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.
May, the month of Mary, is the oldest
and most well-known Marian month, officially since 1724;
2022
22,699 lives saved
From 2007 to 2021

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

 Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary
 to those who recite the Rosary

Mary's Divine Motherhood

 We are the defenders of true freedom.
  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.

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 .

 250 St. Venantius Martyr native at Camerino near the Marquisate of Ancona in Italy
305 St. Dioscorus Martyr of Egypt a reader on the parish of Kynopolis
526 St. Pope John I Martyr succeeded persuading Emperor Justin I mitigate treatment of Arians avoid reprisals against Catholics in Italy visit  brought reconciliation of Western and Eastern Churches plagued by a schism since 482 when Zeno's Henoticon had been published
863 St. Feredarius Irish abbot of lona, Scotland moved the relics of St. Columba to Ireland
944 St. Elgiva Benedictine nun Queen mother of Kings Edwy of the Saxons and Edgar, King of England wife of Edmund the First
1160  King Eric IX Patron of Sweden aid Christianity in his realm responsible for codifying laws of his kingdom
1486 Blessed Camilla Gentili holy virgin venerated at church of the Dominican friars at San Severino V (AC)
1587 St. Felix of Cantalice noted for austerities, piety, 38 years in monastery as questor aiding sick the poor and revered by all; 

May 18 – Our Lady of the Holy Desire (Vinovo, Italy, province of Turin, 1890) 
 
Let us learn to be like Mary 
Mary is the model of the disciple, the model of the heart that listens and is in perfect unison with the will of God. Simply speaking, to convert is to learn to be like Mary. And to be like Mary is quite simple! God is simple. We are the ones who are complicated!

To be like Mary, we must learn to know her through the Gospel. In Nazareth, for example, it was not uncommon for her to go out from her home. In fact, the "outgoing Church" that Pope Francis talks about has Mary for model. She went out to meet the other women of the village just as she went to meet the guests of the wedding at Cana.

She spoke to people kindly; she was benevolent. No criticism ever came from her mouth. She spoke well of her neighbors; she would encourage and console others. Her meekness was her strength. Joy and humility are twin sisters who feed each other. Don Bosco once said: "Remember that the devil is afraid of happy people!"
Think about this sentence often: "The devil is afraid of happy people!"
 
Father Emmanuel Gobilliard, Meditation posted on March 24, 2015
Rector of the Cathedral Our Lady of Le Puy en Velay

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.

Fatima Peace Conference in India
May 18 - Our Lady of Fatima (Portugal)
From January 30 to February 5, 2008, the Fatima Center held its "Only Way to World Peace" conference in Chennai, India. Hundreds of priests and bishops attended from countries throughout the world. At least 13 nations were represented, including India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Italy, the United States and Canada.
The conference focused on the central importance of the Fatima Message, stressing Our Lady's requests at Fatima; the Rosary; Marian Doctrine and Devotion; current trends detrimental to the Catholic Faith; the United Nations as the false solution for world peace; and much more. Tens of thousands of scapulars, leaflets, flyers, magazines and books were distributed to participants eager to bring the full Fatima Message home to their dioceses and parishes.
Father Nicholas Gruner spoke of the establishment of the Fatima Movement of Priests, a worldwide movement for Catholic priests to stress the importance of Our Lady's Message at Fatima. Practically all of the attendants noted their appreciation of the event. One priest said, "My devotion to Mary was enhanced and my vocation was strengthened." Another priest said, "The conference gave me a very clear exposition of the urgency of the Message. It was challenging. I am going to be a Marian priest and do all I can to please Our Lady and obey her commands." A bishop who attended wrote these words of encouragement:
"Keep going onward, do not give up!"
See: www.fatimaondemand.org
1587 St. Felix of Cantalice noted for austerities, piety, 38 years in monastery as questor aiding sick the poor and revered by all; There is record of a great number of miracles worked after his death, and he was canonized in 1709. helped in St. Charles Borromeo's revision of the rule for his Oblates:
 “All earthly creatures can lift us up to God if we know how to look at them with an eye that is single.” loved to dwell upon the sufferings of our Lord, never weary of contemplating that great mystery.
Always cheerful, always humble, he never resented an insult or an injury.
If reviled he would only say, “I pray God that you may become a saint”.  

May 18 – Our Lady of the Holy Desire (Italy, 1890) 
 
The “I” of Mary is also our “I”
Mary has a unique destiny in human history. She is at the center of the work of salvation.
Yet her language is the same one that God himself put on her lips on the day of the Visitation,
and that he unceasingly continues to put on the lips of believers.
The “I” of the Magnificat is Mary's “I.” And by the “I” of Mary, we are reminded of the whole history of Israel. The “I” of Mary is the “I” of all the believers who came before her. But the “I” of Mary is also our “I.”

