Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart
From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
How do I start the Five First Saturdays?
Decrees of Vatican's Saint Congregation
Testify to 10 Miracles; 10 Cases of Heroic Virtue; 1 Martyrdom
“The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the theologian and evangelist says: ‘But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of God....’ Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men who announced the coming of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death, so that we may also share their crowns of glory” Exposition of the Orthodox Faith
Church to Proclaim 6 Saints in October Including Australian Mary MacKillop
CONSISTORY ON SEVERAL CAUSES OF CANONISATION  VATICAN CITY, 12 FEB 2010 (VIS)
RITES OF BEATIFICATION APPROVED BY THE HOLY FATHER VATICAN CITY, 8 SEP 2009 (VIS)
Papal Intention: for May 2010, Benedict XVI pray especially
MAY 2010
Human Trafficking
General:   That the shameful and monstrous commerce in human beings,
which sadly involves millions of women and children, may be ended.
Priests, Religious and Committed Lay People
Missionary: That ordained ministers, religious women and men, and lay people involved in apostolic work
may understand how to infuse missionary enthusiasm into the communities entrusted to their care.
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh,
was none other than the Father's eternal Son,  the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

Join the Mary of Nazareth Project and help us build the International Marian Center of Nazareth.

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. Patron_Saints.html

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY  PSALM 17
I will love thee, O Lady of heaven and earth: and I will call upon thy name in the nations.
Give praise to her, ye who are troubled in heart: and she will strengthen you against your enemies.
Give to us, O Lady, the grace of thy breasts:
from the dropping milk of thy sweetness refresh the inmost souls of thy children.
Honor her, O all ye religious: for she is your helper and your special advocate.
Be thou our refreshment, glorious Mother of Christ: for thou art the admirable foundation of the religious life.
 
Glory be to the Father, etc.
Glory be to the Father who created Heaven and earth; His only Son who lived and died for all of us;
and the Holy Spirit the Lord giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and Son, with the Father and Son He is Worshiped and Glorified, and He has spoken through the prophets:  Amen.

May 22 - OUR LADY OF GRACE (Brescia, Italy, 1526)
-Memory of the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople (381)

Pentecost 1883: Our Lady's Smile (V)
Suddenly, the statue came to life! The Virgin became very beautiful, so divinely beautiful that I shall never find words to describe her. The expression of Our Lady's face radiated an ineffable gentleness, goodness, and tenderness, but what touched me to the very depths of my soul was her gracious smile. Then, all my pain vanished; two big tears welled up in my eyes and flowed silently.
Ah, they were indeed tears of unmixed heavenly joy. "Our Blessed Lady has come to me, she has smiled at me. How happy I am, but I shall tell no one, or my happiness might disappear!" Such were my thoughts. Then, without any effort, I lowered my eyes, and I recognized my darling Marie. She looked lovingly at me, seemed very agitated, and she appeared as if she doubted the grace that I had just received.
Ah, indeed thanks to her prayers I had received the most unfathomable favor - a smile from the Blessed Virgin! Seeing my eyes fixed on the statue, she said to herself: "Therese is cured!" Yes, it was true. The Little Flower had come back to life again - a bright ray from Our Lady's glorious Sun had warmed and set her free forever from her cruel enemy. "The dark winter is past, the rain is over and gone," and the Virgin Mary's Little Flower became so strong that five years later she opened wide her petals on the fertile mountain of Carmel.
Excerpts from: The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of Saint Therese (Chapter 3)

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THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY TO BE BELIEVED POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI

Morning Prayer and Hymn    Meditation of the Day    Prayer for Priests    Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List  Here
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.

