67 St. Plautilla baptized by St. Peter witnessed execution of St. Paul. wife of Emperor Vespasian
Romæ sanctæ Plautíllæ, féminæ Consuláris, quæ beatórum Mártyrum Flávii Cleméntis Cónsulis soror et Fláviæ Domitíllæ Vírginis mater éxstitit; atque, a sancto Petro Apóstolo baptizáta, ómnium virtútum laude refúlgens, quiévit in pace.
At Rome, St. Plautilla, wife of a consul, sister of the consul Flavius Clemens, and mother of the holy virgin Flavia Domitilla, both martyrs. She was baptized by the apostle St. Peter, and after giving an example of all the virtues, she rested in peace.

A Roman widow, reputedly the mother of St. Flavia Domitilla and the wife of Emperor Vespasian, who was exiled by Emperor Domitian for being a Christian. It is unlikely that Plautilla was Flavia’s mother, as history records her mother to be Flavia Domitilla, wife of Vespasian. In legend, Plautilla was also said to have been baptized by St. Peter and to have witnessed the execution of St. Paul.

297 St. Baudelius, married, zealous missionary, beheaded at Nimes for interrupting a festival in honor of the Roman deity, Jupiter
Nemáusi, in Gálliis, sancti Baudélii Mártyris, qui comprehénsus est a Pagánis, et cum sacrificáre nollet idólis et in Christi fide inter vérbera et torménta immóbilis persísteret, martyrii palmam pretiósa morte suscépit.
At Nimes in France, St. Baudelius, martyr. Being arrested, but refusing to sacrifice to idols, and remaining immovable in the faith of Christ, despite blows and tortures, he gained the palm of martyrdom by his praiseworthy death.

Patron of Nimes, France, a missionary born in Orleans. Married, he preached throughout his region and was beheaded at Nimes for interrupting a festival in honor of the Roman deity, Jupiter. There are some four hundred churches in his honor in France and northern Spain.

Baudelius of Nîmes M (RM) 2nd or 3rd century. Born in Orléans, Baudelius married and worked zealously to spread Christianity. He was martyred at Nîmes. His cultus spread throughout France and northern Spain: there are some 400 churches dedicated to him (Benedictines).

284 St. Thalelaeus Physician called 'the Merciful' for his gratis services to the sick poor martyr with Alexander, Asterius, and companions son of a Roman general
Edéssæ, apud Ægas, in Cilícia, sanctórum Mártyrum Thalelǽi, Astérii, Alexándri et Sociórum, qui sub Numeriáno Imperatóre passi sunt.
At Edessa near Aegea in Cilicia, the holy martyrs Thalalaeus, Asterius, Alexander, and their companions, who suffered under Emperor Numerian.
284 ST THALELAEUS, MARTYR
ON the ground that St Thalelaeus was a physician who gave his services gratis, the Greeks call him “the Merciful”, and reckon him amongst their so-called “Money-less” or disinterested saints. In the Roman Martyrology he is entered as having suffered at Edessa in Syria, but this is a mistake the actual scene of his martyrdom was Aegae in Cilicia. Said to have been a native of the Lebanon and the son of a Roman general, he practised at Anazarbus. When persecution broke out during the reign of the Emperor Numerian, he escaped to an olive grove where he was captured. After being conveyed to the coast town of Aegae, he was strung up on a rope and cast into the sea. He managed to swim to shore and was beheaded. This, at least, is the story told in his quite unreliable Greek “acts”. With him are associated a number of other martyrs, including Alexander and Asterius, who were either officials charged with his execution but converted by his fortitude, or else sympathizing bystanders.

Two Greek texts have been printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. v, and there is also an Armenian rendering, which F. C. Conybeare translated into English in his Apology and Acts of Apollonius… (1894). Delehaye (Origines du Guile des Martyrs, p. 165) shows that there is no reason to question the fact of the martyrdom of St Thalelaeus, and that there was a considerable cultus.

He earned the nickname "the merciful" owing to charitable service to the poor and sick in the town of Anazarbus, in Cilicia (Asia Minor). He was martyred at Aegae, in Cilicia, by beheading after drowning failed to kill him. Asterius and Alexander were two Roman executioners or perhaps bystanders who were put to death with him because of their display of compassion.

Thalelaeus and Companions MM (RM) Born in Lebanon; The son of a Roman general, Thalelaeus became a physician at Anazarbus, Cilicia, where he was, and fled to escape the persecution of Christians under Emperor Numerian. Thalelaeus was captured, brought to Aegea, Cilicia (mistakenly called Edessa, Syria, in the Roman Martyrology), and then beheaded when an attempt to drown him failed. Also martyred with him were Alexander and Asterius, two bystanders, who may have been the officers in charge of his execution, because of their compassion for him, and other spectators who were converted by his constancy (Benedictines, Delaney).

300 St. Hilary Bishop of Toulouse, France.

Hilary of Toulouse B (AC) 4th century. All that is known is that he was bishop of Toulouse, France (Benedictines). In art, Hilary is a bearded bishop superintending the building of a chapel for the relics of Saint Saturninus (Roeder).

304 St. Basilissa beheaded for her faith
Item Romæ, via Salária, natális sanctæ Basíllæ Vírginis, quæ, cum esset ex régio génere, et illustríssimum sponsum habéret illúmque dimisísset, accusáta fuit ab eo quod esset Christiána, et mox decrétum est a Galliéno Augústo ut aut sponsum recíperet, aut gládio interíret; cumque ipsa Virgo, convénta de hoc, respondísset se Regem regum habére sponsum, gládio transverberáta est.
Also at Rome, on the Salarian Way, the birthday of St. Basilla, virgin, who was of a royal family and betrothed to a nobleman. When she refused to marry him, he accused her of being a Christian. Emperor Gallienus gave orders that she should accept the person to whom she had been engaged, or die by the sword. Being informed of this, and answering that she had for her spouse the King of kings, she was pierced with a sword.