Through her mouth, it is the whole Church who is speaking, the visible Church established “from age to age,” from “generation to generation” by the men and women who have succeeded one another throughout the ages, and of whom we are a part.
Who sang that song? Mary did (…). But how much more, a billion times more, the successive generations of Christians who welcomed those words, received a light through them, and found the meaning of their life in this mystery given to each one of us through Mary.
Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger
 Saints
May
18
17
There are over 10,000 named saints beati from history
and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources		 Monsignor James M. Reardon
Basilica of Saint Mary Minneapolis, MN
250 St. Venantius Martyr native at Camerino near the Marquisate of Ancona in Italy
304 St. Felix of Spoleto Bishop and martyr of Spoleto Italy or of Spello in Umbria
304 St. Theodotus Martyr with Thecusa, Alexandra, Claudia, faina (Phaina), Euphrasia, Matrona, and Julitta
305 St. Dioscorus Martyr of Egypt a reader on the parish of Kynopolis
340 St. Potamon Bishop of Heraclea, Upper Egypt. Arrested in the final persecution of the Church
526 St. Pope John I Martyr succeeded persuading Emperor Justin I mitigate treatment of Arians avoid reprisals against Catholics in Italy visit  brought reconciliation of Western and Eastern Churches plagued by a schism since 482 when Zeno's Henoticon had been published
6th v.  Conval of Strathclyde archdeacon to Saint Kentigern active missionary (AC)
8th v. St. Merililaun Martyred pilgrim from England, journeying to Rome
863 St. Feredarius Irish abbot of lona, Scotland moved the relics of St. Columba to Ireland
944 St. Elgiva Benedictine nun Queen mother of Kings Edwy of the Saxons and Edgar, King of England wife of
       Edmund the First
1160    King Eric IX Patron of Sweden aid Christianity in his realm responsible for codifying laws of his kingdom
1486 Blessed Camilla Gentili holy virgin venerated at church of the Dominican friars at San Severino V (AC)
1587 St. Felix of Cantalice noted for austerities, piety, 38 years in monastery as questor aiding sick the poor and revered by all; There is record of a great number of miracles worked after his death, and he was canonized in 1709. helped in St. Charles Borromeo's revision of the rule for his Oblates:  “All earthly creatures can lift us up to God if we know how to look at them with an eye that is single.” loved to dwell upon the sufferings of our Lord, never weary of contemplating that great mystery. Always cheerful, always humble, he never resented an insult or an injury. If reviled he would only say, “I pray God that you may become a saint”.

