Mary Mother of GOD
Today we remember all pious and Orthodox Christians who have fallen asleep in the Lord,
and also recall the dread Day of Judgment. May Christ our God be merciful to them, and to us.
Mary Mother of GOD
15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary
Fatima and the Last Times Remedies
Saint of the Day May 26   Séptimo Kaléndas Júnii
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!  (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
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
  Mystical ecstasy:  elevation of the spirit to God in such a way that the person is aware of this union with God both internal and external senses are detached from the sensible world.
Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi so generously given this special gift of God that she is called the "ecstatic saint."
BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR MAY
VATICAN CITY, 30 APR 2009 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for May is: "That the laity and the Christian communities may be responsible promoters of priestly and religious vocations". His mission intention is: "That the recently founded Catholic Churches, grateful to the Lord for the gift of faith, may be ready to share in the universal mission of the Church, offering their availability to preach the Gospel throughout the world".
BXVI-PRAYER INTENTIONS/MAY/...                                        VIS 090430 (80)

May 26 - Our Lady of Caravaggio (Italy, 1432) - St Philip Neri (d. 1594)
Would you like to know if this is the Virgin Mary?
Saint Philip Neri was often consulted by bishops to judge the authenticity of mystics. The practice of humility and obedience allowed him to infallibly test false mystics, because the devil is proud and independent. One day in 1560, the cardinals were divided about a nun who was having visions. Since they sought his opinion, Philip went to see the young sister. He looked at her warmly and said, "Sister, I didn't want to see you, I wanted to see the saint." And the nun replied, "But I am the saint!" Philip turned on his heels, retorting, "Ah, you're the saint? Thank you."
And the verdict he gave the Cardinals was, "It's not from God..."
Another time, one of his penitents confided to him that the Virgin had come in the night in her room, filling it with joy and light! So Philip said, "Listen, the next time she comes you should spit in her face." The following night, the apparition spoke to her of God, but remembering the promise she had made to her spiritual director she spat in her face. The apparition immediately disappeared in a cloud of sulphur smoke: it was the devil. That same night, she awoke in the room full of light with a new apparition that smiled at her. This time the figure was not sitting on her bed, she standing in a corner of the room. The seer went over to spit again, but the apparition just said, "You can spit if you want." The apparition was too far to spit on, but she congratulated her for her obedience to her spiritual director!
And Father Neri told her that that time it was the Virgin Mary.
From the magazine the Etoile Notre Dame, October 2006.

    85 St. Alphaeus father of St. James the Less, mentioned in Matthew. His legends were popular in the early Church.
        Saint Carpus  one of the Seventy Apostles chosen and sent forth to preach by Christ (Luke 10:1). He was bishop of Verria in Macedonia.