304 ST BASILLA, or BASILISSA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR
According to the Roman Martyrology St Basilla was a maiden related to the imperial family who suffered in Rome about the middle of the third century. Affianced in her childhood to a patrician named Pompeius, she refused after her conversion to Christianity to carry out the contract, because she had consecrated herself to our Lord at the time of her baptism. Pompeius denounced her to the Emperor Gallienus, who left her free to choose between marriage and death by the sword. She preferred the second, and was beheaded on the Salarian Way. These details, and in particular the mention of Gallienus in the third century, are probably wholly erroneous. In 1654 in the Catacomb of St Cyriacus a tomb was discovered which bore the inscription “Basilla”, together with a palm branch and a dove— the symbols of a virgin martyr. The bones found within were translated with great pomp to the Hôtel-Dieu at Bayeux in Normandy as being those of our third-century saint, but this identification is now generally discredited, and the Bayeux relics are regarded as being those of an unknown martyr.

Though we have no detailed “acts” of Basilla, but only a passing reference in the quite untrustworthy Passion of St Eugenia, there can be no question that Basilla was an authentic martyr. Her name is entered with a date (= Ad. 304) in the Roman Depositio Martyrum. Inscriptions invoking her have been found in the catacombs, and there is mention of her in the Hieronymianum on this day. The only difficulty is that the Depositio Martyrum assigns her martyrdom to September 22.

Basilla, also known as Basilissa, was a member of a noble Roman family. She refused to marry Pompeius, a Roman patrician, after her conversion to Christianity. She was beheaded for her faith when she was denounced to Emperor Galienus by Pompeius and remained steadfast in her refusal to marry him. The facts of the story are uncertain.

Basilla (Basilissa) of Rome VM (RM) 304. Basilla, a Roman maiden, was betrothed to a pagan patrician. When she became a Christian, she refused to marry him. Forced to choose between her bridegroom and death, she at once chose the latter and was accordingly martyred for Christ (Benedictines).

311 St. Aquila Egyptian martyr prefect Arianus had ordered torture subsequently became Christian and martyr
In Thebáide sancti Aquilæ Mártyris, qui pectínibus pro Christo dilaniátus fuit.
In Thebais, St. Aquila, martyr to the faith, whose body was torn with iron combs.
An Egyptian martyr. In the persecution conducted by co-Emperor Maximin Daia, Aquila was torn to pieces with iron combs. His death was witnessed by the prefect Arianus, who became a Christian and a martyr.
Aquila of Nîmes M (RM) An Egyptian, torn to pieces with iron combs under Maximinus Daza. The prefect Arianus, who had ordered this torture, subsequently became a Christian and a martyr in the same persecution (Benedictines).

380? ST BAUDELIUS, MARTYR
Nemáusi, in Gálliis, sancti Baudélii Mártyris, qui comprehénsus est a Pagánis, et cum sacrificáre nollet idólis et in Christi fide inter vérbera et torménta immóbilis persísteret, martyrii palmam pretiósa morte suscépit.
At Nimes in France, St. Baudelius, martyr. Being arrested, but refusing to sacrifice to idols, and remaining immovable in the faith of Christ, despite blows and tortures, he gained the palm of martyrdom by his praiseworthy death.
IT is certain that a large number of churches in France and Spain have been dedicated in honour of St Baudelius, whose tomb was formerly one of the most venerated shrines in Provence, but little is actually known of his history except that he perished for the faith at Nimes. Even the date of his martyrdom is uncertain some authorities give it as 187, others as 297, and others place it as late as the close of the fourth century. If we may put any trust in his fabulous "acts", he was a married man who came with his wife from a foreign land to evangelize southern Gaul. He arrived at Nimes one day when a feast was being celebrated in honour of Jupiter, and was moved to harangue the people on the truths of Christianity and the errors of paganism. He was arrested, and his head was struck off with an axe. St Gregory of Tours, who wrote in the sixth century, mentions the numerous miracles wrought at the tomb of St Baudelius, adding that his cult had spread all over the Christian world. He is the principal patron of Nimes, where he is called Baudille.

See the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. v; there are other Latin texts enumerated in BHL., nn. 1043--1047. St Baudelius is commemorated on this day in the Hieronymianum and Delehaye’s commentary thereon furnishes references to the evidence for early cultus.

610 St. Anastasius XIII converted the Lombards from the heresy of Arianism

Bríxiæ sancti Anastásii Epíscopi. At Brescia, St. Anastasius, bishop.

Bishop of Brescia, Lombardy Italy. Anastasius converted the Lombards from the heresy of Arianism. His relics were solemnly translated by St. Charles Borromeo in 1581.
Anastasius of Brescia B (RM) Bishop Anastasius of Brescia, Lombardy, greatly contributed to the conversion of the Lombards from Arianism. Saint Charles Borromeo solemnly translated his relics in 1581 (Benedictines).

624 St. Austregisilus knight priest Bishop and abbot
Apud Bitúrcias, in Aquitánia, sancti Austregísili, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
At Bourges in France, St. Austregisil, bishop and confessor.
624 ST AUSTREGISILUS, OR OUTRIL, BISHOP OF BOURGES
AT the court of King Guntramnus at Chalon-sur-Saône, the youth Austregisilus, who was the son of an impoverished nobleman of Bourges, bore a high reputation. He did not, however, escape the tongue of calumny, and was sentenced to face his accuser in ordeal by battle in order to clear himself of a serious charge. The death of his opponent by a fall from his horse just before the fight was regarded as a special intervention of Providence. It confirmed Austregisilus in an intention which he had previously formed of retiring from the world; for when the king urged him to marry he had replied, "If I had a good wife I should be afraid of losing her; if a bad one, I should be better with none". Austregisilus was ordained priest by his friend St Aetherius, who also nominated him abbot of Saint-Nizier at Lyons. As a superior he gained a reputation for wisdom and miracles. In 612 he was elected bishop of Bourges and presided in this his native city until his death, twelve years later. Amongst his disciples was St Amandus, who as a young man came to Bourges and lived in a cell near the cathedral under the direction of the bishop.

