sentence. Either of these charges, if substantiated,
would have disqualified him for the episcopate. Chelidonius forthwith
set out for Rome, where he cleared himself of the imputations to the
satisfaction of Pope St Leo the Great. As soon as St Hilary realized
that the prelate he had deposed had gone to the Holy City, he followed
him thither. To settle the matter a council was called, which Hilary
attended—not, however, to defend his action, but to contend that the
case ought to have been tried by the papal commissaries in Gaul. He did
not even await the verdict. Realizing that he was being kept under supervision,
and fearing lest he might be forced to communicate with Chelidonius,
he left Rome secretly and returned to
Arles. Judgement was given against him, and soon afterwards another complaint
against him reached the Holy See. Whilst a Gaulish bishop called Projectus
was still living—though apparently at the point of death—Hilary had appointed
another bishop to the see. The sick man recovered, and there were two
prelates claiming the same diocese. Hilary supported his own nominee,
perhaps because the other claimant was too infirm to carry out his duties,
but St Leo, to whom the matter was referred, rightly judged that Hilary’s
proceedings had been irregular and were likely to lead to schism. He therefore
censured him, forbade him to appoint any more bishops and transferred
the dignity of metropolitan to the bishop of Fréjus. The life of
St Hilary which is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. ii, and is there attributed
to one Honoratus, supposed to have been bishop of Marseilles, is probably
the composition of a certain Reverentius at the beginning of the sixth
century. It is a work written for edification, purporting to be the
memoirs of a contemporary, but unreliable as a record of historical
facts. See on all this B. Kolon, Die Vita S. Hilarii
Ardatensis (1925) and also cf.
Hefele-Leclercq, Histoire des Conciles,
vol. ii, pp. 477-478, with Bardenhewer, Altkirchlichen Literatur, vol. iv, p. 571.
It’s been said that youth is
wasted on the young. In some ways, that was true for today’s saint.
Born in France in the early fifth century,
Hilary came from an aristocratic family. In the course of his education
he encountered his relative, Honoratus, who encouraged the young man
to join him in the monastic life. Hilary did so. He continued to follow
in the footsteps of Honoratus as bishop. Hilary was only 29 when he
was chosen bishop of Arles.The new, youthful bishop undertook the role with confidence. He did manual labor to earn money for the poor. He sold sacred vessels to ransom captives. He became a magnificent orator. He traveled everywhere on foot, always wearing simple clothing. That was the bright side. Hilary encountered difficulty in his relationships with other bishops over whom he had some jurisdiction. He unilaterally deposed one bishop. He selected another bishop to replace one who was very ill-but, to complicate matters, did not die! Pope St. Leo the Great kept Hilary a bishop but stripped him of some of his powers. Hilary died at 49. He was a man
of talent and piety who, in due time, had learned how to be a bishop.
|
449 St. Nicetius
15th Bishop of Vienne, Gaul aided monastic expansion and defended
his see in a turbulent political era Viénnæ, in Gállia, sancti Nicéti Epíscopi, venerábilis sanctitátis viri. At Vienne in France, the bishop St. Nicetus, a man venerable for his piety. He aided monastic expansion and defended his see in a turbulent political era. Nicetus of Vienne B (RM) Died after 449. Saint Nicetus was the 15th bishop of Vienne in the Dauphiné (Benedictines). |
5th v. St. Crescentiana
5th century Martyr honored by a church in Rome dating to the reign
of Pope Symmachus. Item Romæ sanctæ Crescentiánæ Mártyris. Also at Rome, St. Crescentia, martyr. Crescentiana M (RM) The only evidence for the life of Saint Crescentiana is a church in Rome dedicated to her that was already extant at the time of Pope Symmachus (498-514) (Benedictines). |
Euthymius of Alexandria
martyred Deacon M (RM). Alexandríæ sancti Euthymii Diáconi, qui ob Christum quiévit in cárcere. At Alexandria, St. Euthymius, deacon, who died in prison for the sake of Christ. A deacon of Alexandria, martyred there (Benedictines). |
470 Geruntius
of Milan succeeded Saint Eusebius united monastic with clerical life.
B (RM) Medioláni
sancti Gerúntii Epíscopi. At Milan,
the bishop St. Geruntius.
Saint Geruntius succeeded Saint Eusebius{(Bishop of Vercelli,
b. in Sardinia c. 283; d. at Vercelli, Piedmont, 1 August, 371.} made
lector in Rome, 340 unanimously elected bishop of that city by clergy
and people. He received episcopal consecration at the hands of
Pope Julius I on 15
December same year. According to testimony of St. Ambrose (Ep. lxiii, Ad Vercellenses)
he was first bishop of the West who united monastic with clerical life.
He led with the clergy of his city a common life modelled upon that
of the Eastern cenobites (St. Ambrose, Ep. lxxxi and Serm. lxxxix). For
this reason the Canons Regular of St. Augustine honour him along with
St. Augustine as their founder (Proprium Canon. Reg., 16 December)} as
bishop of Milan in 465 (Benedictines). |
5th v. St. Hydroc patron saint of Lanhydroc Cornwall 5th century.
The patron saint of Lanhydroc Cornwall, England. |
550 St.
Theodore of Bologna Bishop aided the people of his see
and served as patron of local abbeys. Bonóniæ sancti Theodóri Epíscopi, méritis clari. At Bologna, St. Theodore, a bishop who was eminent for merits. Bologna, Italy, from about 530. He aided people of his see and served as patron of local abbeys. |
560 St. Sacerdos Bishop
of Saguntum Sagunto noted for his holiness and fervor Spain. Eódem die sancti Sacerdótis, Epíscopi Saguntíni. On the same day, St. Sacerdos, bishop of Saguntum. A much revered Spaniard, he was noted for his holiness and fervor. |
7th
v. Diuma B (AC) Scottish priest bishop His monastery Saint Peter's
grew into Peterborough 7th century. Saint Diuma, a Scottish priest, was sent with Saint Cedd(664) to convert Mercia and became its first bishop. His monastery, Saint Peter's, grew into the modern town of Peterborough (Benedictines, Montague). |
701 St. Maurontus
Benedictine abbot founder also called Mauront.
From Lives of Saintes by Alban Butler
He was born in the year 634, and was baptized by St. Riquier.
Being the eldest son of blessed Adalbald, an illustrious French nobleman of
royal blood, and of St. Rictrudes, of a most noble family in Gascony or Aquitaine,
his high birth promised him the first honors of the kingdom, and his capacity
and integrity made him superior to the greatest affairs. He passed
his youth in the court of king Clovis II and the holy queen Bathildes, and
discharged in it many honorable employs. On the death of his father
he became lord or duke of Douay, and succeeded to his other large estates,
came home into Flanders to settle his concerns and to marry a rich young lady,
a treaty having been already concluded for this purpose.ST. MAURONT, ABBOT But God designed him for a state of greater perfection; and his instrument for bringing this about was St. Amand, bishop of Maastricht, who then led a retired life in his monastery of Elnone. Mauront was so touched by a discourse of this holy prelate on the vanity and dangers of the world that he went directly to the monastery of Marchioness, founded by his mother. There he soon received the clerical tonsure from St. Amand, and after some years was made deacon and prior of Hemaye, or Hamaige, half a league from Marchioness, on the Scarp. He built himself a new monastery called Breuil, on his estate of Merville, a considerable town near St Venant, in the diocese of Terouanne, and when it was finished, was chosen the first abbot. His father Adalbald had two brother Sigcfrid, count of Ponthieu, and Archibald Mayor of the Palace to Clovis II., son to Dagobert, to whom they were related. After the death of Adalbald, whom the poet who celebrated St. Rictrudes, styles duke of the people of Douay, his brother Archibald rebuilt the castle of Douay, (which gave rise to the town,) and founded the church of our Lady, now called St. Amatus's. St. Amatus, on being banished by King Theodoric III., was committed to the care of Mauront, who profited exceedingly by the saintly conversations of that holy confessor; whom he so much respected that he resigned to him his abbacy and lived under his obedience, but was obliged to resume his charge upon the death of that holy bishop, in 690. He was also abbot of the monks at Marchioness, while his sister Clotsenda was abbess of the separate house of nuns, this being at that time a double monastery. St. Mauront died there in the seventy-second year of his age, of Christ 706, on the 5th of May, on which day he is commemorated in the Belgic Martyrologies. Merville, the ancient Minariacum of Antoninus, having been plundered by the Danes or Normans’, towards the end of the ninth century, Charles the Simple, king of France, transferred the community of monks from Breuel to our Lady's church at Dotty, which had been founded by Archibald, St. Mauront's uncle. At the same time the body of St. Mauront, with that of St. Amatus, was translated from Breuil to Douay, and both are there enshrined in the church of St. Amatus, which since the secularization of the monastery in 940, is a collegiate church of canons. In its archives, and in the ancient calendars of the cathedral of Arras, St. Martin's at Tournay, Liesse &c, St. Mauront, is styled sometimes Levite or deacon, and sometimes abbot: by which he seems never to have been ordained priest. His body is kept in a rich shrine in this church, in which is a chapel sacred to his name and his parents, where his statue is seen betwixt those of his parents. He is represented holding in his right hand a scepter, and in his left a building with a tower or belfry. The abbey of St. Guislain possesses his skull in a shrine of silver gilt. The cathedral of Arras, and some churches, show particles of his relics. On his life consult Hubald the monk, in his life of St. Rictrudes, the archives of the church of St . Amatus in Douay, copied by Buzelin in his acurate Gallo-Flandria, and Annales FIandrici, and by Henschenius, t. 2, Maji, p. 53. See also Miraeus, Malbraneq, Locrius, Gramnaye, Sylvius Badricus, Le Comte, an. 638 n. 97; Molanus, &c. 701 ST MAURUNTIUS, ABBOT The account
of St Mauruntius in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol.
ii, is almost entirely derived from the biography of St Rictrudis,
concerning whom see later under May 12.
The
eldest son of St. Adalbald and
St. Rictrudis of Flanders, he served King Clovis II of the
Franks. He entered Marchiennes Monastery at the urging of St. Amandus of Maestricht and founded
the abbey of Breuil on his personal estate near Therouanne. His sister
was an abbess at Marchiennes . |
767
St. Echa Anglo-Saxon priest monk-hermit link to early Desert Fathers
of Egypt also called Etha. He was a Benedictine who lived at Crayk, near York, England. Hermits such as Echa served as a link to the early Desert Fathers of Egypt. Echa of Crayk, OSB Hermit (AC) (also known as Etha) Echa was an Anglo-Saxon priest and monk-hermit at Crayk, near York, England (Benedictines). |
1180 St. Aventinus
Hermit consecrated himself to the service of the poor and strangers
companion of St. Thomas Becket A hermit in Tours, France, he was ordained a deacon by St. Thomas and accompanied him to the Synod of Tours in 1163. When Thomas was martyred in 1170 Aventinus went to Touraine, France, remaining there until his death. Avertinus, Deacon (AC) Died 1189. The deacon Avertinus accompanied Saint Thomas Becket into his exile in France. After Thomas was killed in his cathedral, Avertinus consecrated himself to the service of the poor and strangers at Vinzai, a village in Touraine. He is included in the new martyrology of Evreux and that of Tours (Husenbeth). From the Lives of Saintes By Alban Butler
He was a holy deacon, who attended St. Thomas of Canterbury
in his exile, and in all his troubles. After the martyrdom of
that prelate, Avertin consecrated himself to the service of the poor and
strangers at Vinzai, a village in Touraine, where he happily ended his course
about 1189. See the new Martyrology of Evreux, that of Tours,
&.c., on the 5th of May.ST. AVERTIN, C. |
1220 St. Angelo martyred
early Carmelite Jews of Jerusalem parents converted to Christianity
by vision of our Lady; converted many sinners by teaching/miracles
Our Lord appeared to him to offer the sacrifice of his life he did
so in Sicily
Leocátæ, in Sicília, sancti Angeli, ex Ordine Carmelitárum, Presbyteri et Mártyris, qui ab hæréticis, ob defensiónem cathólicæ fídei, trucidátus est. At Leocata in Sicily, St. Angelus, priest of the Order of Carmelites, who was murdered by the heretics because of his defence of the Catholic faith. From the lives of Saintes by Alban Butler
HE was of Jewish parents, and a native of Jerusalem.
Being converted to the faith, he embraced the austere life of certain anchorets
on the banks of the Jordan from whom he passed to the hermits of the desert
on Mount Carmel.ST ANGELUS, CARMELITE FRIAR, M. He seems to have been one among them at the time when the blessed Albert drew up a rule for them in 1206; at least he became one of the first friars of that holy order. Coming to preach in the West, he was massacred by the heretics at Licata or Leocata, in Sicily, in 1225, by the contrivance of a powerful rich man whose incest with a sister he had severally reproved, and had converted her from that scandalous life. The annals of the order furnish the most material circumstances of his glorious death, and of the great veneration which is paid to him in Sicily, especially at Leocata and at Palermo. See also on St. Angelus, the new Bibliotheca Carmelitana, printed at Orleans. In 1752, t.1 p. 113 1220 ST ANGELO, MARTYR St ANGELO, who was one of the early members of the Carmelite Order, suffered martyrdom for the faith at Leocata, in Sicily. The story of his life, as it has come down to us, is not very reliable. It may be summarized as follows: The parents of St Angelo were Jews of Jerusalem who were converted to Christianity by a vision of our Lady. She told them that the Messias they were awaiting had already come and had redeemed His people, and she promised them two sons, who would grow up as flourishing olive-trees on the heights of Carmel—the one as a patriarch and the other as a glorious martyr. From childhood the twins displayed great mental and spiritual gifts. When, at the age of eighteen, they entered the Carmelite Order, they already spoke Greek, Latin and Hebrew. After Angelo had been a hermit on Mount Carmel for five years, our Lord appeared to him and bade him go to Sicily, where he would have the grace to offer the sacrifice of his life. The saint immediately obeyed the call. During his journey from the East, as well as after his arrival in Sicily, he converted many sinners by his teaching, no less than by his miracles. At Palermo over 200 Jews sought baptism as the result of his eloquence. Similar success attended his efforts in Leocata, but he amused the fury of a man called Berengarius, whose shameless wickedness he had denounced. As he was preaching to a crowd, a band of ruffians headed by Berengarius broke through the throng and stabbed him. Mortally wounded, Angelo fell on his knees, praying for the people, but especially for his murderer. St Angelo
is commemorated as a martyr in the Roman Martyrology on this day. The legend
is printed from Carmelite sources in the Acta Sanctorum—May, vol. ii. See also the Analecta
Bollandiana, vol. xvii (1898), p. 315, and DHG., vol. iii, cc,
6—9.