  106 St. Zachary Bishop and martyr of Vienne, Gaul, he was martyred during the reign of Emperor Trajan.
 130 St. Quadratus Martyr Apostle of the 70 preached the Word of God as Bishop of Athens and at Magnesia (eastern peninsula of Thessaly)
2nd v St. Eleutherius, pope /martyr, converted to the Christian faith many noble Romans Sts. Fugatius and Damian
272 Ss. Priscus, or Prix, and his companions, Martyrs
 303 St. Felicissimus Martyr with Heraclius and Paulinus. They suffered martyrdom at Todi, Umbria, Italy.
       Romæ sanctórum Mártyrum Simítrii Presbyteri, et aliórum vigínti duórum; qui sub Antoníno Pio passi sunt.
       At Rome, the holy martyrs Simitrius, priest, and twenty-two others who suffered under Antoninus Pius.
6th v. ST  ELEUTHERIUS, ABBOT
        St. Dyfan He is also called Deruvianus and Damian Missionary to the Britons sent by Pope St. Eleutherius when a local Briton king requested missionaries from the pope
  600 St. Becan 6th century Irish hermit in Cork lived in the time of St. Columba and was known for his sanctity.
  604 Saint Augustine was from Italy, and a disciple of St Felix, Bishop of Messana
  695 St. Oduvald Scottish abbot native of Scotland entered monastic life became abbot of Melrose,  then a great spiritual center of the era.
  800 Saint John Psichaita the Confessor Because of his holy life and deeds, he received from God the gift to cast out demons and to heal the sick called emperor Leo the Isaurian a heretic
1050 St. Guinizo Benedictine of Spain hermit at Monte Cassino, Italy. greatly revered as a model eremite.
1154 St Lambert, Bishop of Vence
1258 Blessed Eva of Liege together w/Blessed Juliana prioress of Mount Cornillon, their enthusiastic purpose was to obtain the institution of a feast in honor of the Blessed Sacrament--granted by Pope Urban IV
 1293 St. Berencardus Benedictine monk known for his charity. He was a member of the community of St. Papoul Abbey in Languedoc, France.1293 St. Berencardus
1515 George the New Holy Martyr attentively studied the Holy Scriptures pious and chaste refused to accept Islam bright light over his burnt relics
1521 Uncovering of the Relics of St Macarius of Kalyazin a grave was discovered, exuding an ineffable fragrance. Igumen Joasaph immediately recognized the grave of the monastery's founder, St Macarius, reposed in the year 1483
1595 Saint Philip Neri [* To-day is the feast of St Augustine of Canterbury in England and Wales; see May 28, his date in the general calendar.] “the Apostle of Rome”; “Well, brothers, when shall we begin to do good?”; Here, in the grotte as they were then called, he was fervently praying for the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the eve of Pentecost 1544 when there appeared to him as it were a globe of fire which entered his mouth and which he afterwards felt dilating his breast. Immediately he was filled with such paroxysms of divine love that he rolled upon the ground exclaiming, “Enough, enough, Lord, I can bear no more!” When he had risen and was more composed, on putting his hand to his heart he discovered a swelling as big as a man’s fist, but neither then nor subsequently did it give him pain. From that day, under the stress of spiritual emotion he was apt to be seized with violent palpitations, which caused his whole body to tremble and sometimes the chair or the bed on which he rested to be violently shaken. The fervour which consumed him often obliged him to bare his breast to relieve the heat within and he would ask God to mitigate His consolations lest he should die with love. After his death it was discovered that two of the saint’s ribs were broken and had formed an arch which added to the normal space for the beating of his heart—all before becoming priest in 1551;  a small community of priest joined him with the townspeople calling them “Oratorians” because of the little bell he rang to assembly;Patron of Rome showed the humorous side of holiness known to be spontaneous and unpredictable, charming and humorous.
  1645  St. Mariana de Paredes Solitary and the “Lily of Quito,” Ecuador
 1747 Bl. Peter Sanz  Martyred bishop in China native of Catalonia, Spain Dominican
 1861 St. John Hoan  Martyr of Vietnam a Vietnamese priest beheaded during the anti-Christian persecutions. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1988.
 1861 St. Matthew Phuong Martyr of Vietnam A native catechist and an ardent Christian

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 by the 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 left us in their inspired writings.
There 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.

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

“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

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

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 126

Unless, O Lady, thou shalt build the house of our heart: its edifice shall not remain.
Build us up by thy grace and thy power: that we may remain firm forever.
Blessed be thy word: and blessed be all the words of thy lips.
Let them be blessed by God, who shall bless thee: and let them be reckoned
in the number of the just. Bless, O Lady, them that bless thee:
and never turn thy gracious countenance away from them.

Glory be to the Father, etc.


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O Most Blessed and Sweet Virgin Mary. Our Lady of Good Succor (near Rouen, France, 1613) Saint Thomas Aquinas
Mother of God, filled with all tenderness, Daughter of the most high King,
Lady of the Angels, Mother of all the faithful.
On this day and all the days of my life, I entrust to your merciful heart my body and my soul,
all my acts, thoughts, choices, desires, words, deeds, my entire life and death.
So that with your assistance all may be ordered to the good
according to the will of your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Obtain for me as well, O most sweet Lady, true charity with which from the depths of my heart
I may love your most holy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and, after him, love you above all other things. Amen.
Saint Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274) Excerpt from "Prayer of Saint Thomas Aquinas to the Blessed Virgin"