250 St. Venantius Martyr native at Camerino near the Marquisate of Ancona in Italy
Cameríni sancti Venántii Mártyris, qui, annos quíndecim natus, sub Decio Imperatóre et Antíocho Præside, una cum áliis decem, gloriósi certáminis cursum, cervícibus abscíssis implévit.
    At Camerino, the holy martyr Venantius, who, at fifteen years of age, along with ten others, ended a glorious ordeal by being beheaded under Emperor Decius and the governor Antiochus.
257? ST VENANTIUS, MARTYR
IT is necessary to devote a notice to St Venantius because he is commemorated on this day with Mass and office throughout the Western church. Moreover, the fictitious history of this youth of seventeen is narrated in three long lessons in the Breviary and emphasized by a set of hymns written expressly for the feast. The honour thus paid to the martyr of Camerino is due to the personal action of Pope Clement X, who after having held the see of Camerino for close on forty years was elected pope at the age of eighty (1670—1676).
There is but the slenderest evidence of any cultus of this martyr. The fact that the name of Venantius appears in church dedications, or was attached to relics, proves little, because there was an authentic St Venantius who was the first bishop of Salona in Dalmatia, on the shore of the Adriatic. The apocryphal “acts” of the martyr of Camerino narrate that this youth came before the judge to profess himself a Christian, that he was scourged, seared with torches, suspended head downward over fire and smoke, had his teeth knocked out and his jaw broken, was thrown to the lions who only licked his feet, was precipitated without suffering any injury from a high cliff, and finally had his head cut off, with a number of other martyrs who had declared themselves Christians after witnessing the spectacle of his constancy. All this was attended with supernatural apparitions, with the death of two judges who successively presided over the tribunal before which he appeared, and finally with earthquakes and a portentous storm of thunder and lightning.
The text in which all these things are recorded is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. iv (see also May, vol. vii, appendix), but with a commentary emphasizing its unhistorical character. It seems, in fact, to be of no earlier date than the twelfth century and to be a mere imitation of the equally spurious “acts” of St Agapitus of Praeneste. It is possible that some earlier fiction which grew up round the authentic martyr, St Venantius of Salona, may have influenced both. See Karl Bihlmeyer in the Kirchliches Handlexikon, vol. ii, c. 2563.
He made a glorious confession of his faith, and after suffering many torments was beheaded in the persecution of Decius in 250, at Camerino, a city near the Marquisate of Ancona in Italy; of which place he was a native. His body is kept with singular veneration in that city. Pope Clement X., who had been bishop of Camerino, had a particular devotion to this martyr, who suffered very young. See the Bollandists.
 304 St. Felix of Spoleto Bishop and martyr of Spoleto Italy or of Spello in Umbria.
Spoléti  sancti Felícis Epíscopi, qui, sub Maximiáno Imperatóre, martyrii palmam adéptus est.
    At Spoleto, St. Felix, a bishop who obtained the palm of martyrdom under Emperor Maximian.
304 St. Theodotus Martyr with Thecusa, Alexandra, Claudia, faina (Phaina), Euphrasia, Matrona, and Julitta
Ancyræ, in Galátia, sancti Theódoti Mártyris, et sanctárum septem Vírginum et Mártyrum, scílicet Thecúsæ, quæ ipsíus Theódoti erat ámita, Alexándræ, Cláudiæ, Phaínæ, Euphrásiæ, Matrónæ et Julíttæ.  Hæ a Prǽside primum prostitútæ, sed Dei virtúte servátæ, deínde, lapídibus ad colla ligátis, in palúdem mersæ sunt; quarum relíquias colléctas cum Theódotus honorífice sepelísset, ídeo, comprehénsus a Prǽside, sævíssime dilaniátus est, ac demum, ense percússus, martyrii corónam accépit.
    At Ancyra in Galatia, the martyr St. Theodotus, and the holy virgins Thecusa, his aunt, Alexandra, Claudia, Faina, Euphrasia, Matrona, and Julitta.  They were at first taken to a place of debauchery, but the power of God prevented them from evil, and they later had stones fastened to their necks and were plunged into a lake.  For gathering the remains and burying them honorably, Theodotus was arrested by the governor, and after having been horribly lacerated, was put to the sword, and thus received the crown of martyrdom.
304? SS. THEODOTUS, THECUSA AND THEIR COMPANIONS, MARTYRS
LIKE many other narratives which have found more or less authoritative acceptance both in the Eastern and Western church, the story of SS. Theodotus, Thecusa and their companions is not historical fact but a pious romance. Shorn of many picturesque details, the tale runs as follows: Theodotus was a charitable and devout Christian who had been brought up by a maiden called Thecusa; he plied the trade of an innkeeper at Ancyra in Galatia. The faithful in this province, during the persecution of Diocletian, suffered terribly at the hands of a particularly cruel governor. Theodotus fearlessly assisted the imprisoned Christians and buried the martyrs at the risk of his life. He was bearing back the relics of St Valens, which he had rescued from the river Halys, when he encountered, near the town of Malus, a party of Christians who had recently regained their liberty through his exertions. They were overjoyed at the meeting, and sat down to an alfresco meal, to which they invited Fronto, the local Christian priest. In the course of conversation, Theodotus remarked that the place would be an ideal site for a confessio or chapel for relics.
“Yes”, was the priest’s reply, “but you must first have the relics”. “Build the church”, said Theodotus, “and I will provide the relics.” With these words he gave Fronto his ring as a pledge.
Soon afterwards there occurred in Ancyra an annual feast to Artemis and Athene, during the course of which statues of the goddesses were washed at a pond, in which women consecrated to their service bathed in view of the public. There happened to be at that time imprisoned in the town seven Christian maidens, amongst whom was Thecusa. The governor, who had been unable to shake their constancy, condemned them to be stripped, to be carried naked in an open chariot after the idols, and then to be drowned in the pond, unless they consented to wear the garlands and robes of the priestesses. As they indignantly refused to do this, the sentence was carried out, stones having been attached to the necks of the martyrs to prevent their bodies from rising. However, Theodotus recovered them one tempestuous night while the guards were sheltering from the storm, and gave them Christian burial. The secret was betrayed by an apostate, and Theodotus, after being subjected to appalling tortures, was decapitated.
Now it came to pass on the day of his friend’s death that the priest Fronto had occasion to come to Ancyra with his ass to sell wine. Night had fallen when he arrived, and as the gates were closed he gladly accepted the hospitality of a little band of soldiers encamped outside the city. In the course of conversation he discovered that they were guarding the pyre on which the body of the dead Theodotus was to be burnt on the morrow. Thereupon he plied them with his wine till they were completely intoxicated and, after replacing the ring on its former owner’s finger, he laid the body of Theodotus across the back of his ass which he set at liberty, well knowing that it would return home. In the morning he loudly bewailed the theft of the ass and thus escaped suspicion. The animal, as he had anticipated, bore its burden back to Malus, and there the confessio which Theodotus had desired was built to enshrine his own remains.
It might be said without exaggeration that the attitude adopted by modern scholars towards the story of Theodotus is typical of the change which has come over the whole science of hagiography. Alban Butler, following the footsteps of such generally sound authorities as Ruinart, the early Bollandists and Tillemont, believed that this narrative was written by one Nilus, “who had lived with the martyr, had been his fellow prisoner and was an eye-witness of what he relates”. But there are grave reasons for believing that Nilus has merely been invented by an artifice common to all fiction, and that the story, with its reminiscences of a tale occurring in Herodotus, must be treated as a romance written by an author possessing rather more literary skill than we commonly find in such cases. See Delehaye in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxii (1903), pp. 320—328 and vol. xxiii (1904), pp. 478—479. The texts are best given in P. Franchi de’ Cavalieri Studi e Testi, no. 6 (5901), and no. 33 (5920). See also the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. iv, and the Revue des Questions historiques, vol. xviii (1904), pp. 288—291.