St. Angelo, who was one of the early members of the Carmelite Order, suffered martyrdom for the Faith at Leocata, Sicily. The story of his life, as it has come down, is not very reliable. It may be summarized as follows: His parents were Jews of Jerusalem who were converted to Christianity by a vision of our Lady. She told them that the Messiah they were awaiting had already come to pass and had redeemed His people, and she promised them two sons, who would grow up as flourishing olive trees on the heights of Carmel-the one as a patriarch and the other as a glorious martyr. From childhood the twins displayed great mental and spiritual gifts when, at the age of eighteen, they entered the Carmelite Order, they already spoke Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. After Angelo had been a hermit on Mount Carmel for five years, Our Lord appeared to him and bade him go to Sicily, where he would have the grace to offer the sacrifice of his life. The saint immediately obeyed the call. During his journey from the East as well as after his arrival in Sicily, he converted many sinners by his teaching, no less than by his miracles. At Palermo over two hundred Jews sought Baptism as the result of his eloquence. Similar success attended his efforts in Leocata, but he aroused the fury of a man called Berengarius, whose shameless wickedness he had denounced. As he was preaching to a crowd, a band of ruffians headed by Berengarius broke through the throng and stabbed him. Mortally wounded, Angelo fell on his knees, praying for the people, but especially for his murderer. Angelus of Jerusalem, OC M (RM)
also known as Angelo Born in Jerusalem in 1145; died in Sicily,
1220. Saint Angelus, born of Jewish parents, was one of the early
friar-hermits of Mount Carmel. He was commissioned to obtain the approval
of Pope Honorius III for the rule written by Saint Albert in 1206 for
the use of the new friars. Angelus travelled to Rome and shortly thereafter
went to Sicily (Palermo and Messina) to preach.
According to one version of the legend, he was killed in Licate or Leocata, Sicily, by Count Berenger whose incest with his sister he had denounced. He had converted the count's sister from this scandalous life and thereafter was hanged and shot with arrows. Many miracles were worked at Angelus's intercession after his death, especially in Leocata and Palermo (Benedictines, Husenbeth, Tabor). Saint Angelus is depicted in art as a Carmelite with a knife in his head. He may also be shown (1) with a sword in his breast, holding a book, palm (symbol of martyrdom), and three crowns; (2) as an angel brings him three crowns; (3) with lilies and roses falling from his mouth as symbols of his eloquence; or (4) tied to a tree and shot with arrows (Roeder, Tabor). He is venerated in Leocata, Sicily (Roeder). |
1260 St. Jutta Widowed
noblewoman of Thuringia: Jutta received wonderful graces, for besides being
favoured with many visions and revelations, she was given an infused understanding
of the Holy Scriptures. She once said that three things could bring one very
near to God— painful illness, exile from home in a remote corner of a foreign
land, and poverty voluntarily assumed for God’s sake 1260 ST JUTTA, Widow AMONGST the numerous women who were inspired by the example of St Elizabeth of Hungary, one of the most remarkable was St Jutta, or Judith, patroness of Prussia. Like her great exemplar she
was a native of Thuringia, having been born at Sangerhausen,
to the south-west of Eisleben. Married at the age of fifteen to a man
of noble rank, she proved an admirable wife, besides being a great benefactress
to the poor. Once, in a vision, our Lord
had said to her, “Follow me”; and she strove not only to obey Him
herself, but to lead her household to do the same. In the early days
of her married life, her husband had remonstrated with her for the
simplicity of her dress, but she gradually won him over to her own point
of view. He was actually on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land when he died—to
the great grief of his widow, who was left to bring up her children alone. As they grew up, one after
another entered religious orders, and Jutta was left free to follow
the call which she had long cherished in her heart. She gave everything
she possessed to the poor, and then, clad in a miserable dress, she
begged bread for herself and the poor from those who had been her
dependents. Though some scoffed, others treated her with reverence,
knowing what she had given up, and she resolved to go forth among strangers
in order that she might be despised by all. As she wandered on, walking
barefoot in summer and winter, she relieved on the road many tramps
by dressing their wounds and feeding them with food supplied to her
in charity. At last she made her way into Prussia, the land of the
Teutonic Knights, whose grand-master, Hanno of Sangerhausen, was a
relation of her own. There she settled as a solitary in a ruinous building
on the shore of a sheet of water called the Bielcza, half a mile or so
from Kulmsee. The very full
account of this recluse printed in the Acta Sanctorum
is a translation of a Polish life by Father Szembek. This
claims to have been based upon a mass of materials collected for the
process of canonization, but the originals unfortunately could not
be traced by the Bollandists at the date at which they wrote. See also
the Mittheilungen des Vereins f. Gesch., etc., v.
Sangerhausen, vol. i (1881), pp. 82 seq.; P. Funk, in Festschrift für
W. Goetz (1927), pp. 81--44; and a sketch by H. Westpfahl,
Jutta von Sangerhausen (1938).
Germany, noted for visions and miracles. She married at fifteen and raised children. When her husband died on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Jutta moved to Prussia, becoming a recluse at Kulmsee. She is the patroness of Prussia, in eastern Germany. Jutta of Kulmsee, Widow (AC) Born at Sangerhausen, Thuringia; died at Kulmsee, Prussia, in 1250 or 1260. The written life of this young noblewoman, bears a curious resemblance to that of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, who was almost her contemporary. Jutta, too, was happily married with a family of children and she was prostrated by the loss of her husband, who died on a pilgrimage or crusade to the Holy Land. Thereafter, she provided for her children, divested herself of her property, and passed her few remaining years in religious retirement and care for the poor. In Jutta's case this was in the territory of the Teutonic Knights, whose grand-master was a relative of hers. After her death at her hermitage near Kulmsee a strong local cultus of her grew up in Prussia, where she is venerated as patroness (Attwater, Benedictines). |
1426 The holy New Martyr
wonderworker Ephraim priest 27 years imitated life of the great Fathers/ascetics
of the desert; Turkes tortued him to death but after 500 years he
is quick to answer the prayers of those who call upon him Ephraim
was born in Greece on September 14, 1384. His father died when the
saint was young, his pious mother left to care for 7 children by herself. When Ephraim reached the age of fourteen, the all-good God directed his steps to a monastery on the mountain of Amoman near Nea Makri in Attica. The monastery was dedicated to the Annunciation and also to St Paraskeva. Here he took on his shoulders the Cross of Christ, which all His followers must bear (Matt. 16:24). Being enflamed with love for God, St Ephraim eagerly placed himself under the monastic discipline. For nearly twenty-seven years he imitated the life of the great Fathers and ascetics of the desert. With divine zeal, he followed Christ and turned away from the attractions of this world. By the grace of God, he purified himself from soul-destroying passions and became an abode of the All-Holy Spirit. He was also found worthy to receive the grace of the priesthood, and served at the altar with great reverence and compunction. On September 14, 1425,
the barbarous Turks launched an invasion by sea, destroying the monastery
and and looting the surrounding area. St Ephraim was one of the victims
of their frenzied hatred. Many of the monks had been tortured and
beheaded, but St Ephraim remained calm. This infuriated the Turks,
so they imprisoned him in order to torture him and force him to deny
Christ.6
They locked him in a small cell without food or water, and they beat him every day, hoping to convince him to become a Moslem. For several months, he endured horrible torments. When the Turks realized that the saint remained faithful to Christ, they decided to put him to death. On Tuesday May 5, 1426, they led him from his cell. They turned him upside down and tied him to a mulberry tree, then they beat him and mocked him. "Where is your God," they asked, "and why doesn't he help you?" The saint did not lose courage, but prayed, "O God, do not listen to the
words of these men, but may Thy will be done as Thou hast ordained."
The barbarians pulled the saint's
beard and tortured him until his strength ebbed. His blood flowed,
and his clothes were in tatters. His body was almost naked and covered
with many wounds. Still the Hagarenes were not satisfied, but wished
to torture him even more. One of them took a flaming stick and plunged
it violently into the saint's navel. His screams were heart-rending,
so great was his pain. The blood flowed from his stomach, but the Turks
did not stop. They repeated the same painful torments many times. His
body writhed, and all his limbs were convulsed. Soon, the saint grew
too weak to speak, so he prayed silently asking God to forgive his sins.
Blood and saliva ran from his mouth, and the ground was soaked with his
blood. Then he lapsed into unconsciousness.
Thinking that he had died, the Turks cut the ropes which bound him to the tree, and the saint's body fell to the ground. Their rage was still not diminished, so they continued to kick and beat him. After a while, the saint opened his eyes and prayed, "Lord, I give up my spirit to Thee." About nine o'clock in the morning, the martyr's soul was separated from his body. T hese things remained forgotten for nearly 500 years, hidden in the depths of silence and oblivion until January 3, 1950. By then a women's monastery had sprung up on the site of the old monastery. Abbess Makaria (+ April 23, 1999) was wandering through the ruins of the monastery, thinking of the martyrs whose bones had been scattered over that ground, and whose blood had watered the tree of Orthodoxy. She realized that this
was a holy place, and she prayed that God would permit her to behold
one of the Fathers who had lived there. After some time,
she seemed to sense an inner voice telling her to dig in a certain
spot. She indicated the place to a workman whom she had hired to make
repairs at the old monastery. The man was unwilling to dig there,
for he wanted to dig somewhere else. Because the man was so insistent,
Mother Makaria let him go where he wished. She prayed that the man
would not be able to dig there, and so he struck rock. Although he tried
to dig in three or four places, he met with the same results. Finally,
he agreed to dig where the abbess had first indicated.
In the ruins of an old cell, he cleared away the rubble and began to dig in an angry manner. The abbess told him to slow down, for she did not want him to damage the body that she expected to find there. He mocked her because she expected to find the relics of a saint. When he reached the depth of six feet, however, he unearthed the head of the man of God. At that moment an ineffable fragrance filled the air. The workman turned pale and was unable to speak. Mother Makaria told him to go and leave her there by herself. She knelt and reverently kissed the body. As she cleared away more earth, she saw the sleeves of the saint's rasson. The cloth was thick appeared to have been woven on the loom of an earlier time. She uncovered the rest of the body and began to remove the bones, which appeared to be those of a martyr. Mother Makaria was still in
that holy place when evening fell, so she read the service of Vespers. Suddenly
she heard footsteps coming from the grave, moving across the courtyard
toward the door of the church. The footsteps were strong and steady,
like those of a man of strong character. The nun was afraid to turn
around and look, but then she heard a voice say, "How long are you going
to leave me here?"
She saw a tall monk with small, round eyes, whose beard reached his chest. In his left hand was a bright light, and he gave a blessing with his right hand. Mother Makaria was filled with joy and her fear disappeared. "Forgive me," she said, "I will take care of you tomorrow as soon as God makes the day dawn." The saint disappeared, and the abbess continued to read Vespers. In the morning after Matins, Mother Makaria cleaned the bones and placed them in a niche in the altar area of the church, lighting a candle before them. That night St Ephraim appeared to her in a dream. He thanked her for caring for his relics, then he said, "My name is St Ephraim." From his own lips, she heard the story of his life and martyrdom. Since St Ephraim glorified God in his life and by his death, the Lord granted him the grace of working miracles. Those who venerate his holy relics with faith and love have been healed of all kinds of illnesses and infirmities, and he is quick to answer the prayers of those who call upon him. |
1442 Saint James
of Zhelezny Bor. Today we celebrate the Uncovering of the Relics
of the Kostroma Wonderworker See his Life under
April
11, the day of his repose. |
1535 Bl. John Haile elderly martyred secular priest Martyr of England, a companion in death of St. John Houghton at Tyburn. He was an elderly secular priest, the vicar of Isleworth, Middlesex, when he was arrested by King Henry VIII’s men. John was executed at Tyburn. He was beatified in 1886. |
1572 ST PIUS V. POPE Sancti Pii Quinti, ex Ordine Prædicatórum, Papæ et Confessóris, qui Kaléndis mensis hujus obdormívit in Dómino.Pope St. Pius V, confessor of the Order of Preachers, who went to sleep in the Lord on the 1st of May.From the Lives of Saintes by Alban Butler
The two original most authentic lives of St. Pius V. are that
written by Jerom Catena, secretary of the Cardinal of Alexandria and consulter
to several congregations in Rome, in Italian, highly approved by Sextus V.,
the other in Latin, by Ant. Gabutio, superior of the Regular Clerks of St.
Paul, much commended by Clement VIII. The titles of these two works
are, Hieron. Catena Vita del glorississimo Papa Pio V. and Raccolta di Littere
di Papa pio V Gabantli de Vita Pii V. libri 6. Bzoviius in his annals
on Pius V. adds to this latter several particulars. See his Pius V.
also Archangelo Caraccio, Brevis Narratio Gestorum Pii v. Minnerelli. Ord.
Praealic. Vita S. Pi V. Romae. 1712. Apostolicarum Pii Quinti
Epistolarum Libri 5. Opera Fr. Gauban. Ant. 1619. Paul. Alex. Maffei,
Vita di Pio V. Geniller, vie du Papa Pie V. Galesini Translatio
Corporis Pi. V. n Sixto V. celegrata. Agatio di Somma, whose Italian
life of this saint was translated into French by Dom. Gelibien in 1672.