The life printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. v, has also been critically edited in MGH, Scriptores Merov., vol. iv, pp. 188—208. B. Krusch considers that the writer’s claim to be a contemporary is fictitious, and that the text was really compiled a couple of centuries later. See also Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. i, p. 29.

Bishop and abbot, also called Outril. He was the son of a Bourges nobleman who faced an ordeal by battle at the court of King Guntramnus. When his opponent died just before the ordeal, Austregisilus turned from the world. He became a priest and was ordained by St. Aetherius. Entering Nazaire Abbey in Lyon, he became abbot, and in 612 was named bishop of Bourges, France.

Austregisilus of Bourges B (RM) (also known as Outril(le), Aoustrille) Born at Bourges; Saint Austregisilus was educated as a courtier, but preferred the life of a monk and entered the abbey of Saint-Nizier at Lyons, where he became abbot. In 612, he was elected bishop of Bourges (Benedictines). In art, Saint Austregisilus is portrayed as a knight on horseback, sometimes with a religious habit over his armor. A man falls from a horse in front of him (Roeder).

778 St. Theodore of Pavia Bishop several times banished from his diocese by the Arian Lombard kings B (RM)

Papíæ sancti Theodóri Epíscopi. At Pavia, St. Theodore, bishop

Little is known of the early life of St. Theodore of Pavia. We are first introduced to him as Bishop of Pavia. Theodore headed the See of Pavia from 743 to 778. During his thiry-five year service in Pavia he was subject to great opposition. Several times he was banished from his diocese by the Arian Lombard kings. Undoubtedly Theodore preached against the Arian heresy and was thus punished. Nonetheless, he remained faithful to the end and was eventually canonized.

Theodore of Pavia B (RM) . Theodore was bishop of Pavia, Italy, from 743 to 778. He had to endure much, including repeated banishment, at the hands of the Arian Lombard kings (Benedictines).

793 Ethelbert of East Anglia a man of prayer from his childhood miracles revealed at his hidden tomb M (AC)

Died near Hereford, England, in 793. King Ethelbert had a considerable cultus during the middle ages, although some, such as William of Malmesbury, have misgivings about the continuance of his veneration. He was murdered at Sutton Walls in Herefordshire, apparently for dynastic reasons at the instigation of the wife of Offa of Mercia.

His pious vita, written by Giraldus Cambrensis, tells us that Ethelbert was a man of prayer from his childhood. While still very young, he succeeded his father Ethelred as king of East Anglia and ruled benevolently for 44 years. It is said that his usual maxim is that the higher the station of man, the humbler he ought to be. This was the rule for his own conduct.

Desiring to secure stability for his kingdom by an heir, he sought the hand of the virtuous Alfreda, daughter of the powerful King Offa. With this in mind, he visited Offa at Sutton-Wallis, four miles Hereford. He was courteously entertained, but after some days, treacherously murdered by Grimbert, an officer of king Offa, through the contrivance of queen Quendreda who wanted to add his kingdom to their own.

His body was secretly buried at Maurdine of Marden, but miracles revealed its hiding place. Soon it was moved to a church at Fernley (Heath of Fern), now called Hereford. The town grew around the church bearing Ethelbert's name after King Wilfrid of Mercia enlarged and enriched it.

Quendreda died miserably within three months after her crime. Her daughter Alfreda became a hermit at Croyland. Offa made atonement for the sin of his queen by a pilgrimage to Rome, where he founded a school for the English. Egfrid, the only son of Offa, died after a reign of some months, and the Mercian crown was translated into the family descended of Penda (Attwater, Benedictines).

1099 Blessed Guy de Gherardescha led a solitary life at Campo in the diocese of Massa Maritima Hermit (AC)
Born in Pisa, Italy; Guy led a solitary life at Campo in the diocese of Massa Maritima, Italy (Benedictines).

1242 Blessed Orlando of Vallombrosa celebrated as an exorcist OSB Vall. Hermit (AC)
Orlando was a Vallombrosan lay-brother who was celebrated as an exorcist (Benedictines).

1245 Blessed Albert of Bologna, OSB Vall. Abbot (AC)
Born in Bologna, Italy; died there in 1245. Albert was a member of the Parisi family, who became a monk and later an abbot of the Vallombrosan abbey near Bologna, which after his death was renamed S. Alberto (Benedictines).

1444 St. Bernardine of Siena He was called the "People's Preacher" because his sermons were filled with lively and realistic depictions of everything from a bachelor's household to women's fashions throughout his life he was noted for his unfailing affability, patience and courtesy; It is impossible to follow him on his missionary journeys, for in them he covered nearly the whole of Italy; His tomb at Aquila was honoured by many miracles
Aquilæ, in Vestínis, sancti Bernardíni Senénsis, Sacerdótis ex Ordine Minórum et Confessóris, qui verbo et exémplo Itáliam illustrávit.
At Aquila in Abruzzi, St. Bernardin of Siena, priest of the Order of Friars Minor, who added to the glory of Italy by his preaching and his example.
1444 ST BERNARDINO OF SIENA ,