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
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/mart0526 stlukeorthodox.com/html/saints/may/ usccb.org  ewtn.com  St Patricks 0526
domcentral.org/life/martyrFebruary  syriac    oca.org   glaubenszeugen.de/tage/May/   Serbian   http://www.copticchurch.net  Melkite
Monthly Saints with pics here http://www.stfrancisenid.com/memorials.htFrancais Mai 16 2009
 One Saint per day stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/index.htm    stjohndc.org  God's Humourous Saints
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.
Mary the Mother of Jesus Miracles_BLay Saints  Miraculous_IconMiraculous_Medal_Novena Patron Saints
100   200   300   400   500   600   700    800   900   1000    1100   1200   1300   1400  1500  1600  1700  1800   1900

Paul VI_Athenagoras_05_01_1964

"The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints. They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties, how to stand firm in our faith, and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious." 
Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Instruction on the Contemplative Life includes this passage:
 "To withdraw into the desert is for Christians tantamount to associating themselves more intimately with Christ’s passion.
It enables them, in a very special way, to share in the paschal mystery and in the passage of Our Lord from this world to the heavenly homeland" (#1).
"The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints. They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties, how to stand firm in our faith, and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious."  1913 Saint Barsanuphius of Optina
Benedict_XVI_Patriarch_Bartholomew I
"Christianity is not a moral code or a philosophy,
but an encounter with a person" -- Benedict XVI

"Evil, is only eradicated by holiness, not by harshness. And holiness introduces into society a seed that heals and transforms.  It is like the tectonic plates of the earth’s crust: The deepest layers need only shift a few millimeters to shatter the world’s surface. Yet for this spiritual revolution to occur, we must experience radical 'metanoia'--a conversion of attitudes, habits and practices--for ways that we have misused or abused God’s Word, God’s gifts and God’s creation. The challenge before us is the discernment of God’s Word in the face of evil, the transfiguration of every last detail and speck of this world in the light of Resurrection." "The victory is al ready present in the depths of the Church, whenever we experience the grace of reconciliation and communion."
Patriarch_Bartholomew I: SYNOD OF BISHOPS VATICAN CITY, OCT. 17, 2008

God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven.
The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
Non est inventus similis illis
His Holiness Aram I, current (2008) 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.
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 was 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.
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. Eccl., V,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.

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.
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 AzamHazrat 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)
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Mother Angelica saving souls is this beautiful womans journey
Shrine_of_The_Most_Blessed_Sacrament
Colombia was among the countries Mother Angelica visited.  In Bogotá, a Salesian priest - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez brought Mother and the nuns to the Sanctuary of the Divine Infant Jesus to attend Mass.  After Mass, Father Juan Pablo took them into a small Shrine which housed the miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. Mother Angelica stood praying at the side of the statue when suddenly the miraculous image came alive and turned towards her.  Then the Child Jesus spoke with the voice of a young boy: 
"Build Me a Temple and I will help those who help you." 
Thus began a great adventure that would eventually result in the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a Temple dedicated to the Divine Child Jesus, a place of refuge for all. Use this link to read a remarkable story about
Father Reardon, Editor of The Catholic Bulletin for 20 years
Lover of the poor; "A very Holy Man of God"
Monsignor Reardon P.A.  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 5/31/1908
James M. Reardon Publication History of Basilica of Saint Mary 1600-1932
James M. Reardon Publication  History of the Basilica of Saint Mary 1955 {update}
Brief History of our Beloved Holy Priest Here and his published books of Catholic History in North America

Reardon, J.M. Archbishop Ireland; Prelate, Patriot, Publicist,1838-1918.
A Memoir (St. Paul; 1919);
George Anthony Belcourt Pioneer Catholic Missionary of the Northwest 1803-1874 (1955);
The Catholic Church IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL from earliest origin to centennial achievement
1362-1950 (1952);

The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;
  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;