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;
and 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
breviary.net/martyrology/mart05/mart0522 stlukeorthodox.com/html/saints/may/ usccb.org  ewtn.com  Irondequoit .org Saints Alive
domcentral.org/life/martyrMay syriac   oca.org  glaubenszeugen.de/tage/May   Serbian   http://www.copticchurch.net  Melkite
Monthly Saints with pics here http://www.stfrancisenid.com/memorials.htm http://www.franciscan-sfo.org/sts/saints0.htm
 One Saint per day stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/index.htm    stjohndc.org  God's Humourous Saints

(B) All truly penitent Christian faithful who, in church or oratory, devotedly attend Holy Mass and offer prayers to Jesus Christ, supreme and eternal Priest, for the priests of the Church, or perform any good work to sanctify and mould them to His Heart, are granted Plenary Indulgence, on the condition that they have expiated their sins through Sacramental Confession and prayed in accordance with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. This may be done on the opening and closing days of the Year of Priests, on the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean Marie Vianney, on the first Thursday of the month, or on any other day established by the ordinaries of particular places for the good of the faithful.

The elderly, the sick and all those who for any legitimate reason are unable to leave their homes, may still obtain Plenary Indulgence if, with the soul completely removed from attachment to any form of sin and with the intention of observing, as soon as they can, the usual three conditions, "on the days concerned, they pray for the sanctification of priests and offer their sickness and suffering to God through Mary, Queen of the Apostles".

Partial Indulgence is offered to all faithful each time they pray five Our Father, Ave Maria and Gloria Patri, or any other duly approved prayer "in honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to ask that priests maintain purity and sanctity of life"

On July 13,1917, Our Lady appeared for the third time to the three children of Fatima an showed them the vision of hell and made the now - famous thirteen prophecies. In this vision Our Lady said that 'GOD WISHES TO ESTABLISH IN THE WORLD DEVOTION to Her Immaculate Heart and that She would come TO ASK FOR THE COMMUNION OF REPARATION ON THE FIRST SATURDAYS...
Eight years later, on December 10, 1925, Our Lady did indeed come back. She appeared (with the Child Jesus) to Lucia in the convent of the Dorothean Sisters in Pontevedra.
The Child Jesus spoke first:
'HAVE COMPASSION ON THE HEART OF YOUR MOST HOLY MOTHER WHICH IS COVERED WITH THORNS WITH WHICH UNGRATEFUL MEN PIERCE IT AT EVERY MOMENT, WHILE THERE IS NO ONE TO REMOVE THEM WITH AN ACT OF REPARATION.'

THE GREAT PROMISE
Our Lady then said: MY DAUGHTER LOOK AT MY HEART SURROUNDED WITH THORNS WITH WHICH UNGRATEFUL MEN PIERCE IT AT EVERY MOMENT BY THEIR BLASPHEMIES AND INGRATITUDE. YOU, AT LEAST, TRY TO CONSOLE ME, AND SAY THAT I PROMISE TO ASSIST AT THE HOUR OF DEATH WITH ALL THE GRACES NECESSARY FOR SALVATION, ALL THOSE WHO, ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF FIVE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS GO TO CONFESSION AND RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION, RECITE FIVE DECADES OF THE ROSARY AND KEEP ME COMPANY FOR A QUARTER OF AN HOUR WHILE MEDITATING ON MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY, WITH THE INTENTION OF MAKING REPARATION TO ME.'

Lucia once asked this question of Our Lord and received as an answer: 'MY DAUGHTER, THE MOTIVE IS SIMPLE, THERE ARE FIVE KINDS OF OFFENCES AND BLASPHEMIES UTTERED AGAINST THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY: (1) BLASPHEMIES AGAINST THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: (2) BLASPHEMIES AGAINST HER VIRGINITY: (3) BLASPHEMIES AGAINST HER DIVINE MATERNITY: (4) BLASPHEMIES OF THOSE WHO OPENLY SEEK TO FOSTER IN THE HEARTS OF CHILDREN INDIFFERENCE OR EVEN HATRED FOR THIS IMMACULATE MOTHER: (5) THE OFFENCES OF THOSE WHO DIRECTLY OUTRAGE HER IN HOLY IMAGES.'

From the above, it is easy to see that each of the Five Saturdays can correspond to a specific offence. By offering the graces received during each First Saturday as reparation for the offence being prayed for, the participant can hope to help remove the thorns from Our Lady's Heart.