During the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian. Theodotus was an innkeeper at Ancyra, Galatia (modern Turkey), who gave burial to seven virgins after their martyrdom for refusing to wear pagan priestess robes and take part in a pagan festival. Theodotus was himself betrayed by an apostate and was martyred.
In turn, his remains were gathered up by a Christian and sent to Malus where they received a proper burial and were enshrined in a chapel.
305 St. Dioscorus Martyr of Egypt a reader on the parish of Kynopolis
In Ægypto sancti Dióscori Lectóris, in quem Præses multa et vária torménta ita exércuit, ut ungues ejus effóderet et lampádibus látera inflammáret, sed, cæléstis lúminis fulgóre pertérriti, cecidérunt minístri; novíssime autem ipse Dióscorus, láminis ardéntibus adustus, martyrium consummávit.
    In Egypt, St. Dioscorus, a lector, who was subjected by the governor to many and diverse torments, such as the tearing off of his nails and the burning of his sides with torches; but a light from heaven having prostrated the executioners, the saint's martyrdom was finally ended by having red-hot metal plates applied to his body.
He was a reader on the parish of Kynopolis when arrested. Burned with hot irons, he died under torture.
340 St. Potamon Bishop of Heraclea, Upper Egypt. Arrested in the final persecution of the Church
 Heracléæ, in Ægypto, sancti Potamónis Epíscopi, qui primum, sub Maximiáno Galério, Confessor fuit; deínde, sub Constántio Imperatóre et Ariáno Prǽside Philágrio, martyrio coronátus est.  Ipsum vero beátum virum sancti Ecclésiæ Patres Athanásius et Epiphánius suis láudibus celebrárunt.
    At Heraclea in Egypt, Bishop St. Potamon, first a confessor under Maximian Galerius, and afterwards, a martyr under Emperor Constantius, and the Arian governor Philagrius.  Athanasius and Epiphanius, Fathers of the Church, have sung the praises of this holy man.

340 ST POTAMON, BISHOP OF HERACLEA, MARTYR the Council of Nicaea in 325; he accompanied St Athanasius to the Council of Tyre;  

ST POTAMON (Potamion) was bishop of Heraclea in Egypt. St Athanasius says that he was doubly a martyr, inasmuch as he suffered cruel persecution first for vindicating the Catholic faith before the heathen and then for defending the divinity of our Lord before the Arians. When Maximinus Daia persecuted the Christians in 350, St Potamon made a bold confession, and was subjected to savage tortures which entailed permanent lameness as well as the loss of an eye. These marks of his sufferings rendered him a conspicuous figure at the Council of Nicaea in 325, where he took a vigorous part. Ten years later he accompanied St Athanasius to the Council of Tyre and nobly defended that champion of the faith. Under the Arian Emperor Constantius, the prefect of Egypt, Philagrius, and the heretical priest Gregory who had usurped the see of Athanasius, travelled over all Egypt, tormenting and banishing the orthodox. Foremost among their victims was St Potamon, whose uncompromising attitude had specially incurred their animosity. By their order he was arrested and beaten with clubs until he was left for dead. The tender care of those who rescued him enabled him to make a partial recovery, but he died soon afterwards as the result of the ill-treatment he had received.