ST BERNARDINO was born in the Tuscan town of Massa Marittima, in which his father, a member of the noble Sienese family of the Albizeschi, occupied the post of governor. The little boy lost both his parents before he was seven and was entrusted to the care of a maternal aunt and her daughter— both excellent women, who gave him a religious training and loved him as though he had been their own child. Upon reaching the age of eleven or twelve he was placed by his uncles at school in Siena, where he passed with great credit through the course of studies deemed requisite for a boy of his rank. He grew up a good-looking lad, so merry and entertaining that it was impossible to be dull in his company; but a coarse or blasphemous remark would always bring a blush to his cheek and generally a remonstrance to his lips. Once when a man of position sought to lead him into vice, Bernardino struck him in the face with his fists, and on a second and similar occasion he incited his comrades to join him in pelting the tempter with mud and stones. Except when thus moved by righteous indignation, Bernardino was singularly sweet-tempered; indeed, throughout his life he was noted for his unfailing affability, patience and courtesy.
At the age of seventeen he enrolled himself in a confraternity of our Lady, the members of which pledged themselves to certain devotional practices as well as to the relief of the sick; and he at once embarked upon a course of severe bodily mortification. In 1400 Siena was visited by the plague in a virulent form, So serious was its toll that from twelve to twenty persons died daily in the famous hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, which found itself bereft of almost all who tended the sick. In this extremity Bernardino offered to take entire charge of the establishment, with the help of some other young men whom he had fired with the determination to sacrifice their lives if necessary to aid the sufferers. Their services were accepted, and for four months the noble band worked tirelessly, day and night, under the direction of Bernardino, who, besides nursing the patients and preparing them for death, saw to everything and brought order as well as cleanliness into the hospital. Though several of his companions died, Bernardino escaped the contagion and returned home after the epidemic was over, lhe was, however, so exhausted by his labours that he fell an easy prey to a fever which laid him low for several months.
Upon his recovery he found that his immediate duty lay close at hand. An aunt named Bartolomea, to whom he was much attached, had become blind as well as bedridden, and to her he devoted himself as he had done to the plague-stricken in the hospital. When, fourteen months later, God called the invalid to Himself, it was in the arms of her nephew that she breathed her last. Free now from all earthly ties, Bernardino set himself by prayer and fasting to learn God’s will as to his future. By this means he was led to enter the Franciscan Order, the habit of which he received shortly afterwards in Siena. The house, however, proved too accessible to the novice’s many friends and relations, and with the consent of his superiors he retired to the convent of Colombaio outside the city, where the rule of St Francis was strictly observed. Here in 1403 he was professed and here he was ordained priest—exactly a year later, on the feast of the Birthday of our Lady which was his birthday and the anniversary of his baptism and of his clothing.
History has little to tell us about the saint during the next twelve years: he preached occasionally, but his life was mainly spent in retirement. Gradually he was being prepared by God for the twofold mission of apostle and reformer. When at last his hour had come, the way was made clear in a singular manner. A novice in the convent at Fiesole in which the saint was staying startled the community on three consecutive nights after Matins by exclaiming, “Brother Bernardino! Hide no longer the gift that is in you. Go to Lombardy, for all are awaiting you there!” Reprimanded and questioned as to why he had thus spoken, he replied, “Because I could not help it!” To Bernardino and his superiors this seemed to be a call from on high, and he obeyed. He opened his apostolic career at Milan to which he went as a complete stranger towards the end of 1417, but soon his eloquence and zeal began to attract enormous congregations. At the close of a course of Lenten sermons, before he was allowed to leave the city to preach elsewhere in Lombardy, he was obliged to promise that he would return the following year. At first he was hampered in his delivery by hoarseness and inability to make himself heard, but afterwards, as the result, he firmly believed, of fervent prayer to our Lady, his voice became singularly clear and penetrating.
It is impossible to follow him on his missionary journeys, for in them he covered nearly the whole of Italy with the exception of the kingdom of Naples. He travelled always on foot, preached sometimes for three or four consecutive hours and often delivered several sermons on the same day. In large cities he frequently had to speak from an open-air pulpit because no church could contain the multitudes who crowded to hear him. Everywhere he preached penance, denounced the prevalent vices and kindled popular fervour by spreading devotion to the Holy Name. At the end of every sermon he would hold up for veneration a tablet upon which he had written the letters I.H.S., surrounded by rays, and after telling the people to implore God’s mercy and to live in peace he would give them a blessing with the Holy Name. In cities torn by faction he would heal deadly feuds and would persuade men to substitute the sacred monogram for the Guelf or Ghibelline emblems that too often surmounted their front doors. In Bologna, which was overmuch addicted to games of hazard, he preached with such effect that the citizens gave up gambling and brought their cards and dice to be burnt in a public bonfire. A card-manufacturer who complained that he was deprived of his only means of livelihood was told by St Bernardino to manufacture tablets inscribed with the I.H.S., and so great was the demand for them that they brought in more money than the playing-cards had ever done. All over Italy men spoke of the wonderful fruit of St Bernardino’s missions—the numerous conversions, the restoration of ill-gotten goods, the reparation of injuries and the reform of morals. Nevertheless there were some who took exception to his teaching and accused him of encouraging superstitious practices. They went so far as to denounce him to Pope Martin V, who for a time commanded him to keep silence. However, an examination of his doctrine and conduct led to a complete vindication and he received permission to preach wherever he liked. The same pope, in 1427, urged him to accept the bishopric of Siena, but he refused it, as he afterwards declined the sees of Ferrara and of Urbino. His excuse was that if he were confined to one diocese he could no longer minister to so many souls.
In 1430, nevertheless, he was obliged to give up missionary work to become vicar general of the friars of the Strict Observance. This movement within the Franciscan Order had originated about the middle of the fourteenth century in the convent of Brogliano between Camerino and Assisi and had only maintained a struggling existence until the coming of St Bernardino, who became its organizer and its second founder. When he received the habit there were only three hundred friars of the Observance in all Italy; when he died there were four thousand. Wherever he went on his missionary tours, fervent young men were drawn to the order with which he was identified, and pious persons desirous of founding convents offered to bestow them upon the Observants. It was therefore right and fitting that he should be officially empowered to consolidate and regulate the reform. He accomplished this task with so much wisdom and tact that many convents passed voluntarily and without friction from the Conventual to the Observant rule. The original Observants had shunned scholarship as they had shunned riches, but St Bernardino was aware of the danger of ignorance, especially in face of the ever-increasing demand for Observant friars to act as confessors. He therefore insisted upon instruction in theology and Canon law as part of the regular curriculum. He was himself a learned man, as may be judged from a series of Latin sermons which he wrote at Capriola and which are still extant, and also by the fact that at the Council of Florence, St Bernardino was able to address the Greek delegates in their own tongue.
Important as was the work with which he was now entrusted, the saint longed to return to his apostolic labours which he regarded as his only vocation, and in 1442 he obtained permission from the pope to resign his office as vicar general. He then resumed his missionary journeys, which led him through the Romagna, Ferrara and Lombardy. He was by this time in failing health, and so emaciated that he looked like a skeleton, but the only concession he would allow himself was the use of a donkey to convey him from one place to another. At Massa Marittima in iw he preached on fifty consecutive days a course of Lenten sermons, which he wound up by exhorting the inhabitants to preserve harmony among themselves and by bidding a pathetic farewell to his native town. Though obviously dying, he still continued his apostolic work and set out for Naples, preaching as he went. He succeeded in reaching Aquila, but there his strength gave out and he died on the eve of the Ascension, May 20, 1444, in the monastery of the Conventuals. He had almost reached the age of sixty-four years, forty-two of which he had spent as a religious. His tomb at Aquila was honoured by many miracles and he was canonized within six years of his death.