Tonron, b. 28, t.4 p. 306 and the remarks of Henschenius, ad 5 Maij. T.
1. P. 617MAY V. ST. PIUS V., POPE, C. 1572. MICHAEL GHISLERI, known afterwards by the name of Pius V., was born at Bosco, a little town in the diocese of Tortona on the 27th of January, 1504. He was descended of a noble Bolognese family, but considerably reduced in its splendor and fortunes. In his tender years the most perfect maxims of piety were instilled into him, and he never swerved in the least from those principles during the whole course of his life. He studied grammar under the care of the Dominican friars at Voghera and giving himself up entirely to the most fervent exercises of religion, took the habit of that order when he was only fifteen years of age. He was sensible that faint and languishing endeavors never deserve to find the inestimable treasure of true virtue, which they undervalue, they are sore to lose ground, and at length to yield under the repeated assaults of the enemy: whereas fervor breaks down all obstacles in the pursuit of perfection, as so many shadows, and courageously marches on, reckoning all labors the sweetest pleasures, and esteeming as nothing whatever leads not to this great end. It was the young novice's holy ambition to surpass all others in humility, modesty, and the exercises of mortification, obedience, and devotion. In everything he did, he, set no bounds to the ardor of his desires to please God, and accomplish his holy will in the most perfect manner. Thus all his actions were perfect sacrifices of his heart, and the meanest were enhanced by the fervor of his intention. To his studies he joined assiduous prayer, watching, fasting and the exercises of penance and charity. After the uninterrupted fatigue of the day, it was his sweet refreshment to poor forth his soul in tears and devout prayer or meditation, for several hours before the altar, or in his cell. Having prepared himself by a long and fervent retreat, he was ordained priest, at Genoa, in 1528. He taught philosophy and divinity sixteen years, and was long employed in instructing the novices, and in forming them to piety, and in governing different houses of his order: in all which offices he labored effectually to revive the spirit of its holy founder. He never accepted of any priory but by compulsion, and with tears. Nor would he ever allow to absent himself from the choir, or to go out of the convent without some urgent immediately. Constant devotion and study he called the double breast from which religious persons draw a spiritual nourishment, which maintains in them the love of God and contempt of the world. Though he went often to Milan to hear the confession of the marquis of Guast, governor of the Milanese, he could never be persuaded to buy a cloak to defend him from the rain, saying: "Poor followers of the gospel ought to be content with one tunic." His journey he performed on foot, in recollection and strict silence, unless he opened his mouth to speak to his companion something on God. Pope Paul IV. in 1556, promoted him to the united bishoprics of Nepi and Sutri, in the ecclesiastical state, notwithstanding the tears he shed in endeavoring most earnestly to decline that dignity. Under his care these dioceses soon assumed a new face. In 1557, he was created cardinal by the same pope, under the title of St. Mary upon the Minerva, though generally known by that of the Alexandrian cardinal, from Alexandria, a city in Lombardy, a few miles distant from the place of his birth. His dignities served to render his humility and other virtues more conspicuous, but produced no alteration in his furniture, table, fasts, or devotions, he was most scrupulously cautious in the choice of his few necessary domestics, admitting none but persons of most exemplary piety, and he treated them as his children rather than as his servants. Pope Paul IV dying in 1559 he was succeeded by Pius IV., of the family of Medici’s, who translated our good cardinal to the bishopric of Mondovi, in Piedmont, a church reduced by the wars to a deplorable and calamitous condition. The saint hastened to his new flock; and by his zealous exhortations and other endeavors, re-established peace and union, reformed abuses, and restored the splendor of that church. But an order of his holiness recalled him to Rome for the dispatch of certain public affairs of the church. When Pius IV proposed to the Sacred College the promotion of prince Ferdinand of Medici’s, only thirteen years old, to the dignity of cardinal, our saint opposed the motion with such vigor, that he made himself admired by the whole consistory for his zeal and prudence. The emperor Maximilian II wrote to pope Pius IV to desire that priests might be allowed to marry, as a means that might facilitate the return of the modern secretaries to the communion of the church. The whole Sacred College saw the inconveniences of such an abolition of the most holy and ancient canons; but none spoke more vigorously against it than our saint. Though charity will allow all condescension that is possible, here it seemed very unreasonable, on many accounts, to abandon so sacred a spiritual law; and this in favor of men who had shown no disposition towards a reconciliation with the Catholic church, except she would give up many other points, not only of discipline, but also of her faith and doctrine. Pope Pius IV., after a tedious illness, expired in the arms of St. Charles Borromeo, on the 9th of December, 1565, having filled the chair almost six years. St. Charles, when he saw that the pious cardinal Sirlet, who was first proposed, could not be chosen, united the suffrages of the conclave in favor of our saint, testifying an entire confidence in his virtue. All others applauded the choice, except the pope elect; who, having in vain opposed it by tears and entreaties, at length, for fear of resisting the call of God gave his consent, on the 7th of January, 1566, and took the name of Pius. The largesses usually bestowed by the popes, at their coronation, on the people of Rome, he converted into alms, to avoid the disorders of intemperance, &c., to which they are liable. He accordingly directed the sums usually expended on such occasions, to be distributed among the poor in the hospitals and elsewhere. He, in like manner, sent to the poorer convents in the city the thousand crowns usually employed in nn entertainment for the cardinals, ambassadors, and lords who assisted at the ceremony. His first care was to regulate his family in such a manner, that it might be a model of virtue, and he induced the cardinals to do the like in their respective houses. He forbade the public exhibition of the sights of wild beasts, savoring too much of inhumanity; and published very severe regulations against excesses in taverns, and against detraction committed in public assemblies, and reestablished a strict observance and execution of the laws. By rigorous edicts, he banished numbers of lewd women under pain of corporal punishment, if found afterwards within the city; others he conned to an obscure part of Rome, under the same penalty- if they were seen elsewhere. He said mass every day, (and usually with tears,) unless hindered by sickness; he undo daily two meditations on his knees before a crucifix, and called prayer the comfort and support of a pastor amidst the hurry of affairs. His tenderness for the poor and his charities are not to be expressed but nothing appeared more admirable in him than his sincere and profound humility. An English Protestant, gentleman was converted, by seeing the condescension and the affection with which he kissed the ulcers of the feet of a certain poor man. His rigorous fasts and abstemiousness he would scarce ever mitigate, even on account of sickness. He published the catechism, and the decrees of the council of Trent, which he labored strenuously to carry into immediate execution and made many other useful regulations, extending His solicitude to every part of Christendom, particularly the eastern missions. He generously assisted the knights of Malta, while they were besieged by the most formidable armies of the Turks, and by his liberalities enabled them to repair their breaches after their victories, and to build the new impregnable city of Valette, in 1566* The rebellion raised in France under Charles IX obliged him to exert his vigilance in protecting the city and territory of Mignon against the stratagems of Coligny. He purged the ecclesiastical state of assassins and robbers, but rejected the perfidious proposal of one who offered to invite the chief captain of the robbers to dinner and then to deliver him up. His severity, which was necessary for the public tranquility, did not make him forget that mercy, wherever it can be allowed to take place, is to be the favorite inclination of a disciple of Christ. A certain Spaniard had composed a bitter and seditious pasquinade, filled with notorious slanders against his holiness, for which the magistrate had confiscated his estate, and condemned him to death: but the pope granted him a free pardon, with this mild request, that when he should see him fall into any fault, he would admonish him of it. By a Bull dated the 1st of October, 1567, he condemned several erroneous propositions ascribed to Michael Baius of Louvain, some of which that doctor denied to have been advanced by him, others he with great humility retracted. To recompense the zeal of Cosmus of Medici’s, duke of Florence, he granted him by a bull the title of grand duke, and crowned him as such at Rome in 1569, though the emperor refused for some time to acknowledge that new title. By a great number of wise regulations he endeavored to extirpate various scandals and abuses: in a brief, by which he strongly enforces the canons relating to the respect due to holy places, among other things, he forbids any either to give or ask an alms in churches, but only at the doors; which is commanded by several councils, to prevent an occasion of distractions and an abuse contrary to the silence and respect due to the house of prayer. Certain privileges granted to particular confraternities, seem to have given occasion in some places to too great a neglect of those wholesome and necessary canons. Notwithstanding his attention to the public affairs, the good pope did not forgot that the exercises of an interior life are the means by which our souls must maintain and improve the spirit of holy charity, and by it sanctify our exterior actions. Prayer and holy meditation were his delight; for he well knew that the fire of charity will soon be extinguished in the heart unless it is continually nourished by new fuel. St. Pius joined to prayer assiduous mortification, and large alms. He often visited the hospitals, washed the feet of the poor, kissed their ulcers, comforted them in their sufferings, and disposed them for a Christian death. He gave twenty thousand crowns of gold to the hospital of the Holy Ghost, and great and frequent charities to other hospitals; he founded a distribution of dowries for the marriage of poor women, and made many most useful pious foundations to perpetuate the honor of God and the salvation of souls, particularly for the instruction at youth in the Christian doctrine, which he earnestly recommended to all pastors by an express bull, in 1571. In the time of a great famine in Rome, he imported corn at his own expense from Sicily and France, to the value of above one hundred thousand gold crowns; a considerable part of which he distributed among the poor, gratis, and sold the rest to the public much under prime cost. Frugal in all things that regarded himself, he was enabled by his good economy to make many useful foundations for promoting virtue and religion, and to relieve the distressed by incredible general alms-deeds and public benefactions, exclusively of the large daily demands which particular charities made upon him. He was a great encourager of learning and learned men; and to him the schools are indebted for the most accurate edition of the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, which appeared in 1570. He wrote to Queen Mary Stuart, in 1570, to comfort her during her long imprisonment suffered for religion. Selimnus II., emperor of the Turks, pursuing the ambitious and boundless designs of his father Selyman, proposed nothing less to himself than to overrun all Christendom with his armies, and to add all the western kingdoms to his empire. Though he was himself an effeminate tyrant, enervated by drunkenness and debaucheries, he was long successful in his wars, by the conduct of veteran soldiers and experienced generals who had been trained up by his warlike father. Flushed with victories and elated with pride, when Italy was afflicted with a famine, and the great arsenal of Venice had been lately almost entirely destroyed by a dreadful fire, he haughtily demanded of that republic the peaceable surrender of the isle of Cyprus, by way of satisfaction for pretended injuries; though in reality for the sake of its excellent wine, with which liquor he was extremely besotted, though forbidden by the Koran, threatening that in case of refusal he would force it from them. Having all things in readiness beforehand, the infidels immediately invaded the island, took Nicosia by storm, in 1570, after a siege of forty-eight days, and in 1571, Famagusta by capitulation, alter having battered that city with above 1,500,000 cannon shot, during a siege of seventy-five days. Notwithstanding the articles of an honorable capitulation had been ratified by the most solemn oaths, the Bashaw Mustapha, by an unheard of treacherous perfidy, put to most cruel deaths all the brave Venetian officers of the palace; and caused the valiant Venetian governor Brigadin alter cutting off his ears and nose, with a thousand insults, blasphemies, and torments continued or repeated for many days, to be flayed alive in the market-place: all which he suffered with admirable patience, and in great sentiments of piety, expiring when his skin was torn off to his waist. Alarmed at the danger which threatened all Christendom, St. Pius entered into a league with Philip II., king of Spain, and the Venetians, in order to check the progress of the Mahometans; the other Christian princes excusing themselves from acceding to it, on account of domestic broils. This alliance was ratified in May, 1571; and to avoid occasions of dissension among the princes that were engaged, the pope was declared chief of the league and expedition, who appointed Mark Antony Colonna general of his galleys, and Don John of Austria generalissimo of all the forces. The army consisted of twenty thousand good soldiers, besides seamen; and the fleet of one hundred and one great galleys, some tall ships, and a considerable number of galliots and small vessels. The pope, together with his apostolic benediction, sent to the general a prediction of certain victory, with an order to disband all soldiers who seemed to go only for the sake of plunder, and all scandalous and riotous persons, whose crimes might draw down the divine indignation upon their arms. The Christians sailed directly from Corfu, and found the Turkish flees at anchor in the harbor of Lepanto. As soon as the Turks saw the Christian fleet so near, they reinforced their troops from the land, and sailed out in order of battle. Don John kept the centre, and had for seconds Colonna and the Venetian general Venieri Andrew Doria commanded the right wing and Austin Barbarigo the left. Peter Justiniani, who commanded the galleys of Malta, and Paul Jourdain, were posted at the extremities of this line. The marquis of Sainte Croix had a body of reserve of sixty vessels ready to sustain or relieve any part in danger of being overpowered. John of Cordova, with a squadron of eight vessels, scoured before, to spy and give intelligence; and six Venetian galeasses formed an Avant-guard to the fleet. A little after sunrise the Turkish fleet,, consisting of three hundred and thirty sail of all sort appeared in sight, almost in the same order of battle, only, according to their custom, in form of a crescent. They had no squadron of reserve, and therefore their line being much wider, they far out fronted the Christians, which is a great advantage in battle. Hali was in the Centre, facing Don John of Austria; Petauch was his second; Louchali and Siroch commanded the two wings, against Doria and Barbarigo. Don John gave the signal of battle, by hanging out the banner sent him from the pope, on which the image of Christ crucified was embroidered. The Christian generals harangued their soldiers in few words, then made a sign for prayers; at which the soldiers fell on their knees before a crucifix, and continued in that posture in fervent prayer till the fleets drew near to each other, when at a second signal the battle began. The Turks bore down with great rapidity on the Christians, being assisted by a brisk gale of wind, which promised them the greatest advantage possible, especially as they were superior in numbers, and in the extent of their front. But the wind which before was very strong, fell just as the light began, was succeeded by a calm, and this soon after by a high wind, entirely favorable to the Christians; which carried the smoke and fire of their artillery upon the enemy, almost blinded them, and at length quite bore them down. The battle was most obstinate and bloody, and the victory the most complete that ever was gained over the Ottoman Empire. After three hours' fight, with equal advantage, the left wing, commanded by Barbarigo, got the better, and sunk the galley which Siroch was in, who had fought to admiration. His loss so dispirited his squadron, that, being vigorously pressed by the Venetians, it gave way, and made towards the coast. Don John, seeing this advantage of his right wing, was animated with new courage, doubled his fire, and killed Hali the Turkish general, boarded his galley, pulled down his flag, and cried, Victory after which it was no longer a fight But a perfect slaughter in the center. The Turks suffering themselves to be killed without making any resistance. Louchali, indeed, by his numbers and wider front, kept Doria and the right wing at a distance, till the marquis of Sainte Croix coming up to join him. The Turk made all the sail he could, and escaped by flight, with thirty galleys, all the rest being either taken or sunk. This battle was fought on the 7th of October, 1571, and continued from about six in the morning till evening, when the approaching darkness and the roughness of the sea obliged the Christians to betake themselves to the next havens. The Turks, with their haughty emperor, were seized with the utmost consternation at the news of their dreadful overthrow and the city of Constantinople was as much alarmed as if the enemy had been at the gates many of the inhabitants carried their treasures to the Christians to keep for them, as if the town had been already in their hands. The infidels, who, elated by their rapid conquests in the East had already swallowed up, in their imagination, Italy, and all the rest of Christendom, were taught by this defeat that the tide of their victories was stemmed.MAY V. ST. PIUS V., POPE, C. The two original most authentic lives of St. Pius V. are that written by Jerom Catena, secretary of the Cardinal of Alexandria and consulter to several congregations in Rome, in Italian, highly approved by Sextus V., the other in Latin, by Ant. Gabutio, superior of the Regular Clerks of St. Paul, much commended by Clement VIII. The titles of these two works are, Hieron. Catena Vita del glorississimo Papa Pio V. and Raccolta di Littere di Papa pio V Gabantli de Vita Pii V. libri 6. Bzoviius in his annals on Pius V. adds to this latter several particulars. See his Pius V. also Archangelo Caraccio, Brevis Narratio Gestorum Pii v. Minnerelli. Ord. Praealic. Vita S. Pi V. Romae. 