The available information, gathered almost entirely from SS. Epiphanius and Athanasius, is set out in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. iv. See also Hefele. Leclercq, Conciles, vol. i, pp. 658—659.
He was condemned to the mines and had one eye gouged out and one leg rendered lame, as was the custom of branding prisoners. Released by the decree of Emperor Constantine the Great, Potamon took part in the Council of Nicaea but was then severely persecuted by the Arians of Egypt, who were outraged by his unequivocal support for the equally persecuted St. Athanasius of Alexandria. He died from the indignities and cruelties inflicted upon him by the heretics. Some accounts state that the Arians beat him to death.
6th v. Conval of Strathclyde archdeacon to Saint Kentigern active missionary (AC)
Despite the efforts of Protestant reformers to eradicate the memory of Conval, archdeacon to Saint Kentigern, there is a church still in Glasgow dedicated to his memory. He was active throughout the region of Strathclyde, south of Glasgow, especially in Renfrewshire (Montague)
526 St. John I Pope Martyr he succeeded persuading Emperor Justin I to mitigate treatment of Arians thus avoid reprisals against Catholics in Italy. The Pope's visit also brought reconciliation of Western and Eastern Churches plagued by a schism since 482 when Zeno's Henoticon had been published
Ravénnæ, natális sancti Joánnis Primi, Papæ et Mártyris; qui, ab Ariáno Itáliæ Rege Theodoríco illuc dolo evocátus, ibídem, ab eo propter orthodóxam fidem diu macerátus in cárcere, vitam finívit.  Ipsíus autem festum recólitur sexto Kaléndas Júnii, quo die sacrum ejus corpus, Romam relátum, in Basílica sancti Petri, Apostolórum Príncipis, sepúltum est.
    The birthday of St. John I, pope and martyr, who was called to Ravenna by the Arian king of Italy, Theodoric, and died there after being in prison a long time for the true faith.  His feast, however, is celebrated on the 27th of May, the day on which his revered body was taken to Rome and buried in the basilica of St. Peter, prince of the apostles.

A native of Tuscany in Italy, John was elected Pope while he was still an archdeacon upon the death of Pope Hormisdas in 523. At that time, the ruler of Italy was Theodoric the Goth who subscribed to the Arian brand of Christianity, but tolerated and even favored his Catholic subjects during the early part of his reign. However, about the time of St. John's accession to the Papacy, Theodoric's policy underwent a drastic change as a result of two events:
the treasonable (in the sovereign's view) correspondence between ranking members of the Roman Senate and Constantinople
and the severe edict against heretics enacted by the emperor Justin I, who was the first Catholic on the Byzantine throne in fifty years.

Spurred on by the appeals of Eastern Arians, Theodoric threatened to wage war against Justin but ultimately decided to negotiate with him through a delegation of five Bishops and four senators. At its head he named Pope John - much against the latter's wishes. Little is known for certain about the nature of the message which the Pope bore and the manner in which he carried out his mission. What is known is that he succeeded in persuading the Emperor to mitigate his treatment of the Arians and thus avoid reprisals against the Catholics in Italy.
The Pope's visit also brought about the reconciliation of the Western and Eastern Churches which had been plagued by a schism since 482 when Zeno's Henoticon had been published.
However, Theodoric had been becoming more suspicious with each passing day.

While waiting for the delegation to return, he ordered the execution of the philosopher Boethius and his father-in-law Symmachus on a charge of treason; and as he got word of the friendly relations between the Pope and the emperor, he concluded that they were plotting against him. Hence, on the delegation's return to the capitol city of Ravenna, Pope John was imprisoned by order of Theodoric and died a short time later as a result of the treatment he experienced there.

John I, Pope M (RM) Born in Tuscany, Italy; died May 18 or 19, 526; feast day formerly May 27. Saint John became archdeacon in Rome, and on August 13, 523, was elected pope to succeed Saint Hormisdas. At that time he was already very old and frail. Despite his protests, he was sent by the Arian King Theodoric of the Ostrogoths to Constantinople to secure a moderation of Emperor's Justin's decree of 523 against the Arians, compelling them to surrender to Catholics the churches they held in the East.
Theodoric threatened that if John should fail in his mission, there would be reprisals against the orthodox Catholics in the West.

Theodoric also resented the increasing cordiality between the Latin and Greek churches, fearing that it might lead to the restoration of imperial Byzantine authority in Italy, which he ruled. John was warmly received by Justin and huge crowds; however, his mission was not a success for Theodoric. He won only minor concessions from the Eastern emperor.

When Pope John returned to Ravenna (Theodoric's capital) he discovered that Theodoric had murdered his friend and confidant, the great philosopher Severinus Boëthius, as well as his father-in-law Symmachus. Theodoric had John arrested as soon as he landed in Italy on the suspicion of having conspired with Emperor Justin. He was imprisoned at Ravenna, where he died of neglect and ill treatment. Some modern writers contest his claim to martyrdom.
Pope Saint John is responsible for introducing to the West the Alexandrian calculation for the date of Easter (Attwater2, Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer).