What Do I Have To Do?
The devotion of First Saturdays, as requested by Our Lady of Fatima, carries with it the assurance of salvation. However, to derive profit from such a great promise of Our Lady, the devotion must be properly understood and duly performed.

The requirements as stipulated by Our Lady are as follows:
(1) CONFESSION, (2) COMMUNION, (3) FIVE DECADES OF THE ROSARY, (4) MEDITATION ON ONE OR MORE OF THE ROSARY MYSTERIES FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES, (5) TO DO ALL THESE THINGS IN THE SPIRIT OF REPARATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, and (6) TO OBSERVE ALL THESE PRACTICES ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF FIVE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS.

(1) CONFESSION: A reparative confession means that the confession should not only be good (valid and licit), but also be offered in the spirit of reparation, in this case, to Mary's Immaculate Heart. This confession may be made on the First Saturday itself or some days before or after the First Saturday within the preceding octave would suffice.
(2) COMMUNION: The communion of reparation must be sacramental duly received with the intention of making reparation. This offering, like the confession, is an interior act and so no external action to express the intention is needed.

(4) MEDITATION FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES: Here the meditation on one mystery or more is to be made without simultaneous recitation of the Rosary decade. As indicated, the meditation may be either on one mystery alone for 15 minutes, or on all 15 mysteries, spending about one minute on each mystery, or again, on two or more mysteries during the period. This can also be made before each decade spending three minutes or more in considering the mystery of the particular decade. This meditation has likewise to be made in the spirit of reparation to the Immaculate Heart.
(5) THE SPIRIT OF REPARATION: All these acts, as said above, have to be done with the intention of offering reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the offences committed against Her. Everyone who offends Her commits, so to speak, a two-fold offence, for these sins also offend her Divine Son, Christ, and so endanger our salvation. They give bad example to others and weaken the strength of society to withstand immoral onslaughts. Such devotions therefore make us consider not only the enormity of the offence against God, but also the effect of sins on human society as well as the need for undoing these social effects even when the offender repents and is converted. Further, this reparation emphasises our responsibility towards sinners who, themselves, will not pray and make reparation for their sins.
(6) FIVE CONSECUTIVE FIRST SATURDAYS: The idea of the Five First Saturdays is obviously to make us persevere in the devotional acts for these Saturdays and overcome initial difficulties. Once this is done, Our Lady knows that the person would become devoted to Her immaculate Heart and persist in practising such devotion on all First Saturdays, working thereby for personal self-reform and for the salvation of others.

Unless Russia is converted, the movement against God and for sin will continue to spread, promoting wars and persecutions, and making the attainment for peace and justice impossible for this world. One means of obtaining Russia's conversion is to practise the Fatima Message. The stakes are so great that to encourage Catholics to practise the devotion of the First Saturdays, Our Lady has assured us that She will obtain salvation for all those who observe the first Saturdays for five consecutive months in accordance with Her conditions.

At the supreme moment the departing person will be either in the state of grace or not. In either case Our Lady will be by his side. If in the state of grace, She will console and help him to resist whatever temptations the devil might put before him in his last attempt to take the person with him to hell. If not in the state of grace, Our Lady will help the person to repent in a manner agreeable to God and so benefit by the fruits of redemption and be saved.

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.

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

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.

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.
Shia Ali al-Hadi, died 868 and son Hassan al-Askari 874. These saints are the 10th and 11th of Shia's 12 most revered Imams.  Baba Farid Sufi 1398 miracle, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki renowned Muslim Sufi saint scholar miracles
569 A.H. [1173 C.E.] hermit gave to poor, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti  greatest mystic of his time born 533 Hijri (1138-39 A.D.) , Hazrat Ghuas-e Azam,  Hazrat Bu Ali Sharif, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia 1236-1325 welcomed people of all faiths & all walks of life Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Syed Mohammed Badshah Quadri Chisty Yamani Quadeer (RA)

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: 

America's First Basilica

August 7, 1907-ground broke for the foundation by Archbishop Ireland-laying cornerstone 5/31/1908

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

James Michael Reardon B. 1872, Nova Scotia; Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland; Member  St. Paul Seminary faculty

Affiliations and Indulgences

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.