James Michael Reardon B. 1872, Nova Scotia; Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland; Member  St. Paul Seminary faculty
Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows Here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary
spaces filled
between with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron  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.  It became the Popes' own cathedral and official residence for the 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 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.
Fatima and the Last Times Remedies
The Last Times Remedies spoken of by Sister Lucia are two-fold:
1. The Rosary Devotion;
2. The Five First Saturday Reparatory Devotion and Consecration of Russia.
The first remedy
The Rosary Devotion consists of the praying the Rosary daily, as well as offering up your daily sacrifices and duties in reparation or apology to God for the sins committed. We must remember to first apologize to God for sins, and then all things will be given afterwards. So this first step, the Rosary devotion, repairs for sins and helps to save souls from going to Hell.
In the August apparition, Our Lady stated, “Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to Hell because there is no one to pray and make sacrifices for them.”
This is a Daily Consecration formula that can be used:
"Dear Queen and Mother, who promised at Fatima to convert Russia and bring peace to all mankind, in reparation to Thy Immaculate Heart for my sins and the sins of the whole world, I solemnly promise: "To offer up every day the sufferings and sacrifices demanded by my daily duty; (through the Morning Offering prayer); "To pray the rosary daily while meditating on the Mysteries; "To wear the Brown Scapular of Mount Carmel as a profession of this promise and as an act of consecration of myself to Thee, and to renew this promise often, especially in moments of temptation."
The second remedy
The second remedy is The Five First Saturday Reparatory Devotions, which was requested by Our Lord to repair the damage of the five offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On Ascension Thursday, May 29, 1930 Our Lord explained what these were. The blasphemies are: Against her Immaculate Conception; Against her perpetual virginity; Against her divine maternity as well as the refusal to accept her as Mother of all mankind; The attempt to publicly implant in children’s hearts indifference toward, contempt and even hatred for this Immaculate Mother; The offense of those who insult her directly by profaning her sacred images.
What is required to fulfill the First Saturday Reparatory devotion? Here are the words of Our Lady, “I promise to help at the hour of death, with graces needed for salvation, whoever, on the First Saturday of five consecutive months, shall: "Confess; "Receive Holy Communion; "Recite five decades of the Rosary,
[With the added prayer at the end of each decade: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy];
"Keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to My Immaculate Heart” [This is understood to mean an additional 15 minutes of meditating on the Mysteries, other than the actual praying of the five decades].

Again we see the condition of making reparation, repairing for the damage done by sin.
We must remember that Our Lord, being a good and loving Son, asks for this reparation for those offenses committed against His Most Holy Mother.
This request of Our Lord and Our Lady for the Five First Saturday Devotion must be officially established and promulgated in the Church. But since this, alas, has not been done, Mr. Del Rose constantly worked to make it known and understood by the people, so more would practice it in compliance with Our Lady’s wishes.
During the famous Fr. Fuentes interview of December 26, 1957, Sister Lucia stated that if these remedies are rejected, it will be a sin against the Holy Ghost.
The second part of the request during the July 13, 1917 apparition is the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Holy Father in union with all the Bishops of the world must perform this consecration on the same day, and Russia must be named as the object of that consecration.
To date, neither the official promulgation of the Five First Saturdays Devotion nor the consecration of Russia has been fulfilled as Our Lady asked. This is the reason why Mr. Del Rose always stressed the two specific requirements, establishing The Five First Saturdays Devotion and the Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart.
By Father John Corapi, SOLT
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.

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM
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. Although it is supposed to be a religion of peace, Islam has been hijacked by Satan and now operates in the dark space of international terrorism.  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

A New Series by Fr. Corapi! The Moon Under Her Feet CD-Audio Set: $39.00 DVD-Video Set: $45.00  call 1-888-800-7084 or go to Site http://www.fathercorapi.com
In this four part series 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 this four part series on topics more timely than ever.
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
DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS
VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2009 (VIS) - Today, during a private audience with Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Pope authorised the congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
All Servants of God
MIRACLES:
- 1909 Ciriaco Maria Sancha y Hervas, Spanish cardinal archbishop of Toledo, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of
          Charity of Cardinal Sancha (1833-1909).
-
1956 Carlo Gnocchi, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the "Pro Juventute" Foundation (1902-1956).
-
1735 Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos, Spanish professed priest of the Company of Jesus (1711-1735).
-
1919 Raphael Rafiringa (ne Louis), Madagascan professed religious of the Institute of Brothers of Christian Schools
          (1856-1919).
-
1946 Eustachio Kugler, (ne Joseph), German professed religious of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God (1867-1946).
 