John I is depicted in art as looking through the bars of a prison or imprisoned with a deacon and a subdeacon. He is venerated at Ravenna and in Tuscany (Roeder).
St. John I (d. 526)Friday, May 18, 2012
Pope John I inherited the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. Italy had been ruled for 30 years by an emperor who espoused the heresy, though he treated the empire’s Catholics with toleration. His policy changed at about the time the young John was elected pope.
When the eastern emperor began imposing severe measures on the Arians of his area, the western emperor forced John to head a delegation to the East to soften the measures against the heretics. Little is known of the manner or outcome of the negotiations—designed to secure continued toleration of Catholics in the West.
When John returned to Rome, he found that the emperor had begun to suspect his friendship with his eastern rival.
On his way home, John was imprisoned when he reached Ravenna because the emperor suspected a conspiracy against his throne. Shortly after his imprisonment, John died, apparently from the treatment he had received.
Comment: We cannot choose the issues for which we have to suffer and perhaps die. John I suffered because of a power-conscious emperor. Jesus suffered because of the suspicions of those who were threatened by his freedom, openness and powerlessness. “If you find that the world hates you, know it has hated me before you” (John 15:18).
Quote: “Martyrdom makes disciples like their Master, who willingly accepted death for the salvation of the world, and through it they are made like him by the shedding of blood. Therefore, the Church considers it the highest gift and supreme test of love. And while it is given to few, all however must be prepared to confess Christ before humanity and to follow him along the way of the cross amid the persecutions which the Church never lacks” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 42, Austin Flannery translation).
8th v. St. Merililaun Martyred pilgrim from England, journeying to Rome
He was from England, journeying to Rome, when he was slain at Reims, France, under circumstances that warranted his being considered a martyr.
863 St. Feredarius Irish abbot of lona, Scotland moved the relics of St. Columba to Ireland
He moved the relics of St. Columba to Ireland because of Danish raids.
944 St. Elgiva Benedictine nun Queen mother of Kings Edwy of the Saxons and Edgar, King of England wife of Edmund the First
She gave up public life and became a Benedictine nun at Shaftesbury.
1160 King Eric IX Patron of Sweden; aid Christianity in his realm; responsible for codifying laws of his kingdom
Upsali, in Suécia, sancti Eríci, Regis et Mártyris.    At Upsal in Sweden, St. Eric, king and martyr.

1161 ST ERIC OF SWEDEN, MARTYR
ST ERIC was acknowledged king in most parts of Sweden in 1150, and his line subsisted for a hundred years. He did much to establish Christianity in Upper Sweden and built or completed at Old Uppsala the first large church to be erected in his country. It is said that the ancient laws and constitutions of the kingdom were by his orders collected into one volume, which became known as King Eric’s Law or the Code of Uppland. The king soon had to take up arms against the heathen Finns, who were making descents upon his territories and pillaging the country. He vanquished them in battle, and at his desire, St Henry, Bishop of Uppsala, an Englishman, who had accompanied him on the expedition, remained in Finland to evangelize the people.

The king’s zeal for the faith was far from pleasing to some of his nobles, and we are told that they entered into a conspiracy with Magnus, the son of the king of Denmark. St Eric was hearing Mass on the day after the feast of the Ascension when news was brought that a Danish army, swollen with Swedish rebels, was marching against him and was close at hand. He answered calmly, “Let us at least finish the sacrifice the rest of the feast I shall keep elsewhere”  After Mass was over, he recommended his soul to God, and marched forth in advance of his guards. The conspirators rushed upon him, beat him down from his horse, and cut off his head. His death occurred on May 18, 1161.

Although St Eric was never formally canonized, he was regarded as the principal patron of Sweden until the Protestant Reformation. His banner, which was always carried in battle, has played a great part in Swedish history and was regarded as a portent of victory. The king’s relics are preserved in the cathedral of Uppsala, and his effigy appears in the arms of Stockholm.
Eric IX of Sweden King of Sweden from 1150, Eric did much to aid Christianity in his realm and was responsible for codifying the laws of his kingdom, which became known as King Eric's Law (also the code of Uppland).
The principal source for the life of St Eric is the biography written more than a century and a half after his death by the Dominican Israel Erlandson, little enough of which is confirmed by other sources. It is printed with annotations, in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. iv. In the Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, vol. iii, c. 753, references are given to some more modern authorities in Swedish who deal with the events of St Eric’s reign. See Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lx, p. 267.

He led a victorious expedition against the marauding Finns and persuaded English bishop Henry of Uppsala to remain in Finnland to evangelize the Finns. Eric was killed and beheaded near Uppsala by rebelling Swedish nobles in the army of Magnus, son of the King of Denmark, who had invaded his territory, on May 18.
Though never formally canonized, Eric was long considered the Patron of Sweden.

1369 BD WILLIAM OF TOULOUSE and with the triple promise he made at his profession he dedicated himself to the Holy Trinity. With the vow of obedience he offered himself to the Father under whom all things are in subjection, with the vow of poverty to the Son who for our sake became poor, and with the vow of chastity to the Holy Ghost, the spouse of our Lady and all pure souls.