The number of early Latin biographies of St Bernardino is considerable, and it must suffice to note that a detailed enumeration is supplied in BHL, nn 188—201. Some are given in full and extracts made from others in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. v. Excellent modern studies of the life and apostolate of the saint are numerous. The first edition of that by P. Thureau-Dangin was published in 1896 (Eng. trans., 1911). Others which deserve special notice were written by Dr K. Hefele, in German (1912) by A. G. Ferrers Howell, in English (1913) by Father V. Facchinetti (1933) and by Piero Bargellini (1933) both in Italian, but the number of such works is great. A considerable amount of fresh material has been brought to light and printed in modem times, for most of which see the Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, more especially vols. vi, viii, xi, xii, xv, etc. For a fuller bibliography consult B. Stasiewski, Der hl. Bernardin von Elena (1931), and V. Facchinetti, Bollettino Bibliografico (1930). A very pleasant English sketch is that of M. Ward, St Bernardino, the People’s Preacher (1914) The fifth centenary of the saint’s death (1944) produced a number of new books, mostly in Italian. See the life printed in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxxi (1953), pp. 282—322.

In the year 1400, a young man came to the door of the largest hospital in Siena. A plague was raging through the city so horrible that as many as twenty people died each day just in the hospital alone. And many of the people who died were those who were needed to tend the ill. It was a desperate situation -- more and more people were falling ill and fewer and fewer people were there to help them.

The twenty-year-old man who stood there had not come because he was ill but because he wanted to help. And he brought not new patients but young men like himself willing to tend the dying. For four months Bernardine and his companions worked day and night not only to comfort the patients but to organize and clean the hospital. Only at the end of the plague did Bernardine himself fall ill -- of exhaustion.

But that was Bernardine's way -- whatever he did, he put his whole self into it. Immediately after he recovered he was back caring for the sick -- but this time, he was responsible not for a whole hospital but one person -- an invalid aunt. Yet for fourteen months she got his full attention. Throughout his life, he put as much energy into caring for one person as for hundreds, as much commitment into converting one citizen as to preaching to a whole city.

After his aunt died, Bernardine started to think about where his life should be going. The son of a noble family, he had been orphaned at seven and raised by an aunt. We are told as a young person that he hated indecent talk so much that he would blush when he heard it. Even his schoolmates hesitated to make him so uncomfortable but apparently one adult citizen thought it would be a great joke to needle Bernardine. In a public marketplace he stopped Bernardine and started to talk to him in a shameful way. But if he had thought to get away with his cruel trick, he was surprised when Bernardine slapped him in the face. The man slunk away, shamed in front of the very crowd he'd b een trying to impress.

Bernardine, who had come to Siena to study, threw himself into prayer and fasting to discover what God wanted him to do. One might have expected him to continue his work with the sick but in 1403 he joined the Franciscans and in 1404 he was ordained a priest.
The Franciscans were known as missionary preachers, but Bernardine did very little preaching with because of a voice that was weak and hoarse. For twelve years he remained in the background, his energies going to prayer or to his own spiritual conversion and preparation.
At the end of that time, he went to Milan on a mission. When he got up to preach his voice was strong and commanding and his words so convincing that the crowd would not let him leave unless he promised to come back.

Bernardino of Siena, OFM Priest (RM) Born in Massa Marittima (near Siena), Tuscany, Italy, on September 8, 1380; died in Aquila, Italy, May 20, 1444; canonized in 1450 by Pope Nicholas V.

"Jesus, crucified for me, with the nails of Your love fasten my whole self to You."--Berardino of Siena.

Son of the governor of Massa Marittima (near Siena), Bernardino degli Albizzeschi was placed in the care of an aunt when he was seven after the death of his parents in 1386. She provided him with his religious education. At 17, he joined a confraternity of Our Lady.

When the plague came to Siena in 1400, Bernardino offered to take charge of the hospital, recalling the gentleness and virtue his pious aunt had taught him. He also gathered round him twelve young friends who were willing to risk their lives to share this duty. For the four months of the pestilence, they worked tirelessly. Bernardino also organized an effective service of welfare and relief. Although several of his companions died, he did not contract the disease (one source said he did and came close to death).

He then cared for his blind, bedridden 90-year-old aunt, Bartholomea. After her death, he set himself to prayer and fasting to learn God's will for his future. While praying before his crucifix, he was impressed and reproached, like Saint Francis, by the suffering of Our Lord, who seemed to step down from the Cross and appear before him in His nakedness and sorrow. He could not resist the pleading in his Savior's eyes and surrendered all he had.