1712. Apostolicarum Pii Quinti Epistolarum Libri 5. Opera Fr. Gauban. Ant. 1619. Paul. Alex. Maffei, Vita di Pio V. Geniller, vie du Papa Pie V. Galesini Translatio Corporis Pi. V. n Sixto V. celegrata. Agatio di Somma, whose Italian life of this saint was translated into French by Dom. Gelibien in 1672. Tonron, b. 28, t.4 p. 306 and the remarks of Henschenius, ad 5 Maij. T. 1. P. 617 1572. MICHAEL GHISLERI, known afterwards by the name of Pius V., was born at Bosco, a little town in the diocese of Tortona on the 27th of January, 1504. He was descended of a noble Bolognese family, but considerably reduced in its splendor and fortunes. In his tender years the most perfect maxims of piety were instilled into him, and he never swerved in the least from those principles during the whole course of his life. He studied grammar under the care of the Dominican friars at Voghera and giving himself up entirely to the most fervent exercises of religion, took the habit of that order when he was only fifteen years of age. He was sensible that faint and languishing endeavors never deserve to find the inestimable treasure of true virtue, which they undervalue, they are sore to lose ground, and at length to yield under the repeated assaults of the enemy: whereas fervor breaks down all obstacles in the pursuit of perfection, as so many shadows, and courageously marches on, reckoning all labors the sweetest pleasures, and esteeming as nothing whatever leads not to this great end. It was the young novice's holy ambition to surpass all others in humility, modesty, and the exercises of mortification, obedience, and devotion. in everything he did, he, set no bounds to the ardor of his desires to please God, and accomplish his holy will in the most perfect manner. Thus all his actions were perfect sacrifices of his heart, and the meanest were enhanced by the fervor of his intention. To his studies he joined assiduous prayer, watching, fasting and the exercises of penance arid charity. After the uninterrupted fatigue of the day, it was his sweet refreshment to poor forth his soul in tears and devout prayer or meditation, for several hours before the altar, or in his cell. Having prepared himself by a long and fervent retreat, he was ordained priest, at Genoa, in 1528. He taught philosophy and divinity sixteen years, and was long employed in instructing the novices, and in forming them to piety, and in governing different houses of his order: in all which offices he labored effectually to revive the spirit of its holy founder. He never accepted of any priory but by compulsion, and with tears. No one would he ever allow to absent himself from the choir, or to go out of the convent without some urgent immediately. Constant devotion and study he called the double breast from which religious persons draw a spiritual nourishment, winch maintains in them the love of God and contempt of the world. Though he went often to Milan to hear the confession of the marquis of Guast, governor of the Milanese, he could never be persuaded to buy a cloak to defend him from the rain, saying: Poor followers of the gospel ought to be content with one tunic." His journey he performed on foot, in recollection and strict silence, unless he opened his mouth to speak to his companion something on God. Pope Paul IV. in 1556, promoted him to the united bishoprics of Nepi and Sutri, in the ecclesiastical state, notwithstanding the tears he shed in endeavoring most earnestly to decline that dignity. Under his care these dioceses soon assumed a new face. In 1557, he was created cardinal by the same pope, under the title of St. Mary upon the Minerva, though generally known by that of the Alexandrian cardinal, from Alexandria, a city in Lombardy, a few miles distant from the place of his birth. His dignities served to render his humility and other virtues more conspicuous, but produced no alteration in his furniture, table, fasts, or devotions, he was most scrupulously cautious in the choice of his few necessary domestics, admitting none but persons of most exemplary piety, and he treated them as his children rather than as his servants. Pope Paul IV dying in 1559 he was succeeded by Pius IV., of the family of Medici’s, who translated our good cardinal to the bishopric of Mondovi, in Piedmont, a church reduced by the wars to a deplorable and calamitous condition. The saint hastened to his new flock; and by his zealous exhortations and other endeavors, re-established peace and union, reformed abuses, and restored the splendor of that church. But an order of his holiness recalled him to Rome for the dispatch of certain public affairs of the church. When Pius IV proposed to the Sacred College the promotion of prince Ferdinand of Medici’s, only thirteen years old, to the dignity of cardinal, our saint opposed the motion with such vigor, that he made himself admired by the whole consistory for his zeal and prudence. The emperor Maximilian II wrote to pope Pius IV to desire that priests might be allowed to marry, as a means that might facilitate the return of the modern secretaries to the communion of the church. The whole Sacred College saw the inconveniences of such an abolition of the most holy and ancient canons; but none spoke more vigorously against it than our saint. Though charity will allow all condescension that is possible, here it seemed very unseasonable, on many accounts, to abandon so sacred a spiritual law; and this in favor of men who had shown no disposition towards a reconciliation with the Catholic church, except she would give up many other points, not only of discipline, but also of her faith and doctrine. Pope Pius IV., after a tedious illness, expired in the arms of St. Charles Borromeo, on the 9th of December, 1565, having filled the chair almost six years. St. Charles, when he saw that the pious cardinal Sirlet, who was first proposed, could not be chosen, united the suffrages of the conclave in favor of our saint, testifying an entire confidence in his virtue. All others applauded the choice, except the pope elect; who, having in vain opposed it by tears and entreaties, at length, for fear of resisting the call of God gave his consent, on the 7th of January, 1566, and took the name of Pius. The largesses usually bestowed by the popes, at their coronation, on the people of Rome, he converted into alms, to avoid the disorders of intemperance, &k., to which they are liable. He accordingly directed the sums usually expended on such occasions, to be distributed among the poor in the hospitals and elsewhere. He, in like manner, sent to the poorer convents in the city the thousand crowns usually employed in nn entertainment for the cardinals, ambassadors, and lords who assisted at the ceremony. His first care was to regulate his family in such a manner, that it might be a model of virtue, and he induced the cardinals to do the like in their respective houses. He forbade the public exhibition of the sights of wild beasts, savoring too much of inhumanity; and published very severe regulations against excesses in taverns, and against detraction committed in public assemblies, and reestablished a strict observance and execution of the laws. By rigorous edicts, he banished numbers of lewd women under pain of corporal punishment, if found afterwards within the city others he conned to an obscure part of Rome, under the same penalty- if they were seen elsewhere. He said mass every day, (and usually with tears,) unless hindered by sickness; he undo daily two meditations on his knees before a crucifix, and called prayer the comfort and support of a pastor amidst the hurry of affairs. His tenderness for the poor and his charities are not to be expressed but nothing appeared more admirable in him than his sincere and profound humility. An English Protestant, gentleman was converted, by seeing the condescension and the affection with which he kissed the ulcers of the feet of a certain poor man. His rigorous fasts and abstemiousness he would scarce ever mitigate, even on account of sickness. He published the catechism, and the decrees of the council of Trent, which he labored strenuously to carry into immediate execution and made many other useful regulations, extending His solicitude to every part of Christendom, particularly the eastern missions. He generously assisted the knights of Malta, while they were besieged by the most formidable armies of the Turks, and by his liberalities enabled them to repair their breaches after their victories, and to build the new impregnable city of Valette, in 1566* The rebellion raised in France under Charles IX obliged him to exert his vigilance in protecting the city and territory of Mignon against the stratagems of Coligny. He purged the ecclesiastical state of assassins and robbers, but rejected the perfidious proposal of one who offered to invite the chief captain of the robbers to dinner and then to deliver him up. His severity, which was necessary for the public tranquility, did not make him forget that mercy, wherever it can be allowed to take place, is to be the favorite inclination of a disciple of Christ. A certain Spaniard had composed a bitter and seditious pasquinade, filled with notorious slanders against his holiness, for which the magistrate had confiscated his estate, and condemned him to death: but the pope granted him a free pardon, with this mild request, that when he should see him fall into any fault, he would admonish him of it. By a Bull dated the 1st of October, 1567, he condemned several erroneous propositions ascribed to Michael Baius of Louvain, some of which that doctor denied to have been advanced by him, others he with great humility retracted. To recompense the zeal of Cosmus of Medici’s, duke of Florence, he granted him by a bull the title of grand duke, and crowned him as such at Rome in 1569, though the emperor refused for some time to acknowledge that new title. By a great number of wise regulations he endeavored to extirpate various scandals and abuses: in a brief, by which he strongly enforces the canons relating to the respect due to holy places, among other things, he forbids any either to give or ask an alms in churches, but only at the doors; which is commanded by several councils, to prevent an occasion of distractions and an abuse contrary to the silence and respect due to the house of prayer. Certain privileges granted to particular confraternities, seem to have given occasion in some places to too great a neglect of those wholesome and necessary canons. Notwithstanding his attention to the public affairs, the good pope did not forgot that the exercises of an interior life are the means by which our souls must maintain and improve the spirit of holy charity, and by it sanctify our exterior actions. Prayer and holy meditation were his delight; for he well knew that the fire of charity will soon be extinguished in the heart unless it is continually nourished by new fuel. St. Pius joined to prayer assiduous mortification, and large alms. He often visited the hospitals, washed the feet of the poor, kissed their ulcers, comforted them in their sufferings, and disposed them fur a Christian death. He gave twenty thousand crowns of gold to the hospital of the Holy Ghost, and great and frequent charities to other hospitals; he founded a distribution of dowries for the marriage of poor women, and made many most useful pious foundations to perpetuate the honor of God and the salvation of souls, particularly for the instruction at youth in the Christian doctrine, which he earnestly recommended to all pastors by an express bull, in 1571. In the time of a great famine in Rome, he imported corn at his own expense from Sicily and France, to the value of above one hundred thousand gold crowns; a considerable part of which he distributed among the poor, gratis, and sold the rest to the public much under prime cost. Frugal in all things that regarded himself, he was enabled by his good economy to make many useful foundations for promoting virtue and religion, and to relieve the distressed by incredible general alms-deeds and public benefactions, exclusively of the large daily demands which particular charities made upon him. He was a great encourager of learning and learned men; and to him the schools are indebted for the most accurate edition of the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, which appeared in 1570. He wrote to Queen Mary Stuart, in 1570, to comfort her during her long imprisonment suffered for religion. Selimnus II., emperor of the Turks, pursuing the ambitious and boundless designs of his father Selyman, proposed nothing less to himself than to overrun all Christendom with his armies, and to add all the western kingdoms to his empire. Though he was himself an effeminate tyrant, enervated by drunkenness and debaucheries, he was long successful in his wars, by the conduct of veteran soldiers and experienced generals who had been trained up by his warlike father. Flushed with victories and elated with pride, when Italy was afflicted with a famine, and the great arsenal of Venice had been lately almost entirely destroyed by a dreadful fire, he haughtily demanded of that republic the peaceable surrender of the isle of Cyprus, by way of satisfaction for pretended injuries; though in reality for the sake of its excellent wine, with which liquor he was extremely besotted, though forbidden by the Koran, threatening that in case of refusal he would force it from them. Having all things in readiness beforehand, the infidels immediately invaded the island, took Nicosia by storm, in 1570, after a siege of forty-eight days, and in 1571, Famagusta by capitulation, alter having battered that city with above 1,500,000 cannon shot, during a siege of seventy- five days. Notwithstanding the articles of an honorable capitulation had been ratified by the most solemn oaths, the Bashaw Mustapha, by an unheard of treacherous perfidy, put to most cruel deaths all the brave Venetian officers of the place; and caused the valiant Venetian governor Brigadin alter cutting off his ears and nose, with a thousand insults, blasphemies, and torments continued or repeated for many days, to be flayed alive in the market-place: all which he suffered with admirable patience, and in great sentiments of piety, expiring when his skin was torn off to his waist. Alarmed at the danger which threatened all Christendom, St. Pius entered into a league with Philip II., king of Spain, and the Venetians, in order to check the progress of the Mahometans; the other Christian princes excusing themselves from acceding to it, on account of domestic broils. This alliance was ratified in May, 1571; and to avoid occasions of dissension among the princes that were engaged, the pope was declared chief of the league and expedition, who appointed Mark Antony Colonna general of his galleys, and Dun John of Austria generalissimo of all the forces. The army consisted of twenty thousand good soldiers, besides seamen; and the fleet of one hundred and one great galleys, some tall ships, and a considerable number of galliots and