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM

In the Koran Our Lady is described as “Virgin, ever Virgin.”

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

The four titles are:  1. The Real War We Fight 2. The Battle for Hearts & Minds 3. Leadership: Essential for Victory 4. With the Moon Under Her Feet
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DEC. 19, 2009 Decrees of Vatican's Saint Congregation Testify to 10 Miracles; 10 Cases of Heroic Virtue; 1 Martyrdom

DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS

All Servants of God

CSS/DECREES/AMATO VIS 090119 (320)

Ravénnæ sancti Marciáni, Epíscopi et Confessóris.
    At Ravenna, St. Marcian, bishop and confessor.

The names are entered on this day in the Calendar of Carthage, a document which can hardly be dated later than the middle of the fifth century. See also the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. v, and CMH.

Romæ sanctórum Mártyrum Faustíni, Timóthei et Venústi.
    At Rome, the holy martyrs Faustinus, Timothy, and Venustus.

Antisiodóri sanctæ Hélenæ Vírginis.      At Auxerre, St. Helen, virgin.

In Hispánia sanctæ Quitériæ, Vírginis et Mártyris.
    In Spain, St. Quiteria, virgin and martyr.

The modern Bollandists seem inclined to put faith in the Aire tradition, being influenced mainly by the researches of Abbé A. Degert, who in the Revue de Gascogne, vol. xlviii (1907), pp. 463—469, has printed the moat ancient texts of the life of this martyr. See also the same Revue, vol. xlvi (1905), pp. 333—337, and vol. xliv (1903), pp. 293—309, with the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxvii (1908), p. 457. The more commonly received account of St Quiteria may be gathered from A. Breuils, Les légendes de Sainte Quiteria (1892).

In Córsica sanctæ Júliæ Vírginis, quæ crucis supplício coronáta est.
    In Corsica, St. Julia, virgin, who won her crown by being crucified.

560 St. Romanus of Subiaco hermit who influenced St. Benedict of Nursia
In pago Antisiodorénsi beáti Románi Abbátis, qui sancto Benedícto ministrávit in specu; inde, in Gállias proféctus, ibi, ædificáto monastério relictísque multis sanctitátis alúmnis, quiévit in Dómino.
    In the diocese of Auxerre, Abbot St. Romanus, who ministered to St. Benedict in his cave.  Going later to France, he built a monastery there, and leaving many disciples and imitators of his sanctity, went to rest in the Lord.
550 ST ROMANUS
WHEN the youthful St Benedict had abandoned the world and was wandering about on the rocky height of Monte Subiaco, he came face to face with a holy monk called Romanus who belonged to a neighbouring monastery. They entered into conversation, and St Benedict opened his heart to the older man and told him he desired to live as a hermit. Romanus not only encouraged him, but showed him a cave, very difficult of access, which would make him a suitable cell. For three years the monk was the only connection the young recluse had with the outside world and kept his presence a secret. Every day he saved part of his portion of food, which he let down by a rope over a cliff to St Benedict. According to the legend, St Romanus left Italy when it was being overrun by the Vandals and betook himself to, the neighbourhood of Auxerre in France, where he founded the monastery of Fontrouge and where he died. Auxerre, Sens and Vareilles claim to possess some of his relics.

Monk who influenced St. Benedict of Nursia. A hermit in the area around Subiaco, Italy, Romanus discovered the young Benedict shortly after the latter had left the world and embarked upon his heremitical lifestyle. Romanus dressed Benedict in his monastic habit, showed him the cave where Benedict lived for three years, and kept him supplied with food. According to tradition, he departed  Italy to escape the invading barbarians and founded Fontrouge Abbey in Auxerre, France, where he died.