He took the habit on September 8, 1402, entered the Franciscan monastery of strict observance at Colombaio outside Siena in 1403. He was ordained on September 8, 1404--the Feast of the Birth of Our Lady and his birthday as well. Later he moved to Fiesole near Florence.

Over the next 12 years he preached only occasionally, preferring to live as a solitary. He went to Milan and on September 8, 1417, he preached his first sermon as a missioner. Despite being a stranger to the city, his eloquence and fiery sermons soon attracted huge congregations. The people made him promise to return the following year before they allowed him to leave to preach in Lombardy. He covered nearly all of Italy, usually on foot, preaching for two and three hours at a time, and often giving several speeches in a day-- generally at a pulpit in the open air because the crowds were so huge.

He attacked usury relentlessly, and denounced the party strife of the Italian cities as a fundamental evil of the age and place. On the other hand, he did not rise above such contemporary characteristics as hostility toward Jews and belief in widespread witchcraft.

He would castigate vice and then hold up a placard with the sign of the name of Jesus, "IHS," written on it, urging the congregation to turn to the one symbolized by those letters. People became so enthused that they even had IHS painted on houses. Throughout Italy people spoke of the wonderful benefits of his preaching. Once a man whose livelihood came from making playing cards complained that Bernardino had so successfully fought against gambling that the trade was ruined. Bernardino gave him a new, even more profitable trade, printing cards with the sign IHS.

Some of his preaching was criticized by the University of Bologna, but this controversy, which troubled him for eight years, ended in his favor. His detractors accused him of encouraging superstitious practices. They said that he carried on his person a piece of paper on which the Name of Jesus was written, that when he pleaded with sinners he showed it to them and it gave out rays of light, and denounced him to Pope Martin V. He was cleared of the charges after an examination of his doctrine and conduct. It may well be that the light symbolized that which flowed from his devoted spirit and the grace and passion of his eager witness.

Pope Martin V offered him the bishopric in Siena in 1427, but he declined, as he later declined the bishoprics of Ferrara and Urbino. In 1430, the "Apostle of the Holy Name" became vicar general of the Friars of the Strict Observance. He reformed the rule to involve the friars more as preachers and teachers and many convents passed easily from the Conventual to the Observant rule. In fact, the number of friars under the rule grew from 300 to over 4,000. The original Observants had shunned scholarship (as riches), but Bernardino insisted upon instruction in theology and canon law as part of the regular curriculum.

From 1430, he wrote theological works in both Latin and Italian. These covered the principal doctrinal and moral elements of Christianity, as well as treatises on the Blessed Mother. He established theological schools at Perugia and Monteripido.

In 1442, he obtained permission from the pope to resign his office, although Bernardino assisted at the Council of Florence. His health was failing, but Bernardino was insistent upon a final missionary journey. He began it at Massa Marittima in 1444 where he preached on fifty consecutive days. Although dying, he continued his apostolic travels, setting out for Naples and preaching as he went. He got as far as Aquila in the Abruzzi, where he died.

His tomb at Aquila was said to be the site of miracles. He was the most prominent missioner of the 15th century, and he was canonized within six years of his death.

It has been said that the 'People's Preacher' inaugurated in Italy 'one of those rare periods in history when the rule of Jesus made visible progress in society.' He was called the "People's Preacher" because his sermons were filled with lively and realistic depictions of everything from a bachelor's household to women's fashions (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Farmer, Gill, Origo, White).

Bernardino is represented in art as an old, toothless Franciscan holding up a sign bearing the legend "IHS," from which rays shine forth. Medieval and Renaissance painters depicted him as small and emaciated, with deep burning eyes. He may also be seen (1) preaching before the Palazzo Communale in Siena with IHS held before him; (2) with a banner bearing IHS and a star over his head; (3) with three mounds surmounted by a banner with a cross (possibly these mounds may really represent the three miters he refused-- Siena, Urbino, and Ferrara); with a trumpet as a sign of his power as a preacher, or (5) in a painting by El Greco, bearded and habited, or four mitres at his feet, IHS on his staff (Farmer, Gill, Roeder, White).

Bernardino was made the patron saint of advertisers and advertising in 1956 by Pope Pius XII because of his ability to illuminate the Catholic faith to audiences by the use of simple language and telling symbols. He is invoked against hoarseness, which he suffered in his early days of preaching, and is believed to have been cured by a prayer to the Blessed Virgin (White). He is also the patron of wool-weavers and invoked against diseases of the chest and lungs (Roeder).

1501 Blessed Columba of Rieti pious mystics of the third order of Saint Dominic raising of a dead child to life especially devoted to Our Lady modeled after Saint Catherine of Siena to OP Tert. V (AC)