small vessels. The pope, together with his apostolic benediction, sent to the general a prediction of certain victory, with an order to disband all soldiers who seemed to go only for the sake of plunder, and all scandalous and riotous persons, whose crimes might draw down the divine indignation upon their arms. The Christians sailed directly from Corfu, and found the Turkish flees at anchor in the harbor of Lepanto. As soon as the Turks saw the Christian fleet so near, they reinforced their troops from the land, and sailed out in order of battle. Don John kept the centre, and had for seconds Colonna and the Venetian general Venieri Andrew Doria commanded the right wing and Austin Barharigo the left. Peter Justiniani, who commanded the galleys of Malta, and Paul Jourdain, were posted at the extremities of this line. The marquis of Sainte Croix had a body of reserve of sixty vessels ready to sustain or relieve any part in danger of being overpowered. John of Cordova, with a squadron of eight vessels, scoured before, to spy and give intelligence; and six Venetian galeasses formed an Avant-guard to the fleet. A little after sunrise the Turkish fleet,, consisting of three hundred and thirty sail of all sort appeared in sight, almost in the same order of battle, only, according to their custom, in form of a crescent. They had no squadron of reserve, and therefore their line being much wider, they far out fronted the Christians, which is a great advantage in battle. Hali was in the Centre, facing Don John of Austria; Petauch was his second; Louchali and Siroch commanded the two wings, against Doria and Barbarigo. Don John gave the signal of battle, by hanging out the banner sent him from the pope, on which the image of Christ crucified was embroidered. The Christian generals harangued their soldiers in few words, then made a sign for prayers; at which the soldiers fell on their knees before a crucifix, and continued in that posture in fervent prayer till the fleets drew near to each other, when at a second signal the battle began. The Turks bore down with great rapidity on the Christians, being assisted by a brisk gale of wind, which promised them the greatest advantage possible, especially as they were superior in numbers, and in the extent of their front. But the wind which before was very strong, fell just as the light began, was succeeded by a calm, and this soon after by a high wind, entirely favorable to the Christians ; which carried the smoke and fire of their artillery upon the enemy, almost blinded them, and at length quite bore them down. The battle was most obstinate and bloody, and the victory the most complete that ever was gained over the Ottoman Empire. After three hours' fight, with equal advantage, the left wing, commanded by Barbarigo, got the better, and sunk the galley which Siroch was in, who had fought to admiration. His loss so dispirited his squadron, that, being vigorously pressed by the Venetians, it gave way, and made towards the coast. Don John, seeing this advantage of his right wing, was animated with new courage, doubled his fire, and killed Hali the Turkish general, boarded his galley, pulled down his flag, and cried, Victory after which it was no longer a fight But a perfect slaughter in the center. The Turks suffering themselves to be killed without making any resistance. Louchali, indeed, by his numbers and wider front, kept Doria and the right wing at a distance, till the marquis of Sainte Croix coming up to join him. The Turk made all the sail he could, and escaped by flight, with thirty galleys, all the rest being either taken or sunk. This battle was fought on the 7th of October, 1571, and continued from about six in the morning till evening, when the approaching darkness and the roughness of the sea obliged the Christians to betake themselves to the next havens. The Turks, with their haughty emperor, were seized with the utmost consternation at the news of their dreadful overthrow and the city of Constantinople was as much alarmed as if the enemy had been at the gates many of the inhabitants carried their treasures to the Christians to keep for them, as if the town had been already in their hands. The infidels, who, elated by their rapid conquests in the East had already swallowed up, in their imagination, Italy, and all the rest of Christendom, were taught by this defeat that the tide of their victories was stemmed. God, who has set bounds to the raging billows of the sea, and who weighs in his hand the globe of the universe as a grain of sand, fixes limits to states and empires, and governs their revolutions. By abandoning many flourishing nations to the infidels, he has given a terrible instance of his justice, by which he admonishes others whom he has hitherto spared, though perhaps more guilty, to fear his anger, and by sincere repentance to sue for mercy, while it is yet offered them. It is owing to his clemency towards the remaining part of Christendom, that he hurtled the fury of these most fierce and barbarous infidels, in the very height of their pride and prosperity. From that tine the Turks* have gradually weakened themselves by their own domestic policy, and have at present reason to dread the arms of those Christian powers, to whom their very name was formerly a terror. In the battle at Lepanto, the infidels lost thirty thousand moor with their general, Hali, and above two hundred ships and galleys, besides ninety that were stranded, burnt, or sunk. There were taken one hundred and sixteen pieces of great cannon, two hundred and fifty-six smaller, and five thousand prisoners, with a great number of officers or rank, among whom were two sons of Hali, nephews to the grand seignior. The booty was exceedingly great for the Turkish fleet was laden with the plunder of many of many merchantmen, and of several islands. Fifteen thousand slaves, that were found chained on board their galleys, were set at liberty. The holy pope, from the beginning of the expedition, had ordered public prayers and fasts, and had not ceased to solicit heaven, with uplifted hands, like Moses on the mountain, besides afflicting his body by watching and fasting. At the hour of the battle, the procession of the Rosary, in the church at the Minerva, Was pouring forth solemn prayers for the victory. The pope was then conversing with some cardinals on business but, on a sudden, left them abruptly, opened the window, stood some time with his eyes fixed on the heavens, and then shutting the casement, said “it is not now a time to talk any more upon business; but to give thanks to God for the victory he has granted to the arms of the Christians." This fact was carefully attested, and authentically recorded both at that time, and again in the process for the saint's canonization. In consequence of this miraculous victory, the pope ordered the festival of the Rosary to be kept on the first Sunday of October, in perpetual thanksgiving to God, and in the litany of our Lady inserted those words succor of Christians. He caused a triumph to be decreed Don John, which was graced with many illustrious prisoners and he bestowed honors and gratifications on other generals and officers. The year following he was preparing to pursue the advantage gained by this great victory, when he died of the stone, on the 1st of May, 1572, being sixty-eight years, three months, and fifteen days old, having governed the church six years and almost four months. He had suffered from January, the sharpest pains with heroic patience. He was beatified by Clement X, in 1672, and canonized by Clement XI., in 1712. His precious remains lie in the church of St. Mary Major. Many miracles are recorded by Gabutius. Henschenius has added a relation of many others approved by the authors of the Rota tinder Urban VIII, in 1629. God, who has set bounds to the raging billows of the sea, and who weighs in his hand the globe of the universe as a grain of sand, fixes limits to states and empires, and governs their revolutions. By abandoning many flourishing nations to the infidels, he has given a terrible instance of his justice, by which he admonishes others whom he has hitherto spared, though perhaps more guilty, to fear his anger, and by sincere repentance to sue for mercy, while it is yet offered them. It is owing to his clemency towards the remaining part of Christendom, that he hurtled the fury of these most fierce and barbarous infidels, in the very height of their pride and prosperity. From that time the Turks* have gradually weakened themselves by their own domestic policy, and have at present reason to dread the arms of those Christian powers, to whom their very name was formerly a terror. In the battle at Lepanto, the infidels lost thirty thousand more, with their general, Hali, and above two hundred ships and galleys, besides ninety that were stranded, burnt, or sunk. There were taken one hundred and sixteen pieces of great cannon, two hundred and fifty-six smaller, and five thousand prisoners, with a great number of officers or rank, among whom were two sons of Hali, nephews to the grand seignior. The booty was exceedingly great for the Turkish fleet was laden with the plunder of many of many merchantmen, and of several islands. Fifteen thousand slaves, that were found chained on board their galleys, were set at liberty. The holy pope, from the beginning of the expedition, had ordered public prayers and fasts, and had not ceased to solicit heaven, with uplifted hands, like Moses on the mountain, besides afflicting his body by watching and fasting. At the hour of the battle, the procession of the Rosary, in the church at the Minerva, Was pouring forth solemn prayers for the victory. The pope was then conversing with some cardinals on business but, on a sudden, left them abruptly, opened the window, stood some time with his eyes fixed on the heavens, and then shutting the casement, said “it is not now a time to talk any more
upon business;
This fact was carefully attested, and authentically
recorded both at that time, and again in the process for the saint's canonization.
In consequence of this miraculous victory, the pope ordered the festival
of the Rosary to be kept on the first Sunday of October, in perpetual thanksgiving
to God, and in the litany of our Lady inserted those words succor of
Christians. He caused a triumph to be decreed Don John,
which was graced with many illustrious prisoners and he bestowed honors and
gratifications on other generals and officers. The year following
he was preparing to pursue the advantage gained by this great victory, when
he died of the stone, on the 1st of May, 1572, being sixty-eight years,
three months, and fifteen days old,
having governed the church six years and almost four months. He had suffered
from January, the sharpest pains with heroic patience. He was beatified by
Clement X, in 1672, and canonized by Clement XI., in 1712. His precious
remains lie in the church of St. Mary Major. Many miracles are recorded
by Gabutius. Henschenius has added a relation of many others approved by
the authors of the Rota tinder Urban VIII, in 1629.but to give thanks to God for the victory he has granted to the arms of the Christians." The greatest danger in a public elevated station is, as St. Bernard pathetically put his disciple, whom he saw raised to the pope Dom, in mind of lest, in the hurry of external concerns, we should forget to give sufficient attention to those of our own souls, and lose ourselves in the wilderness of tumult of distracting thoughts and employments. But those who have their whole time at their own disposal, yet have their eyes always abroad, and live, as it were, without themselves, are truly' foolish. Every one's first and principal business is included within itself, in his own heart. It is so deep, that we shall always find in it exercise enough, and shall never be able to summon it. Only He, who tries the thoughts and reins, can thoroughly know it. What have we to do to concern ourselves with the wars of states, and the quarrels of private persons? But it is infinitely both our duty and our interest to take cognizant of the contests between the flesh and the spirit within or own breasts to appease this intestine war, by teaching the flesh to lie in subjection, placing reason on its throne, and making God reign sovereignly in our hearts. It is not so slight a task as men generally seem to imagine, to keep our domestic kingdom in good order, and to govern wisely and holily those numerous people which are contained in this little state, that is to say, that multitude of affections, thoughts, opinion; and passions, which easily' raise tumults in our hearts. Those who are charged with the care of others are obliged to reserve to themselves leisure for pious meditation, prayer, and self- examination, and diligently to watch over their own souls. He who is bad to himself, to whom will
he be good?
MICHAEL GHISLIERI was born
in 1504 at Bosco, in the diocese of Tortona, and
received the Dominican habit at the age of fourteen in the priory
of Voghera. After his ordination to the priesthood he was lector in
theology and philosophy for sixteen years, and for a considerable time
was employed as novice master and in governing houses of the order—everywhere
endeavouring to maintain the spirit of the founder. In 1556 he was chosen
bishop of Nepi and Sutri, and the following year was appointed inquisitor
general, and also cardinal—in order, as he ruefully remarked, that irons
should be riveted to his feet to prevent him from creeping back into the
peace of the cloister. Pope Pius IV transferred him to the Piedmontese
bishopric of Mondovi—a church reduced almost to ruin by the ravages of
war. Within a short time of his accession the newly-appointed prelate had
done much to restore calm and prosperity in his diocese, but he was soon
recalled to Rome in connection with other business. Here, though his opinions
were often at variance with those of
Pius IV, he never shrank from openly stating his convictions. In December 1565 Pius IV died, and Michael Ghislieri
was chosen pope, largely through the efforts of St. Charles Borromeo,
who saw in him the reformer of whom the Church stood in need. He
took the name of Pius V, and from the outset made it abundantly clear
that he was determined to enforce the letter as well as the spirit
of the recommendations of the Council of Trent. On the occasion of
his coronation, the largesses usually scattered indiscriminately amongst
the crowd were bestowed upon hospitals and the really poor, whilst the
money which was wont to be spent in providing a banquet for the cardinals,
ambassadors and other great persons was sent to the poorer convents of
the city. One of his first injunctions
was that all bishops should reside in their dioceses, and parish
priests in the cures to which they had been appointed—severe penalties
being imposed for disobedience. The new pope’s activities extended
from a drastic purge of the Roman curia to the clearing
of the papal states of brigands, from legislation against prostitution
to the forbiddance of bull-fighting. In a time of famine, he imported
from Sicily and France at his own expense large quantities of corn, a
considerable proportion of which was distributed gratis to the poor or
was sold under cost price. A determined opponent
of nepotism, he kept his relatives at a distance, and although he
was persuaded to follow tradition by making one of his nephews a cardinal,
he gave him little influence or power. In the new Breviary which was
published in 1568, certain saints’ days and some extravagant legends
were omitted and lessons from the Holy Scriptures regained their proper
place, whilst the Missal, issued two years later, was as much a restoration
of ancient usage as a revision adapted to the needs of the time. *[
*This Roman liturgy was imposed on the whole Western church, except where
local and proper uses could show a prescription of two hundred years, e.g. in the pope’s own
order, the Dominicans.] To Pius the Church owed the best edition of St Thomas Aquinas which had yet appeared and the solemn recognition of St Thomas as a doctor of the Church. So severe were the penalties inflicted for every breach of order or morals that he was accused of wanting to turn Rome into a monastery. That he succeeded as well as he did was largely owing to the popular veneration for his personal holiness; even when he was ill and old he fasted throughout Advent as well as through Lent, and he prayed with such fervour that he was popularly supposed to obtain from God whatever he asked in the hospitals, which he visited frequently, he loved to tend the sick with his own hands. Reforms such as those enumerated
might seem more than enough to engross the attention of any one
man, but they were not even the main preoccupation of St Pius V. Throughout
his pontificate two menacing shadows were ever before his eyes—the
spread of Protestantism and the inroads of the Turks. To counteract
these dangers he laboured untiringly; the Inquisition received fresh
encouragement, and the learned Baius, whose writings were condemned,
only saved himself by recantation. Nevertheless this pope’s success
against Protestantism was not all effected by such drastic means, for
he is said to have converted an Englishman simply by the dignity and
holiness of his appearance. The catechism, too, which had been
ordered by the Council of Trent was completed during his pontificate,
and he at once ordered translations to be made into foreign tongues.