AT a very early age Bd William de Naurose joined the Hermits of St Augustine in his native city of Toulouse. Young though he was, he had already begun to tread the path of perfection, and with the triple promise he made at his profession he dedicated himself to the Holy Trinity. With the vow of obedience he offered himself to the Father under whom all things are in subjection, with the vow of poverty to the Son who for our sake became poor, and with the vow of chastity to the Holy Ghost, the spouse of our Lady and all pure souls.
After his ordination he was sent to pursue higher studies at the University of Paris, then the educational centre of Christendom. His course completed, he was entrusted with mission work and soon became celebrated as a preacher and as a director of souls. A great promoter of prayer for the holy souls in Purgatory, he was once visited by a wealthy woman who gave him gold, requesting his prayers for her deceased relations. Bd William at once said aloud, “Eternal rest give to them, 0 Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace,” and stopped short— much to the disappointment of his visitor, who plainly intimated that she expected more prayers for her money. The holy priest replied by bidding her write down his prayer and weigh it in a balance with her bag of gold. She did so, and lo! it was the money which kicked the beam, while down came the scale with the prayer. Bd William had a reputation for delivering those possessed by devils, but was himself said to be troubled by evil spirits, who sometimes appeared to him in visible form and tried to do him bodily harm. He died on May 18, 1369, and his cult was confirmed in 1893.

The short life by Nicholas Bertrand which is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. iv, was written a century and a half after the death of Bd William. There is also a brief historical summary in the decree approving the cult and a compendious account of the beatus by N. Mattioli, in Italian, was published in 1894.
1486 Blessed Camilla Gentili holy virgin venerated at church of the Dominican friars at San Severino V (AC)
cultus approved in 1841. Camilla was a holy virgin who is venerated at the church of the Dominican friars at San Severino (Benedictines).
1587 St. Felix of Cantalice; noted for his austerities, piety, 38 years in monastery as questor aiding sick the poor and revered by all helped in St. Charles Borromeo's revision of the rule for his Oblates; There is record of a great number of miracles worked after his death, and he was canonized in 1709.
Romæ sancti Felícis Confessóris, ex Ordine Minórum Capuccinórum, evangélica simplicitáte et caritáte conspícui; quem Clemens Undécimus, Póntifex Máximus, Sanctórum fastis adscrípsit.
    At Rome, St. Felix, confessor of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, celebrated for his evangelical simplicity and charity.  He was inscribed on the roll of the saints by the Sovereign Pontiff Clement XI.

1587 ST FELIX OF CANTALICE “All earthly creatures can lift us up to God if we know how to look at them with an eye that is single.” He loved to dwell upon the sufferings of our Lord, never weary of contemplating that great mystery. Always cheerful, always humble, he never resented an insult or an injury. If reviled he would only say, “I pray God that you may become a saint”.

ST FELIX was born at Cantalice, near Città Ducale in Apulia. His parents were devout peasants and he himself early evinced such piety that his little companions when they saw him approach would cry out, “Here comes Felix the saint!” As a child he acted as cowherd and often, after driving his cattle to some quiet pasturage, he would spend much time praying at the foot of a tree in the bark of which he had cut a cross. At the age of twelve he was hired out, first as a shepherd and afterwards as a ploughman, to a well-to-do landowner of Città Ducale, named Mark Tully Pichi or Picarelli.
When still quite young, Felix taught himself to meditate during his work, and he soon attained to a high degree of contemplation. In God, in himself, and in all creatures round him, he found a perpetual fund of religious thoughts and affections. In his later life a religious once asked him how he con­trived to keep himself constantly in the presence of God amid the bustle of daily cares and the multiplicity of distractions. “All earthly creatures can lift us up to God”, he replied, “if we know how to look at them with an eye that is single.” He loved to dwell upon the sufferings of our Lord, and he was never weary of contemplating that great mystery. Always cheerful, always humble, he never resented an insult or an injury. If anyone reviled him he would only say, “I pray God that you may become a saint”. An account he heard read of the fathers in the desert attracted him to the life of a hermit, but he decided that it might prove to be a dangerous one for him.

He was still in doubt as to his future vocation when the question was decided for him through an accident. He was ploughing one day with two fresh young bullocks when his master unexpectedly entered the field. His sudden appearance or something else scared the animals and they bolted, knocking down Felix as he tried to hold them in. He was trampled upon; the plough passed over his body, but in spite of this he arose unhurt. In gratitude for this deliverance he promptly betook himself to the Capuchin monastery of Città Ducale, where he asked to be received as a lay-brother. The father guardian, after warning him of the austerity of the life, led him before a crucifix, saying, “See what Jesus Christ has suffered for us!” Felix burst into tears, and impressed the superior with the conviction that a soul which felt so deeply must be drawn by God.