1501 BD COLUMBA OF RIETI, VIRGIN
IN the chronicles of Perugia we find many references to Bd Columba, a Dominican tertiary who, by virtue of her sanctity and spiritual gifts, became whilst yet living so completely the city's patroness that her mediation was officially sought by the magistrates in times of danger and perplexity. She was a native, not of Perugia, but of Rieti, where her father and mother earned a modest livelihood as weavers and tailors. Although her angelic looks as a baby led her parents to choose for her the name of Angiolella, she was always called Columba, in allusion to a dove which made its appearance during her baptism and alighted on her head. As she grew in years so she grew in beauty of soul and body. From the Dominican nuns who taught her to read she acquired a great veneration for St Dominic and St Catherine of Siena, and during her life they often appeared in visions to encourage or direct her. At the age often she secretly dedicated herself to God, and when her parents urged that she should be betrothed to a wealthy young man, she cut off her hair, declaring that her whole heart belonged to Jesus Christ. She now gave herself up to austerities, hidden as far as possible from the eyes of men, and she strove to tread in the footsteps of St Catherine. On one occasion, after a cataleptic trance in which she had lain as though dead for five days, she described the holy places of Palestine which she had been visiting in spirit. But it was at the age of nineteen, when she had been invested with the Dominican tertiary habit which she had long desired, that she emerged from her retirement and entered upon what may almost be described as her public life.
A resident of Rieti lay under sentence of death for murder, and Columba's prayers were asked on his behalf. She visited him in prison, brought him to repentance and, after he had made a good confession, assured him that his execution would not take place. Her prophecy was fulfilled when at the eleventh hour a reprieve arrived. Her reputation was further enhanced by miracles and by her almost complete abstention from food. At Viterbo, where she cured a demoniac, and also at Narni, the inhabitants sought to detain her by force, but she eluded them. She was not, however, to remain long at Rieti. It was revealed to her that her mission lay elsewhere, and accordingly early one morning she slipped out of the house in secular clothes-bound she knew not whither. Upon her arrival at Foligno she was arrested on suspicion that she was a fugitive for whom the authorities were searching, and her relations were communicated with. Joined by her father, her brother, and an elderly matron, she was then able to pursue her mysterious journey which led finally to the gates of Perugia-perhaps the most turbulent city in Italy. She was received in a humble dwelling already occupied by several tertiaries, and immediately seems to have been made the object of a popular demonstration. Her fame, no doubt, had preceded her. Not only the poor, but many of the rich, including the ladies of the Baglioni family then in power, welcomed her with open arms. On the other hand, certain excellent persons-notably the Franciscan and Dominican friars-were openly suspicious of a young woman who was said to subsist on a few berries and who was constantly falling into ecstasies. Amongst them was Father Sebastian Angeli, afterwards her confessor and biographer.

In his book he confesses his early doubts and the incredulity with which he received the information that she had resuscitated a child. "Wait for ten years", he said to young Cesare Borgia, who suggested ringing the city bells, "and then if her conduct has not belied her reputation we can reckon her a saint." The citizens generally, however, had no such doubts, and they offered to provide her with a convent. On January 2, 1490, Columba with a few companions took the vows of a Dominican religious of the third order. A few years later, on the outbreak of plague, her position was so well established that the magistrates applied to her for advice and adopted her suggestion of penitential processions. Many of the sick were healed by her touch, some in her convent where they were tended by her nuns, some outside. She had offered herself to God as a victim; and when in answer to her prayers the plague abated, she contracted it in a virulent form. Her recovery she attributed to St Catherine, in whose honour the magistrates decreed an annual procession which was continued for a hundred years. In the bitter quarrels that rent the city Columba invariably acted as an angel of peace, and once she warned the rulers of a projected attack from outside which they were consequently able to frustrate.
Pope Alexander VI when he came to Perugia asked specially to see her, and was so impressed that at a later date he sent his treasurer to consult her on certain secret projects-only to receive reproaches and warnings the details of which were never made public. But if the pontiff himself was favourably disposed, it was otherwise with his daughter, Lucrezia Borgia, whom Columba had refused to meet and who, it is said, became her bitter enemy. Apparently as the result of her hostile influence, Bd Columba was subjected to a period of persecution, when a decree issued from Rome accused her of magic and deprived her of her confessor. She uttered no complaint and bore all in patience until the attack passed. Towards the end of her life she suffered much bodily pain, but her interest in Perugia continued to the end. To the city fathers who came to visit her in her last illness she gave an exhortation to observe Christian charity and to do justice to the poor. She died at the age of thirty-four, early in the morning on the feast of the Ascension, 1501. The magistrates contributed to provide for her a public funeral, which was attended by the whole city.

In the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. v, the Bollandists have published a Latin biography of Bd Columba which was written by her confessor, Father Sebastian degli Angeli, a Dominican friar of Perugia. Very little other material seems to have been available from Dominican sources, and Father Leander Alberti, who produced an Italian life in 1521, did little more than translate the Latin text of Father Sebastian. It must be confessed that there are many points in his rather surprising narrative which one would have liked to see presented from another angle. Bd Columba has never been canonized, but her cult was formally confirmed in 1627. In view of this confirmation, or of the continuation of the cause, a summary statement with a brief catalogue of miracles was presented to the Congregation of Rites, and this also may be found in the same volume of the Bollandists. The Dominican Father D. Viretti, Using these sources, compiled in 1777 a Vita de la B. Colomba da Rieti, which was translated into English for the Oratorian Series and edited by Father Faber in 1847. The best modem biography of this interesting beata seems to be that of Ettore Ricci, Storia della A. Colomba da Rieti (1901) but see also M. C. de Ganay, Les Bienheureuses Dominicaines (1913), pp. 305—354. A short sketch in English will be found in Procter, Dominican Saints, pp. 133--136.

Born in Rieti, Umbria, Italy, in 1467; died in Perugia, Italy, in 1501; beatified in 1697 (or 1627). Columba of Rieti is one of many pious mystics of the third order of Saint Dominic. According to legend, angels sang around the house when Columba was born. She was originally to be called Angelica, but a white dove appeared over the baptismal font, and it was decided to change the name to Columba (another source says that her name was Angelella Guardagnoli). Her parents were too charitable to save any money, and the little girl learned to be hungry gracefully with them. Early in life, she learned to spin and sew, and she and her mother took upon themselves the task of doing the mending for the Dominican fathers in her Rieti.

Columba soon picked up the art of reading from the sisters at Rieti, and learned the Little Office from hearing it chanted. She was especially devoted to Our Lady, and, as soon as she had read a life of Saint Catherine of Siena, she began to model her life on that of the great Dominican tertiary. Columba's parents seem to have had a very casual attitude towards the goods of this world, and, apparently, she and they worked only at odd times, when it was absolutely necessary. They devoted the rest of their time to prayer and good works among the poor.