Moreover, he made the catechetical instruction of the young a duty incumbent
on all parish priests. Conservative in most of his views, he was notably
ahead of his contemporaries in the importance he attached to adequate
instruction as a preliminary to adult baptism. By the terms used when Pius
V re-issued the bull “In cena Domini” (1568), it was made clear that as pope he claimed a certain
suzerainty over secular princes. For a long time he cherished hopes of
winning to the faith Queen Elizabeth of England, but in 1570 he issued
a bull of excommunication (“ Regnans in excelsis ”)
against her, absolving her subjects from their allegiance and
forbidding them to recognize her as their sovereign. This was undoubtedly
an error of judgement due to imperfect knowledge of English feeling and
of the conditions which obtained in that country. Its only result was to
increase the difficulties of loyal English Catholics and to lend some appearance
of justification to the accusation of treason so frequently brought against
them; and to aggravate those controversies about oaths and tests which vexed
and weakened their body from the Oath of Obedience in 1606 until Emancipation
in 1829: the suspicion which the bull raised about the civil loyalty
of Catholics has not quite disappeared even to-day. Several English martyrs
died protesting their loyalty to the queen, and when in 1588 the Spanish
Armada set out, with the encouragement of Pope Sixtus V, to (incidentally)
enforce the sentence of Pius V by establishing Spanish dominion in England,
English Catholics at home were in general no more anxious for its success
than were their compatriots. All Europe, indeed, had gone a long way since
St Gregory VII and Henry IV, Alexander III and Barbarossa, Innocent III and
John of England, since Boniface VIII and “Unam sanctam” ; it was nearer the time when a pope, Pius IX, would declare
that: “ Nowadays no one any longer thinks
of the right of deposing princes that the Holy See formerly exercised—and
the Supreme Pontiff thinks of it less than anyone.” Pius V’s disappointment in England was compensated for in the following year when, aided politically and materially by the Holy See, Don John of Austria and Marcantonio Colonna broke the Turkish power in the Mediterranean. Their force, which comprised 2o,ooo soldiers, sailed from Corfu and came upon the Turks in the Gulf of Lepanto. There, in one of the world’s greatest maritime battles, the Ottoman fleet was completely defeated. From the moment the expedition started the pope had prayed for it almost unceasingly—often with uplifted hands like Moses on the mountain. He had also prescribed public devotions and private fasts and, at the very hour that the contest was raging, the procession of the rosary in the church of the Minerva was pouring forth petitions for victory. Meanwhile the pope himself was convening on business with some of his cardinals; but on a sudden he turned from them abruptly, opened a window and remained standing for some time with his eyes fixed upon the sky. Then, closing the casement, he said, “This is not a moment in which to talk business: let us give thanks to God for the victory He has granted to the arms of the Christians”. To commemorate the great deliverance he afterwards inserted the words “Help of Christians” in the Litany of Our Lady and instituted the festival of the Holy Rosary. The victory was won on October 7, 1571. In the following year the pope was struck down by a painful disorder from which he had long suffered and which his austerities had aggravated: it carried him off on May 1, 1572, at the age of sixty-eight. St Pius V was canonized in
1712, the last pope to be raised to the Church’s altars till the
beatification of Pius X. The monastic austerity of Pius V’s earlier
days was continued throughout his life.* [* The white cassock now
worn by the popes is said to derive from Pius V’s white Dominican habit.] St Pius V
played so important a part in the history of his times that anything like
a full bibliography is out of the question.. A list of all the older books
and articles maybe found in Emilio Cal vi’s Bibliografia di Roma,
and the more important are cited in the eighth volume of Pastor’s
Geschicte der Päpste (and its English translation),
which is entirely devoted to this pontiff.. It is only necessary here to
refer to the Summarium de Virtutibus printed in the process
of beatification for the Congregation of Sacred Rites, and to the lives by
Catena and Gabutius, which are included in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. i, together with some other materials
of a more miscellaneous character. A particularly valuable article by Fr
Van Ortroy, which includes the earliest known sketch of the life of St Pius,
will be found in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxxiii (1914),
pp. 187—215. There is an excellent biography by G. Grente (1914) in the series
“Les Saints”, and a booklet in English by C. M. Antony (1911). It is curious
to notice that in the bibliography appended to the account of St Pius V in
the Catholic Encyclopedia the first work mentioned
is the life by Joseph Mendham (1832). This is, in fact, a bitter indictment
of the pontiff himself, and of the Catholic Church, in the course of which
we read, for example, that the Little Office of Our Lady sanctioned by the
pope “is as disgusting a concentration of blasphemy and idolatry as deforms
any part of the papal services”, and in which complaint is also made of “the
brutish bigotry and sanguinary intolerance of this pontiff”.
|
1836 Blessed Nunzio
Sulprizio (see Nov
1)an Italian from Pescara who worked as an apprentice blacksmith.
|
1878
The "Inexhaustible Chalice" Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos Revealed in Russia in 1878. A retired soldier from Tula had spent his pension on alcohol, ruining his health. Though he was no longer able to walk, he continued to drink. One night a holy Elder appeared to him in a dream and told him to go to the Serpukhov monastery of the Mother of God. "Have a Molieben served before her Icon "The Inexhaustible Chalice." Since he had no money and could not walk, the man paid no attention to the dream. Then the Elder appeared a second and third time, speaking to him with increasing severity. Crawling on all fours, the man reached the next village and stayed in the home of an old woman. She rubbed his legs, and he began to feel better. The next day, he resumed his journey with two canes, then with one, until he arrived at the monastery. He described his dreams to the monks, but none of them had ever heard of "The Inexhaustible Chalice" Icon. Finally, one of them remembered an icon on which a chalice was depicted. On the back of the icon was an inscription, "The Inexhaustible Chaice." After the Molieben, the peasant returned home restored to health, and cured of his alcoholism. News of the miracle spread, and many alcoholics and their families came to pray before the Icon. Many of them came back to thank the Mother of God for answering their prayers. Every Sunday in the Serpukhov-Vyotsk monastery a Molieben with an Akathist is served before the Icon for those who are addicted to alcohol. |
1844 Bl. Edmund
Ignatius Rice founder of the Congregation of the Brothers of the
Christian Schools devout man dedicated to charitable works attention
to bands of ragged youth in the streets
often called the Irish Christian Brothers. Edmund was born in Wescourt, Ireland, in June, 1762, the fourth of seven sons in a fanning family At seventeen he began working at his uncle’s import-export business in Waterford. He later inherited the business. Married at twenty-five, Edmund lost his wife two years later and was left with a sickly infant daughter. A devout man, Edmund dedicated himself to charitable works. Though he saw how the economic and political storms of the day were impacting Ireland, he desired a religious vocation in the contemplative life. However, the Bishop of Waterford drew Edmund’s attention to the bands of ragged youth in the streets, asking Edmund if he, too, planned to abandon them. Encouraged by Pope Pius VII and Bishop Hussey, Edmund sold his business, arranged for his daughter’s care, and opened his first school in 1802. He had three other schools in operation by 1806, and took the name Ignatius as a religious with companions in 1808 in a pontifical institute. Edmund established the Catholic Model School and saw the founding of eleven communities in Ireland, eleven in England, and one in Australia, with requests coming from the United States and Canada. He resigned as Superior General in 1838 and died at Mt. Sion, site of his first school, on August 29, 1844. Pope John Paul II beatified him on October 6, 1996. Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice (AC) Born at Callan, Westcourt, County Kilkenny, Ireland, June 1, 1762; died August 29, 1844; beatified October 6, 1996. Edmund Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers (not to be confused with the Brothers of the Christian Schools, which was founded by Saint John Baptist de la Salle) and the Presentation Brothers, was the son of prosperous farmers. His paternal uncle was a successful merchant in Waterford, who apprenticed Edmund. Rice married in 1785. After four happy years of marriage that produced a daughter, his wife died in a hunting accident. Thereafter his thoughts turned more and more to a religious vocation and his charity extended beyond his family. Edmund was a man of affluence among poor Catholics in Waterford. But more importantly he was a shining example of lay Christianity. He used his wealth to help the clergy of his parish meet the pressing needs of his fellow citizens. In considering his vocation, he realized that affordable education was the key to opportunity for those oppressed by poverty and the weight of anti-Catholic legislation. He established an organization
"to educate these boys to be good Catholics and good citizens."
In 1803, with the encouragement of both the pope and the bishops,
Edmund Rice opened his first school in Waterford. Six years later,
he formed the nucleus of his religious order based on the Rule of the
Presentation Sisters.
Unfortunately, the Rule did not ideal to meet his vision, so he revised it to follow that of La Salle's Brothers of the Christian Schools. The order received approbation in 1821 with Edmund as its first Superior General. At the time of his death there were over 20 houses; today there are more than 300 throughout the world, including the University College of Iona in La Rochelle, which is a center for Irish studies in the United States. The Presentation Brothers now have 33 houses. The Christian Brothers are especially active in educating Irish boys at the primary and secondary level. They also pioneered schools for delinquents. In various parts of the world, both Orders have also entered into university training as well as being a major source of the training of teachers for Catholic schools (Montague, http://www.cin.org/jp961006.html, http://www.iol.ie/resource/ga/archive/1996/Apr25/news/27.html, http://www.vc.bc.ca/vc/extpages/Brothers/Beatification.html) . |
1900 Bl Anna Rose Gattorno
co-founded an order of nuns dedicated to working with the sick and
poor. By the time of her death the order had grown to more than 3500
sisters. Beatified in 2000. |
THE
PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
MARY PSALM 3405
Give praise to Our Lady, for she is good: in all the tribes of the earth relate her mercies. Far from the impious is her conversation: her foot has not declined from the way of the Most High. A fountain of fertilizing grace comes forth from her mouth: and a virginal emanation sanctifying chaste souls. The hope of the glory of Paradise is in her heart: for the devout soul who shall have honored her. Have mercy on us, O resplendent Queen of Heaven: and give consolation from thy glory. Let every spirit praise Our Lady Rejoice, ye Heavens, and be glad, O Earth: because Mary will console her servants and will have mercy on her poor. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as it was in the beginning and will always be. God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea. As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences. Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven: only saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others. There
are over 10,000 named saints beati
from history
and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources Patron_Saints.html Widowed_Saints html Indulgences The Catholic Church in China LINKS: Marian Shrines India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East Lourdes 1858 China Marian shrines 1995 Kenya national Marian shrine Loreto, Italy Marian Apparitions (over 2000) Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798 Links to Related MarianWebsites Angels and Archangels Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell Widowed Saints html Doctors_of_the_Church Acts_Of_The_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates Chalcedon |
|
Mary the
Mother
of
Jesus
Miracles_BC Lay Saints
Miraculous_Icons
Miraculous_Medal_Novena
Patron
Saints
Miracles by Century 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 Miracles 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 Lay Saints |
|
The
great
psalm
of
the
Passion,
Chapter
22,
whose first
verse
“My
God, my
God, why
hast
thou forsaken
me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him” For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought. |
|
Pope
Benedict
XVI
to
The
Catholic
Church
In China
{whole
article
here}
2000 years of the Catholic Church
in China The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible. Join us on CatholicVote.org. Be part of a new
movement
committed
to
using
powerful
media
projects
to
create
a
Culture
of Life.
We can
help
shape
the
movement
and have
a voice
in its
future.
Check
it
out at
www.CatholicVote.org
3. Do daily spiritual reading for at least 15 minutes, if a half hour is not possible. 4. Say the rosary every day. 5. Also daily, if at all possible, visit the Blessed Sacrament; toward evening, meditate on the Passion of Christ for a half hour, 6. Conclude the day with evening prayer & an examination of conscience over all the faults & sins of the day. 7. Every month make a review of the month in confession. 8. Choose a special patron every month & imitate that patron in some special virtue. 9. Precede every great feast with a novena that is nine days of devotion. 10. Try to begin & end every activity with a Hail Mary My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love
Thee.
I beg
pardon
for those
who do
not believe,
do
not adore,
do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.
I offer Thee the most
precious
Body,
Blood,
Soul
and
Divinity
of
Jesus
Christ,
present
in all
the Tabernacles
of
the world, in reparation
for the
outrages,
sacrileges
and
indifference
by
which
He is
offended,
and by the
infite
merits
of the
Sacred
Heart
of Jesus
and
the Immaculate
Heart
of Mary.
I beg the conversion of poor sinners, Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The
voice
of the
Father
is heard,
the Son
enters
the
water,
and the
Holy
Spirit
appears
in the
form of
a dove.
THE
spirit
and
example
of the
world
imperceptibly
instil
the error
into
the minds
of many
that
there
is a kind
of middle
way of going
to
Heaven;
and
so, because
the world
does
not
live up
to the gospel,
they bring
the
gospel
down
to the
level of
the world.
It is
not by this
example
that
we are
to measure
the
Christian
rule,
but
words
and life
of Christ.
All His followers
are commanded
to labour
to
become
perfect
even
as our heavenly
Father
is
perfect,
and
to bear
His image
in our hearts
that we
may be His
children.