HEROIC VIRTUES
-
1659 Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, Spanish bishop of Osma (1600-1659).
-
1888 Robert Spiske, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Hedwig (1821-1888).
- 1
932 Carolina Beltrami, Italian foundress of the Institute of "Immaculatine" Sisters of Alessandria (1869-1932).
-
1998 Mary of the Immaculate e Conception Salvat y Romerio (nee Maria Isabella), Spanish superior general of the Institute of
          Sisters of the Company of the Cross (1926-1998).
-
1842 Liberata Ferrarons y Vives, Spanish laywoman of the Third Order of Carmelites (1803-1842).
  In the course of a private audience with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. on 22 December 2008, the Pope authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree regarding the heroic virtues of
1871 Jose Tous y Soler, Servant of God Spanish professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins and founder of the
        Capuchin sisters of the Mother of the Divine Shepherd (1811-1871).
CSS/DECREES/AMATO VIS 090119 (320)
CONSISTORY ON SEVERAL CAUSES OF CANONISATION
VATICAN CITY, 16 FEB 2009 (VIS) - In the Clementine Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Palace at 11 a.m. on Saturday 21 February, an ordinary public consistory will be held for the canonisation of the following Blesseds:
- Blessed Zygmunt Szczesny Felinski, Polish former archbishop of Warsaw and founder of the Congregation of Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary.
- Blessed Arcangelo Tadini, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of Worker Sisters of the Holy House of Nazareth.
- Blessed Francesc Coll y Guitart, Spanish professed priest of the Order of Friars Preachers and founder of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
- Blessed Jozef Damian de Veuster, Belgian professed priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar (PICPUS).
- Blessed Bernardo Tolomei, Italian founder of the Olivetan Benedictine Congregation.
- Blessed Rafael Arnaiz Baron, Spanish oblate friar of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance.
- Blessed Nuno di Santa Maria Alvares Pereira, Portuguese religious of the Order of Friars of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.
- Blessed Gertrude Comensoli (nee Caterina), Italian virgin and foundress of the Institute of Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.
- Blessed Mary of the Cross Jugan (nee Jeanne), French virgin and foundress of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor.
- Blessed Caterina Volpicelli, Italian virgin and foundress of the Institute of Handmaidens of the Sacred Heart.
OCL/CONSISTORY CANONISATION/... VIS 090216 (270)
VATICAN CITY, 3 APR 2009 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican, the Holy Father received in private audience Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorised the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes:
MIRACLES- Venerable Servant of God Maria Pierina de Micheli, Italian sister of the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception of Buenos Aires (1890-1945). HEROIC VIRTUES
- Franz Joseph Rudigier, Austrian Bishop of Linz (1811-1884). - Johannes Evangelist Wagner, German diocesan priest (1807-1886).  - Innocenzo da Caltagirone Marcinno (ne Giuseppe), Italian Minister General of the Order of the Capuchin Friars Minor (1589-1655).  - Teresa de la Cruz Candamo Alvarez Calderon, Peruvian foundress of the Congregation of Canonesses of the Cross (1875-1953).  - Maria Ines-Teresa del Santisimo Sacramento Arias Espinosa (nee Manuela de Jesus), Mexican foundress of the Poor Clare Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament  and the Missionaries of Christ for the Universal Church (1904-1981).  - Marie de la Ferre, French co-foundress of the Daughters of St. Joseph of La Fleche (now the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph) (1589/1590-1652).  - Teresita del Nino Jesus Perez de Iriarte Casado (nee Felisa), Spanish  professed religious of the Dominican Nuns (1904-1954).   - Dulce Lopes Pontes (nee Maria Rita), Brazilian sister of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God (1914-1992).  - Giacomo Gaglione, Italian lay man (1896-1962).  - Benoite Rencurel, French lay woman of the Third Order of St. Dominic (1647-1718).  CCS/DECREES CAUSES OF THE SAINTS/AMATO VIS 090403 (270)