At 12, Columba was self-supporting and, furthermore, she had learned that charming truth: "It is better to need less than to have more." Earnestly praying to know her vocation, she was favored with a vision in which she saw Our Lord on a golden throne, attended by SS Dominic, Jerome, and Peter Martyr of Verona. Columba interpreted the vision to mean that she was to dedicate herself to God, and she pronounced a private vow of virginity and made plans to live a solitary life.

Unfortunately, she did not think to mention this to her parents, who were busy arranging a marriage for her. The night before the engagement was to be publicly announced, they suddenly told her that the young man they had arranged for her to marry was waiting in the parlor to see her. Forewarned by a vision, Columba had made up her mind what to do. She quickly cut off her hair and sent it in to him, which seems to be the accepted Dominican way of declining a suitor. He took the hint and departed, to the fury of Columba's brothers, who perhaps had felt that the family finances were about to be put on a solid basis.

Columba, following Saint Catherine's example, settled down to live the life of a recluse in her father's house. She worked skillfully at whatever her mother suggested, which softened the good lady's annoyance at her daughter's peculiar choice of life. An uncle and one of her brothers persecuted her continually, and one time her brother tried to kill her.

All in all, one would hardly say that these were comfortable surroundings for a mystic. In the midst of all this, Columba set sturdily about her program of spirituality: she kept five Lents a year, fasted on bread and water, and went to Mass and to Communion as often as she was allowed in those days of infrequent Communion.

Columba had a special devotion to the Holy Infancy, and she longed to visit the Holy Land and see the places sanctified by the Incarnate Christ. Never able to make the trip in actuality, she made it spiritually, and once, in an ecstasy that lasted five days, she was conducted to all the holy places in Palestine.

On one occasion, her confessor, who was something of an artist, had promised to make her a set of crib figures to use at Christmas time. He forgot to do so, and she was desolate until the Christ- Child himself appeared to her. Then she had no need of wooden figures. Once, when she was meditating on the Passion, she was so affected by what she saw that she begged our Lord never to let her see such suffering again, for fear she would die of its intensity.

At age 19, Columba was received into the third order of Saint Dominic. She had been favored with a vision telling her that she should join this group, and, as soon as she was clothed with the habit, she led a pilgrimage to the Dominican shrine of Our Lady of the Oak in Viterbo.

Her fame had already begun to spread; as they went along the road, people crowded to get close to her and hailed her as a saint. Columba was embarrassed by such attention, but she proceeded to Viterbo. Here she prayed that a devil might be cast out of a young woman who had been possessed for 18 years. When the woman was healed, the word spread all over the region that Columba was a real saint.

The citizens of Narni determined to trap her and keep her as she passed through that city on her return home. Warned of their intention, Columba and her little party crept out by night and fled from those overly enthusiastic citizens, who would one day wage a bloody battle to gain custody of another saintly Dominican--Lucy of Narni.

It is unknown why Columba moved to Foligno; perhaps the fame of her miracles--including the raising of a dead child to life--was beginning to press down upon her. In 1488, she moved to the convent of the Poor Clares.

The bishop soon heard about her, and, unexpectedly, Columba found herself in the role of foundress for a community of Dominican tertiaries that the bishop wished to establish in Perugia. The bishop sent word for her to go to Perugia, and at the same time the master general told her to return to Rieti.

The good people of Foligno blocked all the roads, and said quite plainly that Columba was going nowhere. When the master general's envoy came to get her, she was in ecstasy, and he had to shake her awake to give her the message. She went along very obediently. Eventually, however, the master general changed his mind, and she was sent to Perugia.

Columba took her solemn vows in the convent of Perugia on Pentecost in 1490. She lived there happily, frequently lost in prayer, until her death 11 years later. Bishops, priests, and magistrates came to consult her about their various problems, and to ask her prayers. When the plague was decimating the peninsula in 1494, she told the people to dedicate the city to Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine. Her request was executed and the plague immediately ceased. She is said to have been ruthlessly persecuted by Lucrezia Borgia, but no details are available.

Despite all this heavenly activity, Columba was a very kind superior, who never expected any of her charges to imitate her extreme penances. She claimed, "No sister dead to grace can remain in a convent; for either she will repent of her sins, or she will be cast out on the cold shores of the world, or, of her own free will, she will leave the blessed retreat of the cloister."

Columba of Rieti died on the eve of the Feast of the Ascension at the age of 34. At the moment of her death, her soul appeared radiant in glory, to her spiritual friend, Blessed Osanna of Mantua (Benedictines, Dorcy).

In art, Columba is a Dominican tertiary to whom an angel brings the Eucharist. At times a hand may reach down from heaven to give her the Host, with a wreath of roses, cross, lily, and rosary; or with a dove, lily, and book (Roeder).

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

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 10

O Lady, I have cried to thee, hear me: incline unto my prayer and to my supplication.

Let my supplication be directed as incense before thy face: both in the time of the evening sacrifice and in the morning.

Let not my heart turn aside into spiteful words: and let not the thought of wickedness upset my mind.

Make me submissive to the good pleasure of thy heart: and let me be conformed to thy actions.

With the sword of understanding pierce my heart: and with the dart of charity inflame my mind.

Let every spirit praise Our Lady

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saint Frances Xavier Seelos Practical Guide to Holiness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meeting of the Saints walis (saints of Allah)

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

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

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

To Save A Life is Earthly; Saving A Soul is Eternal Donation by mail, please send check or money order to:

Eternal Word Television Network 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Irondale, AL 35210 USA
Catholic Television Network Supported entirely by donations from viewers help spread the Eternal Word, online Here

Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey

Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament

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

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

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

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

America's First Basilica Largest Nave in the World

August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation

by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone May 31, 1908

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

Index to Part I and Part II 1932

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

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

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

Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.

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

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

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

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

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

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

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

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

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

By Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

About Father John Corapi.

Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .

The pillars of father's preaching are basically:

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000) India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858
China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related Marian Websites Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates, PSALTER BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 10 2022