Romanus of Subiaco, OSB Abbot (RM) Died c. 560. Romanus, a monk at a monastery near Monte Subiaco, discovered the young Saint Benedict when he had first fled from the world and encouraged him. He took Benedict to the cave where the founder lived as a hermit for three years, and supplied him with food during that time. According to legend, Romanus left Italy during the invasion of the Vandals, went to France, and founded Fontrouge Abbey near Auxerre, where he died, but there is no historical evidence of his having been an abbot (Benedictines, Delaney).

Apud Aquínum sancti Fulci Confessóris.      At Aquino, St. Fulk, confessor.

Little is known of St Aigulf beyond what can be gleaned from the poem which St Theodulf, bishop of Orleans, addressed to him. It is printed with some other fragments of information in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. v. See also DUG., vol. i, cc. 1142—1143.

Pistórii, in Túscia, beáti Atthónis Epíscopi, ex Ordine Vallis Umbrósæ.
    At Pistoia in Tuscany, the bishop, blessed Attho, of the Order of Vallombrosa.

A contemporary life is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. v, from a manuscript notarially attested in 1332 to be an exact copy. There is a modern biography by M. Ercolani (1910), and a shorter one by Dame M. E. Pietromarchi, S. Umilta Negusanti (1935). The Latin tractates of St Humility were edited by Torello Sala at Florence in 1884; they are said to be very obscure and the Latin to be stiff and artificial.

1457 St. Rita of Cascia wife mother widow religious community member legendary austerity prayerfulness charity
Cássiæ, in Umbria, sanctæ Ritæ Víduæ, Moniális ex Ordine Eremitárum sancti Augustíni; quæ, post sæculi núptias, ætérnum sponsum Christum únice diléxit.
    At Cascia in Umbria, St. Rita, a widow and nun of the Order of the Hermits of St. Augustine, who, after being disengaged from her earthly marriage, loved only her eternal spouse Christ.
1457 ST RITA OF CASCIA, WIDOW
IN the year 1381 there was born in a peasant home at Roccaporena in the central Apennines a little girl who, as an exemplary daughter, wife and religious, was destined to attain to great heights of holiness in this life, and afterwards to merit from countless grateful souls by her intercession in Heaven the title of “the saint of the impossible and the advocate of desperate cases”.
The child of her parents’ old age, Rita—as she was named—showed from her earliest years extraordinary piety and love of prayer. She had set her heart upon dedicating herself to God in the Augustinian convent at Cascia, but when her father and mother decreed that she should marry, she sorrowfully submitted, deeming that in obeying them she was fulfilling God’s will. Her parents’ choice was an unfortunate one. Her husband proved to be brutal, dissolute and so violent that his temper was the terror of the neighbourhood. For eighteen years with unflinching patience and gentleness Rita bore with his insults and infidelities. As with a breaking heart she watched her two Sons fall more and more under their father’s evil influence, she shed many tears in secret and prayed for them without ceasing. Eventually there came a day when her husband’s conscience was touched, so that he begged her forgiveness for all the suffering he had caused her: but shortly afterwards he was carried home dead, covered with wounds. Whether he had been the aggressor or the victim of a vendetta she never knew. Poignancy was added to her grief by the discovery that her sons had vowed to avenge their father’s death, and in an agony of sorrow she prayed that they might die rather than commit murder. Her prayer was answered. Before they had carried out their purpose they contracted an illness which proved fatal. Their mother nursed them tenderly and succeeded in bringing them to a better mind, so that they died forgiving and forgiven.
Left alone in the world, Rita’s longing for the religious life returned, and she tried to enter the convent at Cascia. She was informed, however, to her dismay that the constitutions forbade the reception of any but virgins. Three times she made application, begging to be admitted in any capacity, and three times the prioress reluctantly refused her. Nevertheless her persistence triumphed: the rules were relaxed in her favour and she received the habit in the year 1413.
In the convent St Rita displayed the same submission to authority which she had shown as a daughter and wife. No fault could be found with her observance of the rule, and when her superior, to try her, bade her water a dead vine in the garden, she not only complied without a word, but continued day after day to tend the old stump. On the other hand, where latitude was allowed by the rule—as in the matter of extra austerities—she was pitiless to herself. Her charity to her neighbour expressed itself especially in her care for her fellow religious during illness and for the conversion of negligent Christians, many of whom were brought to repentance by her prayers and persuasion. All that she said or did was prompted primarily by her fervent love of God, the ruling passion of her life. From childhood she had had a special devotion to the sufferings of our Lord, the contemplation of which would sometimes send her into an ecstasy, and when in 1441 she heard an eloquent sermon on the crown of thorns from St James della Marca, a strange physical reaction seems to have followed. While she knelt, absorbed in prayer, she became acutely conscious of pain—as of a thorn which had detached itself from the crucifix and embedded itself in her forehead. It developed into an open wound which suppurated and became so offensive that she had to be secluded from the rest. We read that the wound was healed for a season, in answer to her prayers, to enable her to accompany her sisters on a pilgrimage to Rome during the year of the jubilee, 1450, but it was renewed after her return and remained with her until her death, obliging her to live practically as a recluse.
During her later years St Rita was afflicted also by a wasting disease, which she bore with perfect resignation. She would never relax any of her austerities or sleep on anything softer than rough straw. She died on May 22, 1457, and her body has remained incorrupt until modern times. The roses which are St Rita’s emblem and which are blessed in Augustinian churches on her festival refer to an old tradition. It is said that when the saint was nearing her death she asked a visitor from Roccaporena to go to her old garden and bring her a rose. It was early in the season and the friend had little expectation of being able to gratify what she took to be a sick woman’s fancy. To her great surprise, on entering the garden, she saw on a bush a rose in full bloom. Having given it to St Rita she asked if she could do anything more for her. “Yes”, was the reply. “Bring me two figs from the garden.” The visitor hastened back and discovered two ripe figs on a leafless tree.