FIVE BLESSEDS CANONISED ON SUNDAY 26 APRIL 2009
VATICAN CITY, 21 APR 2009 (VIS) - At 10 a.m. on Sunday 26 April, third Sunday of Easter, the Pope will celebrate the Eucharist in St. Peter's Square and canonise the following Blesseds:
- Arcangelo Tadini (1846-1912), Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of Worker Sisters of the Holy House of Nazareth.
- Bernardo Tolomei (1272-1348), Italian founder of the Olivetan Benedictine Congregation.
- Nuno de Santa Maria Alvares Pereira (1360-1431), Portuguese religious of the Order of Friars of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.
- Gertrude Comensoli (1847-1903), Italian virgin and foundress of the Institute of Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.
- Caterina Volpicelli (1839-1894), Italian virgin and foundress of the Institute of Handmaidens of the Sacred Heart.
OCL/CANONISATION/...VIS 090421 (140)
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Saint Carpus was one of the Seventy Apostles chosen and sent forth to preach by Christ (Luke 10:1). He was bishop of Verria in Macedonia.
1st v. St. Alphaeus father of St. James the Less, mentioned in Matthew. His legends were popular in the early Church.
St Carpos and St Alphaeus were numbered with the Seventy, and ministered to the holy Apostle Paul, journeying with him and conveying his epistles to those to whom they were written. St Carpos became Bishop of Beroea in Thrace, where he endured great tribulations while bringing many of the heathen to holy Baptism, and suffered martyrdom there. St Paul mentions him in 2 Timothy 4:13
The Holy Apostle Alphaeus of the Seventy from the Galilean city of Capernaum  father of the Apostles James and Matthew.
According to Tradition, the Holy Martyrs Abercius and Helen were children of the holy Apostle Alphaeus.
For confessing faith in Christ, St Abercius was tied naked to a beehive and died from the bees' sting.
For confessing faith in Christ, St Helen, was pelted with stones.  Abercius_son_of_Apostle_Alphaeus St Helen

272 Ss. Priscus, or Prix, and his companions, Martyrs
In território Antisiodorénsi pássio sancti Prisci Mártyris, qui, cum ingénti multitúdine fidélium Christi, cápite cæsus est.
    In the territory of Auxerre, the passion of St. Priscus, martyr, along with a great multitude of other Christians.

The persecution initiated under the Emperor Aurelian was carried on with peculiar ferocity in Roman Gaul, notably in the town of Besançon. Mindful of the precept “When they persecute you in one city, flee to another”, two prominent citizens, Priscus and Cottus, went with a number of other Christians to Auxerre, which was surrounded by forests. They were, however, hunted down and slain by the sword. The bodies of the saints were discovered in the first half of the fifth century by St Germanus, who built two churches in their honour and who propa­gated a cultus of these martyrs of Auxerre which became very general. Besançon and Sens still celebrate the feast of St Priscus.

Although the legend of these martyrs printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vi, is comparatively free from extravagance, it cannot be regarded as trustworthy. On the other hand, the insertion of the name of Priscus in the Hieronymianum points to the existence of a genuine ‘and early cultus.
106 St. Zachary Bishop and martyr of Vienne, Gaul, he was martyred during the reign of Emperor Trajan
Viénnæ, in Gállia, sancti Zacharíæ, Epíscopi et Mártyris, qui sub Trajáno passus est.
    At Vienne, St. Zacharas, bishop and martyr, who suffered under Trajan
.
130 St. Quadratus Martyr Apostle of the 70 preached the Word of God as Bishop of Athens and at Magnesia (eastern peninsula of Thessaly)
Athénis item natális beáti Quadráti, Apostolórum discípuli, qui, in persecutióne Hadriáni, fide et indústria sua cóngregans Ecclésiam grándi terróre dispérsam, librum pro Christiánæ religiónis defensióne, valde útilem et Apostólica doctrína dignum, eídem Imperatóri porréxit.
    At Athens, during the persecution of Hadrian, the birthday of blessed Quadratus, a disciple of the apostles, who collected by his zealous work the faithful who had dispersed through terror, and presented to the emperor a book which was an excellent apology of the Christian religion, worthy of an apostle
In Africa sancti Quadráti Mártyris, in cujus solemnitáte sanctus Augustínus sermónem hábuit.
    In Africa, St. Quadratus, martyr, on whose feast day St. Augustine preached a sermon..