We
are obliged
by
the gospel
to die
to ourselves
by fighting
self-love
in our hearts,
by
the mastery
of our
passions,
by
taking on
the spirit
of our
Lord.
These
are
the
conditions
under
which
Christ
makes
His promises
and numbers
us
among
His children,
as is
manifest
from
His
words
which
the apostles
have
left
us in their
inspired
writings.
Here
is no distinction
made
or foreseen
between
the
apostles
or
clergy
or religious
and secular
persons.
The former,
indeed,
take upon
themselves
certain
stricter
obligations,
as a means
of accomplishing
these
ends
more perfectly;
but the
law of holiness
and of
disengagement
of the
heart
from
the world
is general
and binds
all the
followers
of Christ.
|
|
God loves variety.
He doesn't
mass-produce
his
saints.
Every
saint
is
unique
each
the
result
of a new
idea.
As the liturgy says: Non
est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences. Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors
responded
to God's
invitation
to
use his
or her
unique
gifts.
|
|
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite
the Rosary
)
Revealed
to
St. Dominic
and
Blessed
Alan)
1. Whoever
shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive
signal graces. 2.
I promise
my special protection
and the greatest graces
to all those who shall recite the
Rosary. 3.
The Rosary shall
be a powerful armor against
hell, it will destroy vice,
decrease sin, and defeat
heresies. 4.
It will cause virtue and
good works to flourish; it will
obtain for souls the abundant mercy
of God; it will withdraw the hearts
of people from the love of the
world and its vanities, and will
lift them to the desire of eternal things.
Oh, that soul would sanctify
them by this means. 5.
The soul that recommends
itself to me by the recitation of
the Rosary shall not perish. 6.
Whoever shall recite the
Rosary devoutly, applying themselves
to the consideration of its Sacred
Mysteries shall never be conquered by
misfortune. God will not chastise
them in His justice, they shall
not perish by an unprovided death;
if they be just, they shall remain in the
grace of God, and become worthy
of eternal life. 7.
Whoever shall have a true devotion for
the Rosary shall not die without the
Sacraments of the Church. 8.
Those who are faithful to
recite the Rosary shall have during their
life and at their death the light of God
and the plentitude of His graces; at the
moment of death they shall participate in the
merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.
I shall deliver from purgatory
those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
10. The faithful
children of the Rosary shall merit
a high degree of glory in Heaven.
11. You
shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation
of the Rosary. 12.
I shall aid all those who propagate
the Holy Rosary in their necessities.
13.
I have obtained from my Divine Son that all
the advocates of the Rosary shall
have for intercessors the entire
celestial court during their life
and at the hour of death. 14.
All who recite the Rosary are my
children, and brothers and sisters
of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.
Devotion to my Rosary
is a great sign of predestination.
|
|
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013)
Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians,
whose
See
is located
in Lebanese
town
of Antelias.
The Catholicosate
was founded
in Sis,
capital
of Cilicia,
in the year
1441
following
the move
of the
Catholicosate
of All Armenians
back
to its
original
See of Etchmiadzin
in Armenia.
The
Catholicosate
of Cilicia
enjoyed
local
jurisdiction,
though
spiritually
subject
to the
authority
of
Etchmiadzin.
In
1921 the
See was transferred
to
Aleppo
in Syria,
and in
1930 to
Antelias.
Its
jurisdiction
currently
extends
to
Syria,
Cyprus,
Iran
and
Greece. |
|
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction
of Christianity
into
Edessa
{Armenian
Ourhaï
in Arabic
Er
Roha,
commonly
Orfa
or Urfa,
its present
name}
is
not known.
It
is certain,
however,
that
the Christian
community
was at first
made up
from
the Jewish
population
of the
city.
According
to an
ancient
legend,
King
Abgar
V, Ushana,
was
converted
by
Addai,
who
was one of
the seventy-two
disciples.
In fact,
however,
the first
King
of Edessa
to embrace
the Christian
Faith
was
Abgar
IX (c.
206) becoming
official
kingdom
religion.
Christian
council
held
at
Edessa
early
as 197
(Eusebius,
Hist.
Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated
by
a great
flood,
and the
Christian
church
was
destroyed
(“Chronicon
Edessenum”,
ad.
an. 201).
In 232 the relics of the
Apostle St. Thomas were
brought from India,
on which
occasion
his
Syriac
Acts
were
written.
Under Roman domination martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sts. Scharbîl and Barsamya, under Decius; Sts. Gûrja, Schâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian. In the meanwhile Christian
priests from Edessa evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, established
the first Churches
in the kingdom of the Sassanides.
Atillâtiâ,
Bishop of
Edessa,
assisted
at
the Council
of
Nicæa
(325).
The
“Peregrinatio
Silviæ”
(or Etheriæ)
(ed.
Gamurrini,
Rome,
1887,
62 sqq.)
gives
an
account
of
the many
sanctuaries
at
Edessa
about
388.
Although Hebrew had been
the
language
of the
ancient
Israelite
kingdom,
after
their
return
from
Exile
the Jews
turned
more
and
more
to Aramaic,
using
it for
parts
of the
books
of Ezra
and Daniel
in the
Bible.
By the
time
of
Jesus,
Aramaic
was the
main
language
of Palestine,
and
quite
a number
of
texts
from
the Dead
Sea
Scrolls
are
also written
in Aramaic.
Aramaic
continued
to
be
an important
language
for
Jews,
alongside
Hebrew,
and
parts
of the
Talmud
are written
in it.
After Arab conquests of
the seventh century, Arabic quickly replaced Aramaic as the main language
of those who converted
to Islam, although
in out of the way places,
Aramaic continued as a vernacular
language of Muslims.
Aramaic, however, enjoyed
its greatest
success
in
Christianity.
Although
the
New Testament
wins
written
in
Greek,
Christianity
had come
into
existence
in an Aramaic-speaking
milieu,
and it
was the
Aramaic
dialect
of Edessa,
now known
as Syriac,
that became
the literary
language
of
a large number
of Christians
living
in the
eastern
provinces
of the Roman
Empire
and in the
Persian
Empire,
further
east.
Over
the course
of the
centuries
the influence
of the Syriac
Churches
spread
eastwards
to
China
(in Xian,
in western
China,
a
Chinese-Syriac
inscription
dated
781
is
still
to be seen);
to southern
India
where
the state
of Kerala
can
boast
more
Christians
of
Syriac
liturgical
tradition
than
anywhere
else
in the
world.
680 Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad Known as Ashoura and observed by Shiites across the world, the 10th day of the lunar Muslim month of Muharram: the anniversary of the 7th century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints. Imam Hussein died in the 680 A.D. battle fought on the plains outside Karbala, a city in modern Iraq that's home to the saint's shrine. The battle over a dispute about the leadership of the Muslim faith following Muhammad's death in 632 A.D. It is the defining event in Islam's split into Sunni and Shiite branches. The occasion is the source of an enduring moral lesson. "He sacrificed his blood to teach us not to give in to corruption, coercion, or use of force and to seek honor and justice." According to Shiite beliefs, Hussein and companions were denied water by enemies who controlled the nearby Euphrates. Streets get partially covered with blood from slaughter of hundreds of cows and sheep. Volunteers cook the meat and feed it to the poor. Hussein's martyrdom recounted through a rich body of prose, poetry and song remains an inspirational example of sacrifice to many Shiites, 10 percent of the world's estimated 1.3 billion Muslims. |
|
Meeting
of the
Saints
walis
(saints
of
Allah) Great men covet to embrace
martyrdom
for
a cause
and principle.
So
was
the
case
with
Hazrat
Ali.
He
could
have
made
a compromise
with
the evil
forces
of
his time
and,
as a result,
could
have led a very comfortable,
easy
and
luxurious
life.
But
he was
not a
person
who
would
succumb
to such
temptations.
His
upbringing,
his education
and
his training
in
the lap
of the
holy Prophet
made him
refuse
such
an offer.Rabia Al-Basri (717–801 C.E.) She was first to set forth the doctrine of mystical love and who is widely considered to be the most important of the early Sufi poets. An elderly Shia pointed out that during his pre-Partition childhood it was quite common to find pictures and portraits of Shia icons in Imambaras across the country. Shah Abdul Latif: The Exalted Sufi Master born 1690 in a Syed family; died 1754. In ancient times, Sindh housed the exemplary Indus Valley Civilisation with Moenjo Daro as its capital, and now, it is the land of a culture which evolved from the teachings of eminent Sufi saints. Pakistan is home to the mortal remains of many Sufi saints, the exalted among them being Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a practitioner of the real Islam, philosopher, poet, musicologist and preacher. He presented his teaching through poetry and music - both instruments sublime - and commands a very large following, not only among Muslims but also among Hindus and Christians. Sindh culture: The Shah is synonymous with Sindh. He is the very fountainhead of Sindh's culture. His message remains as fresh as that of any present day poet, and the people of Sindh find solace from his writings. He did indeed think for Sindh. One of his prayers, in exquisite Sindhi, translates thus: “Oh God, may ever You on Sindh bestow abundance rare! Beloved! All the world let share Thy grace, and fruitful be.” Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams. Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles 569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.), Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam, Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA) 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life. |
|
801 Rabi'a
al-'Adawiyya
Sufi
One
of
the
most
famous
Islamic
mystics
(b. 717). This 8th century saint was an early Sufi who had a profound influence on later Sufis, who in turn deeply influenced the European mystical love and troubadour traditions. Rabi'a was a woman of Basra, a seaport in southern Iraq. She was born around 717 and died in 801 (185-186). Her biographer, the great medieval poet Attar, tells us that she was "on fire with love and longing" and that men accepted her "as a second spotless Mary" (186). She was, he continues, “an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries" (218). Rabi'a began her ascetic life in a small desert cell near Basra, where she lost herself in prayer and went straight to God for teaching. As far as is known, she never studied under any master or spiritual director. She was one of the first of the Sufis to teach that Love alone was the guide on the mystic path (222). A later Sufi taught that there were two classes of "true believers": one class sought a master as an intermediary between them and God -- unless they could see the footsteps of the Prophet on the path before them, they would not accept the path as valid. The second class “...did not look before them for the footprint of any of God's creatures, for they had removed all thought of what He had created from their hearts, and concerned themselves solely with God. (218) Rabi'a was of this second kind. She felt no reverence even for the House of God in Mecca: "It is the Lord of the house Whom I need; what have I to do with the house?" (219) One lovely spring morning a friend asked her to come outside to see the works of God. She replied, "Come you inside that you may behold their Maker. Contemplation of the Maker has turned me aside from what He has made" (219). During an illness, a friend asked this woman if she desired anything. "...[H]ow can you ask me such a question as 'What do I desire?' I swear by the glory of God that for twelve years I have desired fresh dates, and you know that in Basra dates are plentiful, and I have not yet tasted them. I am a servant (of God), and what has a servant to do with desire?" (162) When a male friend once suggested she should pray for relief from a debilitating illness, she said, "O Sufyan, do you not know Who it is that wills this suffering for me? Is it not God Who wills it? When you know this, why do you bid me ask for what is contrary to His will? It is not well to oppose one's Beloved." (221) She was an ascetic. It was her custom to pray all night, sleep briefly just before dawn, and then rise again just as dawn "tinged the sky with gold" (187). She lived in celibacy and poverty, having renounced the world. A friend visited her in old age and found that all she owned were a reed mat, screen, a pottery jug, and a bed of felt which doubled as her prayer-rug (186), for where she prayed all night, she also slept briefly in the pre-dawn chill. Once her friends offered to get her a servant; she replied, "I should be ashamed to ask for the things of this world from Him to Whom the world belongs, and how should I ask for them from those to whom it does not belong?" (186-7) A wealthy merchant once wanted to give her a purse of gold. She refused it, saying that God, who sustains even those who dishonor Him, would surely sustain her, "whose soul is overflowing with love" for Him. And she added an ethical concern as well: "...How should I take the wealth of someone of whom I do not know whether he acquired it lawfully or not?" (187) She taught that repentance was a gift from God because no one could repent unless God had already accepted him and given him this gift of repentance. She taught that sinners must fear the punishment they deserved for their sins, but she also offered such sinners far more hope of Paradise than most other ascetics did. For herself, she held to a higher ideal, worshipping God neither from fear of Hell nor from hope of Paradise, for she saw such self-interest as unworthy of God's servants; emotions like fear and hope were like veils -- i.e., hindrances to the vision of God Himself. The story is told that once a number of Sufis saw her hurrying on her way with water in one hand and a burning torch in the other. When they asked her to explain, she said: "I am going to light a fire in Paradise and to pour water on to Hell, so that both veils may vanish altogether from before the pilgrims and their purpose may be sure..." (187-188) She was once asked where she came from. "From that other world," she said. "And where are you going?" she was asked. "To that other world," she replied (219). She taught that the spirit originated with God in "that other world" and had to return to Him in the end. Yet if the soul were sufficiently purified, even on earth, it could look upon God unveiled in all His glory and unite with him in love. In this quest, logic and reason were powerless. Instead, she speaks of the "eye" of her heart which alone could apprehend Him and His mysteries (220). Above all, she was a lover, a bhakti, like one of Krishna’s Goptis in the Hindu tradition. Her hours of prayer were not so much devoted to intercession as to communion with her Beloved. Through this communion, she could discover His will for her. Many of her prayers have come down to us: "I have made Thee the Companion of my heart, But my body is available for those who seek its company, And my body is friendly towards its guests, But the Beloved of my heart is the Guest of my soul." [224] |
|
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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
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;
Affiliations
and
Indulgences
Litany of Loretto in Stained glass
windows
here.
Nave
Sacristy
and Residence
Here
Member -- St. Paul Seminary
faculty.
Sanctuary spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's
earliest
Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history. The only replicas ever made: in order from
west
to east
{1932}.