b. 1381 Like Elizabeth Ann Seton, Rita of Cascia was a wife, mother, widow and member of a religious community. Her holiness was reflected in each phase of her life.
Born at Roccaporena in central Italy, Rita wanted to become a nun but was pressured at a young age into marrying a harsh and cruel man. During her 18-year marriage, she bore and raised two sons. After her husband was killed in a brawl and her sons had died, Rita tried to join the Augustinian nuns in Cascia. Unsuccessful at first because she was a widow, Rita eventually succeeded.
Over the years, her austerity, prayerfulness and charity became legendary. When she developed wounds on her forehead, people quickly associated them with the wounds from Christ's crown of thorns. She meditated frequently on Christ's passion. Her care for the sick nuns was especially loving. She also counseled lay people who came to her monastery.
Beatified in 1626, Rita was not canonized until 1900. She has acquired the reputation, together with St. Jude, as a saint of impossible cases. Many people visit her tomb each year.
She died on May 22 at Cascia, and many miracles were reported instantly. She is honored in Spain as La Santa de los Impossibles and elsewhere as a patron saint of hopeless causes.
Comment:  Although we can easily imagine an ideal world in which to live out our baptismal vocation, such a world does not exist. An “If only ….” approach to holiness never quite gets underway, never produces the fruit that God has a right to expect.
Rita became holy because she made choices that reflected her Baptism and her growth as a disciple of Jesus. Her overarching, lifelong choice was to cooperate generously with God's grace, but many small choices were needed to make that happen. Few of those choices were made in ideal circumstances—not even when Rita became an Augustinian nun.
Quote:  For the Baptism of adults and for all the baptized at the Easter Vigil, three questions are asked: “Do you reject sin so as to live in the freedom of God's children? Do you reject the glamour of evil, and refuse to be mastered by sin? Do you reject Satan, father of sin and prince of darkness?”

Rita (Margarita) of Cascia, OSA Widow (RM) Born in Roccaporena in the Apennines near Spoleto, Italy, in 1381; died at Cascia, Umbria, Italy, May 22, 1457; canonized in 1900. Rita was born to elderly parents and showed an early vocation for religious life. She wanted to enter an Augustinian convent, but she gave into her parents' wishes and married at the age of 12.