<>129 St Quadratus, Bishop of Athens
The first of the great line of Christian apologists was St Quadratus or Codratus who, as some suppose, became bishop of Athens after the death of St Publius. Eusebius and other ecclesiastical writers speak of a certain Quadratus (who may or may not be identical with the apologist) with special respect, as a prophet and as a holy man who had been the disciple of the Apostles. When the Emperor Hadrian came to Athens to be present at the Eleusinian games, St Quadratus addressed to him a written treatise in defence of the Christians, which had the effect of checking the persecution, or at least of preventing the promulgation of any fresh decrees against them. The apology was known to Eusebius and possibly to St Jerome, but it has now unfortunately been lost. In it he quotes our Lord’s miracles as an evidence of the truth of His teaching, and mentions the fact that he himself had actually known persons who had been healed or raised to life by Jesus Christ. The date of his death is uncertain: it probably occurred about the year 129 or a little later.

The passages from Eusebius and St Jerome upon which we depend for all our knowledge of St Quadratus are quoted in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vi. Quadratus was not an uncommon name, and it is very doubtful whether the apologist, the bishop of Athens, and the prophet in Asia Minor were one and the same person. See Bardenhewer, Geschichte deraltkirchlichen Literatur, vol. i, pp. 168—169; Harnack in Texte und Untersuchungen, vol. i, part i, pp. 100 seq.; Harnack, Chronologie der altchristlichen Literatur, vol. i, pp. 269—271 and DTC., vol. xiii, cc. 1429—1431.

He was put to death in Africa and was honored by St. Augustine with a panegyric. Apostle of the 70 preached the Word of God at Athens and at Magnesia (eastern peninsula of Thessaly), and was Bishop of Athens. His biographer called him "a morning star" among the clouds of paganism. He converted many pagans to the true faith in Christ the Savior, and his preaching aroused the hatred of the pagans. Once, an angry mob fell upon the saint to pelt him with stones. Preserved by God, St. Quadratus remained alive, and they threw him into prison, where he died of starvation. His holy body was buried in Magnesia.

In the year 126, St. Quadratus wrote an Apologia in defence of Christianity. Presented to the emperor Hadrian (117-138), the Apologia affected the persecution of Christians, since the emperor issued a decree saying that no one should be convicted without just cause. This Apologia was known to the historian Eusebios in the fourth century. At the present time, only part of this Apologia survives, quoted by Eusebios: "The deeds of our Savior were always witnessed, because they were true. His healings and raising people from the dead were visible not only when they were healed and raised, but always. They lived not only during the existence of the Savior upon the earth, but they also remained alive long after His departure. Some, indeed, have survived to our own time."

Troparion of St Quadratus Tone 1 Thy life became radiant with wisdom; thou didst draw down the fire of the Spirit/ and discern the doctrines of life,/ Quadratus, Apostle of Christ./ We cry to thee as to an enlightener:/ Glory to Christ Who has glorified thee; glory to Him Who has crowned thee:/ glory to Him Who through thee works healings for all.