Saints Simon (saw),
Bartholomew
(knife),
James
the
Lesser
(book),
John
(eagle),
Andrew
(transverse
cross),
Peter
keys),
Paul
(sword), James
the Greater (staff), Thomas (carpenter's
square),
Philip
(serpent),
Matthew
(book),
and Jude
sword
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;
By Father John Corapithen 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so. THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.
June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under
Pope
John
Paul
II;
By Father John Corapithen 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
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.
|
|
Father John Corapi
goes to the heart of the contemporary world's
many woes
and
wars,
whether
the
wars
in Afghanistan,
Iraq,
Lebanon,
Somalia,
or the
Congo,
or
the natural
disasters
that seem
to
be increasing
every
year,
the moral
and spiritual
war
is at the
basis
of everything.
“Our
battle
is not
against
human
forces,”
St. Paul
asserts,
“but against
principalities
and
powers,
against
the world
rulers
of
this present
darkness...”
(Ephesians
6:12).
The “War to end all wars” is the moral and spiritual combat that rages in the hearts and minds of human beings. The outcome of that unseen fight largely determines how the battle in the realm of the seen unfolds. The title talk, “With the Moon Under Her Feet,” is taken from the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, and deals with the current threat to the world from radical Islam, and the Blessed Virgin Mary's role in the ultimate victory that will result in the conversion of Islam. Few Catholics are aware of the connection between Islam, Fatima, and Guadalupe. Presented in Father Corapi's straight-forward style, you will be both inspired and educated by him. About Father John Corapi. Father Corapi is a Catholic
priest
.
The pillars of father's
preaching
are
basically:
Love
for
and
a
relationship
with
the
Blessed
Virgin
Mary
Leading a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus Christ Great love and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist from Holy Mass to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament An uncompromising love for and obedience to the Holy Father and the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church God Bless
you
on your journey
Father
John
Corapi
|
|
Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life. Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification. Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization. Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint. Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970. Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor. Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century. Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War. Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran. The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church. Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.” Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8. Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer. Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’ Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor. Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification. Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism. Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan. Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions. Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life. Records on life of Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, presented at Vatican Jul 23, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The cause for canonization of Servant of God Edward Flanagan, the priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town community for orphans and other boys, advanced Monday with the presentation of a summary of records on his life. Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified Jul 6, 2019 - 04:00 am .- Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Fulton Sheen Friday, making possible the American television catechist's beatification. Brooklyn diocese advances sainthood cause of local priest Jun 25, 2019 - 03:01 am .- The Bishop of Brooklyn accepted last week the findings of a nine-year diocesan investigation into the life of Monsignor Bernard John Quinn, known for fighting bigotry and serving the African American population, as part of his cause for canonization. Fr. Augustus Tolton, former African American slave, advances toward sainthood Jun 12, 2019 - 05:03 am .- Fr. Augustus Tolton advanced along the path to sainthood Wednesday, making the runaway slave-turned-priest one step closer to being the first black American saint. Pope Francis will beatify these martyred Greek-Catholic bishops in Romania May 30, 2019 - 03:01 pm .- On Sunday in Blaj, Pope Francis will beatify seven Greek-Catholic bishops of Romania who were killed by the communist regime between 1950 and 1970. Woman who served Brazil’s poorest to be canonized May 14, 2019 - 06:53 am .- Pope Francis Tuesday gave his approval for eight sainthood causes to proceed, including that of Bl. Dulce Lopes Pontes, a 20th-century religious sister who served Brazil’s poor. Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs Mar 19, 2019 - 12:01 pm .- Pope Francis declared Tuesday the martyrdom of seven Greek-Catholic bishops killed by the communist regime in Romania in the mid-20th century. Pope advances sainthood causes of 17 women Jan 15, 2019 - 11:12 am .- Pope Francis approved Tuesday the next step in the canonization causes of 17 women from four countries, including the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters killed in Spain at the start of the Spanish Civil War. Nineteen Algerian martyrs beatified Dec 10, 2018 - 03:08 pm .- Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, were beatified Saturday during a Mass in Oran. The Algerian martyrs shed their blood for Christ, pope says Dec 7, 2018 - 10:02 am .- Ahead of the beatification Saturday of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, Pope Francis said martyrs have a special place in the Church. Algerian martyrs are models for the Church, archbishop says Nov 16, 2018 - 03:01 am .- Archbishop Paul Desfarges of Algiers has said that Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, are “models for our lives as disciples today and tomorrow.” Francesco Spinelli to be canonized after healing of a newborn in DR Congo Oct 9, 2018 - 05:01 pm .- Among those being canonized on Sunday are Fr. Franceso Spinelli, a diocesan priest through whose intercession a newborn was saved from death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Algerian martyrs to be beatified in December Sep 14, 2018 - 06:01 pm .- The Algerian bishops' conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8. Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints' causes Jun 28, 2018 - 11:41 am .- Newly-minted Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu will resign from his post as substitute of the Secretariat of State tomorrow, in anticipation of his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints later this summer. Pope Francis creates new path to beatification under ‘offering of life’ Jul 11, 2017 - 06:22 am .- On Tuesday Pope Francis declared a new category of Christian life suitable for consideration of beatification called “offering of life” – in which a person has died prematurely through an offering of their life for love of God and neighbor. Twentieth century Polish nurse among causes advancing toward sainthood Jul 7, 2017 - 06:14 am .- Pope Francis on Friday approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Hanna Chrzanowska, a Polish nurse and nursing instructor who died from cancer in 1973, paving the way for her beatification. Sainthood causes advance, including layman who resisted fascism Jun 17, 2017 - 09:22 am .- Pope Francis on Friday recognized the heroic virtue of six persons on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of an Italian man who died from injuries of a beating he received while imprisoned in a concentration camp for resisting fascism. Solanus Casey, Cardinal Van Thuan among those advanced toward sainthood May 4, 2017 - 10:47 am .- Pope Francis on Thursday approved decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints advancing the causes for canonization of 12 individuals, including the American-born Capuchin Solanus Casey and the Vietnamese cardinal Francis Xavier Nguen Van Thuan. Pope clears way for canonization of Fatima visionaries Mar 23, 2017 - 06:44 am .- On Thursday Pope Francis approved the second and final miracle needed to canonize Blessed Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children who witnessed the Fatima Marian apparitions. Surgeon and father among sainthood causes moving forward Feb 27, 2017 - 11:03 am .- Pope Francis recognized on Monday the heroic virtue of eight persons on the path to canonization, including an Italian surgeon and father of eight who suffered from several painful diseases throughout his life. |
|
8
Martyrs
Move Closer
to
Sainthood
8 July, 2016
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 8 July, 2016 The angel appears to Saint Monica This morning, Pope Francis received Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato. During the audience, he authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes: *** MIRACLES: Miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Luis Antonio Rosa Ormières, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Guardian Angel; born July 4, 1809 and died on Jan. 16, 1890 MARTYRDOM: Servants of God Antonio Arribas Hortigüela and 6 Companions, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart; killed in hatred of the Faith, Sept. 29, 1936 Servant of God Josef Mayr-Nusser, a layman; killed in hatred of the Faith, Feb. 24, 1945 HEROIC VIRTUE: Servant of God Alfonse Gallegos of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Titular Bishop of Sasabe, auxiliary of Sacramento; born Feb. 20, 1931 and died Oct. 6, 1991 Servant of God Rafael Sánchez García, diocesan priest; born June 14, 1911 and died on Aug. 8, 1973 Servant of God Andrés García Acosta, professed layman of the Order of Friars Minor; born Jan. 10, 1800 and died Jan. 14, 1853 Servant of God Joseph Marchetti, professed priest of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles; born Oct. 3, 1869 and died Dec. 14, 1896 Servant of God Giacomo Viale, professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, pastor of Bordighera; born Feb. 28, 1830 and died April 16, 1912 Servant of God Maria Pia of the Cross (née Maddalena Notari), foundress of the Congregation of Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Eucharist; born Dec. 2, 1847 and died on July 1, 1919 |
|
Sunday,
November
23
2014 Six
to Be Canonized
on Feast
of Christ
the
King. On the List Are Lay Founder of a Hospital and Eastern Catholic Religious VATICAN CITY, June 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Today, the Vatican announced that during the celebration of the feast of Christ the King on Sunday, November 23, an ordinary public consistory will be held for the canonization of the following six blesseds, who include a lay founder of a hospital for the poor, founders of religious orders, and two members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See: -Giovanni Antonio Farina (1803-1888), an Italian bishop who founded the Institute of the Sisters Teachers of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts -Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871), a Syro-Malabar priest in India who founded the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate -Ludovico of Casoria (1814-1885), an Italian Franciscan priest who founded the Gray Sisters of St. Elizabeth -Nicola Saggio (Nicola da Longobardi, 1650-1709), an Italian oblate of the Order of Minims -Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877-1952), an Indian Carmelite of the Syro-Malabar Church -Amato Ronconi (1238-1304), an Italian, Third Order Franciscan who founded a hospital for poor pilgrims |
|
CAUSES
OF SAINTS
July
2015. Pope Recognizes Heroic Virtues of Ukrainian Archbishop Recognition Brings Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky Closer to Beatification By Junno Arocho Esteves Rome, July 17, 2015 (ZENIT.org) Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky. According to a communique released by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father met this morning with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The Pope also recognized the heroic virtues of several religious/lay men and women from Italy, Spain, France & Mexico. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is considered to be one of the most influential 20th century figures in the history of the Ukrainian Church. Enthroned as Metropolitan of Lviv in 1901, Archbishop Sheptytsky was arrested shortly after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 by the Russians. After his imprisonment in several prisons in Russia and the Ukraine, the Archbishop was released in 1918. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate was also an ardent supporter of the Jewish community in Ukraine, going so far as to learn Hebrew to better communicate with them. He also was a vocal protestor against atrocities committed by the Nazis, evidenced in his pastoral letter, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." He was also known to harbor thousands of Jews in his residence and in Greek Catholic monasteries. Following his death in 1944, his cause for canonization was opened in 1958. * * * The Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees regarding the heroic virtues of: - Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky, O.S.B.M., major archbishop of Leopolis of the Ukrainians, metropolitan of Halyc (1865-1944); - Servant of God Giuseppe Carraro, Bishop of Verona, Italy (1899-1980); - Servant of God Agustin Ramirez Barba, Mexican diocesan priest and founder of the Servants of the Lord of Mercy (1881-1967); - Servant of God Simpliciano della Nativita (ne Aniello Francesco Saverio Maresca), Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (1827-1898); - Servant of God Maria del Refugio Aguilar y Torres del Cancino, Mexican founder of the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1866-1937); - Servant of God Marie-Charlotte Dupouy Bordes (Marie-Teresa), French professed religious of the Society of the Religious of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1873-1953); - Servant of God Elisa Miceli, Italian founder of the Rural Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart (1904-1976); - Servant of God Isabel Mendez Herrero (Isabel of Mary Immaculate), Spanish professed nun of the Servants of St. Joseph (1924-1953) |
|
October
01,
2015
Vatican
City, Pope
Authorizes
following
Decrees (ZENIT.org) By Staff Reporter Polish Layperson Recognized as Servant of God Pope Authorizes Decrees Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for Saints' Causes to promulgate the following decrees: MARTYRDOM - Servant of God Valentin Palencia Marquina, Spanish diocesan priest, killed in hatred of the faith in Suances, Spain in 1937; HEROIC VIRTUES - Servant of God Giovanni Folci, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Opera Divin Prigioniero (1890-1963); - Servant of God Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish diocesan priest (1921-1987); - Servant of God Jose Rivera Ramirez, Spanish diocesan priest (1925-1991); - Servant of God Juan Manuel Martín del Campo, Mexican diocesan priest (1917-1996); - Servant of God Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, Italian professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (1838-1917); - Servant of God Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (nee Ersilia Penelope), Italian professed nun of the Cistercian Order (1836-1913); - Servant of God Hanna Chrzanowska, Polish layperson, Oblate of the Ursulines of St. Benedict (1902-1973). |
|
March
06
2016 MIRACLES
authorised the
Congregation
to promulgate
the following
decrees:
Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees: MIRACLES – Blessed Manuel González García, bishop of Palencia, Spain, founder of the Eucharistic Missionaries of Nazareth (1877-1940); – Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity (née Elisabeth Catez), French professed religious of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (1880-1906); – Venerable Servant of God Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus (né Henri Grialou), French professed priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, founder of the Secular Institute “Notre-Dame de Vie” (1894-1967); – Venerable Servant of God María Antonia of St. Joseph (née María Antonio de Paz y Figueroa), Argentine founder of the Beaterio of the Spiritual Exercise of Buenos Aires (1730-1799); HEROIC VIRTUE – Servant of God Stefano Ferrando, Italian professed priest of the Salesians, bishop of Shillong, India, founder of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (1895-1978); – Servant of God Enrico Battista Stanislao Verjus, Italian professed priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, coadjutor of the apostolic vicariate of New Guinea (1860-1892); – Servant of God Giovanni Battista Quilici, Italian diocesan priest, founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Crucified (1791-1844); – Servant of God Bernardo Mattio, Italian diocesan priest (1845-1914); – Servant of God Quirico Pignalberi, Italian professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1891-1982); – Servant of God Teodora Campostrini, Italian founder of the Minim Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Sorrows (1788-1860); – Servant of God Bianca Piccolomini Clementini, Italian founder of the Company of St. Angela Merici di Siena (1875-1959); – Servant of God María Nieves of the Holy Family (née María Nieves Sánchez y Fernández), Spanish professed religious of the Daughters of Mary of the Pious Schools (1900-1978). April 26 2016 MIRACLES authorised the Congregation to promulgate the following decrees: Here is the full list of decrees approved by the Pope: MIRACLES – Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910); – Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933); MARTYRDOM – Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974; – Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936; HEROIC VIRTUES – Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861); – Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952); – Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921); – Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Pasqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900); – Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917); – Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923); – Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977); – Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959). |
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