Her husband was a cruel and brutal man, well known in the neighborhood for his rude manners and violent temper. For 18 years she lived patiently with her contemptuous and philandering husband, forced to watch her sons becoming tainted by his influence. There came a point where he repented, however, and begged her to forgive him for his ill treatment; he was murdered shortly afterward in a vendetta. When her sons vowed to avenge their father's death, Rita prayed that they might die rather than commit murder. Both fell ill, and she nursed them and brought to them a spirit of forgiveness before they died.

Rita applied three times to the Augustinian convent at Cascia but was turned away because its rule permitted only virgins. But in 1413, as a result of her persistence and strong faith, an exception was made, and she took the habit. I much prefer the version of the story that I learned in my youth: When the convent repeatedly denied her entry into the convent, Rita continued to pray until one night her prayer was answered. Miraculously, she was transported into the convent at night despite the locked doors. When the sisters found her inside they decided that it must be God's will for Rita to be accepted.

Once professed Rita enforced hard austerities upon herself, becoming known for her penances and concern for others. She cared for the other nuns when they were ill and worked to return Christians who had neglected the faith back to observance.

In 1441, she heard a sermon by Saint James della Marca on the Crown of Thorns. Soon afterward, as she prayed, she became conscious of pain, as if a thorn had become embedded in her forehead. The location developed into an open wound, and it became so unattractive that she was separated from her sisters. The wound healed enough for her to attend a pilgrimage to Rome in 1450, but it reappeared after her return and remained with her until her death of tuberculosis, necessitating that she live in seclusion.

Several miracles were attributed to her after her death. In fact, her body is said to have remained incorrupt until recent times. The earliest biography of Saint Rita was not written until nearly 150 years after her death; thus, it should be recognized that the details of her story are not well attested (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, White).

In art, Saint Rita is depicted as an Augustinian nun praying before a crucifix, a thorn from the crown wounds her brow. She may also be shown receiving a crown of roses from the Virgin and a crown of thorns from the saints (Roeder). Rita's emblem in art is roses, which are blessed on her feast day (White).

She is patron of those in desperate situations (perhaps an allusion to her own life), of parenthood, and against infertility. In Spain Rita is known as "La Abogada de Imposibles", the patron saint of desperate cases, particularly matrimonial difficulties. An Italian poll showed that her popularity is greater than that of the Madonna (White). Rita is especially venerated in Cascia and Spoleto (Roeder).

The best documented account of this martyr is that by J. H. Pollen, contained in LEM., edited by Dom Bede Camm, vol. (1904), pp. 274—326. See also Father Thaddeus, Life of Blessed John Forest.

Arrested by Japanese officials, he was imprisoned at Omura and, with Blessed John Machado, was beheaded at Nagasaki. Beatified in 1867, he is considered the first martyr of the second great Japanese persecution.

Blessed Peter of the Assumption, OFM M (AC) Born at Cuerva, diocese of Toledo, Spain; died at Nagasaki, Japan, in 1617; beatified in 1867. Peter went to Japan with a band of 50 Franciscan missionaries in 1601. He was appointed guardian of the friary of Nagasaki, where he was beheaded together with Blessed John Machado (above). He was the first martyr of the second great Japanese persecution (Benedictines).

Among the writers on St Joachima de Vedruna have been Cardinal Benedict Sanz y Fores and Dom Bernard Sala; but Vida y Vitudes de la Vest. M. Joaquina (1905) by Fr James Nonel, in two volumes, is outstanding for its detail. The fourth edition of a useful short account of her, Vida y Obra de..Joaquina de Vedruna de Mar, by Fr Ignatius of Pamplona was published in 1946. The official Italian biography is La Beata Gioacchina de Vedruna v. de Mas, by Don Emidio Federici (1940); whereas the first-named books were intended primarily for the members of Mother Joachima’s congregation, this last, in which full use is made of the documents of the beatification process, is for a wider public.