During the noviciate, which he passed at Anticoli, Felix appeared already filled with the spirit of his order, with a love of poverty, humiliations and crosses. Often he would beg the novice-master to double his penances and mortifications and to treat him with greater severity than the rest who, he declared, were more docile and naturally more inclined to virtue. Although he thought everyone in the house better than himself, his fellow religious, like the children of Cantalice, spoke of him amongst themselves as “The saint”.
In 1545, when he was about thirty, he made his solemn vows. Four years later he was sent to Rome where for forty years, practically until his death, he filled the post of questor, with the daily duty to go round begging for food and alms for the sustenance of the community. The post was a trying one, but Felix delighted in it because it entailed humiliations, fatigue, and discomforts, and his spirit of recollection was never interrupted. With the sanction of his superiors, who placed entire confidence in his discretion, he assisted the poor liberally out of the alms he collected; and he loved to visit the sick, tending them with his own hands, and consoling the dying.
   St Philip Neri held him in great regard and delighted in conversing with him: the two men, as a greeting, would wish each other sufferings for Christ’s sake. When St Charles Borromeo sent to St Philip the rules he had drawn up for his Oblates with a request that he would revise them, St Philip excused himself but referred them to the Capuchin lay-brother. In vain did St Felix protest that he was illiterate: the rules were read to him and he was commanded to give his opinion about them. He advised the omission of certain regulations which struck him as being too difficult. These emendations were accepted by St Charles, who expressed great admiration for the judgement that had prompted them.

St Felix chastised himself with almost incredible severity and invariably went barefoot, without sandals. He wore a shirt of iron links and plates studded with iron spikes. When he could do so without singularity, he fasted on bread and water, picking out of the basket for his own dinner the crusts left by others. He tried to conceal from notice the remarkable spiritual favours he received, but often when he was serving Mass he was so transported in ecstasy that he could not make the responses. For everything that he saw, for all that befell him, he gave thanks to God, and the words “Deo gratias” were so constantly on his lips that the Roman street-urchins called him Brother Deogratias. When he was old and was suffering from a painful complaint, their cardinal protector, who loved him greatly, told his superiors that he ought to be relieved of his wearisome office. But Felix asked to be allowed to continue his rounds, on the ground that the soul grows sluggish if the body is pampered. He died at the age of seventy-two, after being consoled on his death-bed by a vision of our Lady. There is record of a great number of miracles worked after his death, and he was canonized in 1709.

The Bollandists, in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. iv, have published a considerable selection of materials presented in the beatification process, a process which was begun only a short time after Brother Felix’s death, when witnesses were still available who had lived with him and had been the spectators of his virtues. There is no lack of other biographies, but they are mostly based on the same materials, e.g. those by John Baptist of Perugia, Maximus of Valenza, Angelo Rossi, etc. Lady Amabel Kerr published in 1900 a very acceptable sketch entitled A Son of St Francis. See also Léon, L’Auréole Séraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. ii, pp. 198—n3, and Etudes franciscaines, t. xxxiii, pp. 97—109.
Felix of Cantalice was born of peasant parents at Cantalice, Apulia, Italy. He was a shepherd and a farm laborer in his youth, became a Capuchin lay brother at nearby Citta Ducale Monastery in Anticoli, and became noted for his austerities and piety. He was sent to Rome in 1549 and spent the next thirty-eight years in the monastery there as questor, aiding the sick and the poor and revered by all.
He was a friend of St. Philip Neri and helped in St. Charles Borromeo's revision of the rule for his Oblates. Felix was canonized in 1709.


THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 8

O Lady, thou hast tried me and known me: my ruin and my transgression.

Thy mercy is plentiful above me: and thy clemency is great to me.

Thine eye hath beheld mine imperfect being: and thine eyebrows have known my ways.

We have from the Holy Spirit an abundance of holy desires: and the stain of sin does not trouble our conscience.

The light of thy mercy makes serene our heart: and the sweetness of thy peace recreates us.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MIRACLES
– Blessed Alfonso Maria Fusco, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist (1839-1910);
– Venerable Servant of God John Sullivan, professed priest of the Society of Jesus (1861-1933);
MARTYRDOM
– Servants of God Nikolle Vinçenc Prennushi, O.F.M., archbishop of Durres, Albania, and 37 companions killed between 1945 and 1974;
– Servants of God José Antón Gómez and three companions of the Benedictines of Madrid, Spain, killed 1936;
HEROIC VIRTUES
– Servant of God Thomas Choe Yang-Eop, diocesan priest (1821-1861);
– Servant of God Sosio Del Prete (né Vincenzo), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Congregation of the Little Servants of Christ the King (1885-1952);
– Servant of God Wenanty Katarzyniec (né Jósef), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (1889-1921);
– Servant of God Maria Consiglia of the Holy Spirity (née Emilia Pasqualina Addatis), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Addolorata, Servants of Mary (1845-1900);
– Servant of God Maria of the Incarnation (née Caterina Carrasco Tenorio), founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of the Flock of Mary (1840-1917);
– Servant of God , founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1851-1923);
– Servant of God Ilia Corsaro, founder of the Congregation of the Little Missionaries of the Eucharist (1897-1977);
– Servant of God Maria Montserrat Grases García, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1941-1959).
LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000)  India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858 
China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798  
Links to Related Marian Websites  Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  Uniates, PSALTER  BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 8 2022