Kontakion of St Quadratus Tone 8 O Lord, the world offers to Thee the Apostle Quadratus as a holy Hierarch and Martyr./ As we hymn his memory we pray Thee/ to grant forgiveness to those who sing: Alleluia
.
2nd v.  St. Eleutherius, pope and martyr, who converted to the Christian faith many noble Romans
Item Romæ sancti Eleuthérii, Papæ et Mártyris, qui multos nóbiles Romanórum ad fidem Christi perdúxit, et sanctos Damiánum et Fugátium in Británniam misit, qui Lúcium Regem, cum uxóre ipsíus ac toto fere pópulo, baptizárunt.
    Also at Rome, St. Eleutherius, pope and martyr, who converted to the Christian faith many noble Romans.  He sent Saints Damian and Fugatius to England, and they baptized King Lucius, his wife, and almost all his people.
Damian and Fugatius  Missionaries sent by Pope St. Eleutherius  to Britain. They are also listed as Phaganus and Diruvianus Fagan and Deruvian, or as Hager and Dyfan
303 St. Felicissimus Martyr with Heraclius and Paulinus. They suffered martyrdom at Todi, Umbria, Italy
Tudérti, in Umbria, natális sanctórum Mártyrum Felicíssimi, Heráclii et Paulíni.
    At Todi in Umbria, the birthday of the holy martyrs Felicíssimus, Heraclius, and Paulinus.
600 St. Becan 6th century Irish hermit in Cork lived in the time of St. Columba and was known for his sanctity.
604 Saint Augustine was from Italy, and a disciple of St Felix, Bishop of Messana  first Archbishop of Canterbury a wonderworker
St. Augustine, bishop Cantuáriæ, in Anglia, natális sancti Augustíni, Epíscopi et Confessóris; qui, una cum áliis, a beáto Gregório Papa missus, genti Anglórum sacrum Christi Evangélium prædicávit., ibíque, virtútibus et miráculis gloriósus, obdormívit in Dómino.  Ejus tamen festívitas quinto Kaléndas Júnii recólitur.
         At Canterbury in England, St. Augustine, bishop, who was sent there with others by blessed Pope Gregory, and who preached the Gospel of Christ to the English nation.  Celebrated for virtues and miracles, he went peacefully to his rest in the Lord.  The 28th of May is observed as his feast.
St Gregory Dialogus (March12) chose him to lead a mission of forty monks to evangelize the people of Britain. They arrived at Ebbsfleet (on the isle of Thanet) in Kent in 597.

King Ethelbert, whose Frankish wife Bertha was a Christian, welcomed them. They were allowed to base their mission at the ancient church of St Martin in Canterbury, which was restored for their use. This church had been built during the Roman occupation of Britain, and the queen often went there to pray. At first, the king was reluctant to give up his pagan beliefs, but he promised not to harm them, and to supply them with whatever they needed. He also promised that he would not prevent them from preaching Christianity. St Augustine later converted the king to Christianity, along with thousands of his subjects. The holy right-believing King Ethelbert is commemorated on February 25.

Bede says that St Augustine was consecrated as Archbishop of Britain by Archbishop Etherius of Arles (others say that it was his successor St Virgilius of Arles [March 5] who consecrated St Augustine). Returning to Britain, he threw himself into the work of evangelizing the country with renewed zeal. St Augustine built Christ Church, predecessor of the present cathedral at Canterbury, and consecrated it on June 9, 603 (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle). He also founded the monastery of Sts Peter and Paul east of the city. Here St Augustine, the Archbishops of Canterbury, and the Kings of Kent were buried. The monastery, now in ruins, was later known as St Augustine's Monastery.

The saint was instrumental in founding the dioceses of Rochester and London. In 604 he consecrated St Justus (November 10) and St Mellitus (April 24) as bishops for those Sees. St Augustine also helped the king draft the earliest Anglo-Saxon laws, and founded a school in Canterbury.

Saint Augustine was not completely successful in all his efforts, however. He was not able to achieve unity with the already existing Christian communities who followed Celtic practices. He met with some of their bishops to urge them to abandon their Celtic traditions and to accept the Roman practices. He invited them to cooperate with him in evangelizing the country, but they refused to give up their ancient traditions. . Before meeting with St Augustine in 603, the Celtic bishops asked a holy hermit whether or not to accept Augustine as their leader. The hermit replied, "If he rises to greet you, then accept him. If he remains seated, then he is arrogant and unfit to be your leader, and you should reject him." Unfortunately, St Augustine did not rise to greet them. Perhaps St Augustine was, to some degree, a bit tactless and too insistent on conformity to Roman customs. On the other hand, Celtic resentment against Roman authority also contributed to the stormy relationship.

Known in his lifetime as a wonderworker, St Augustine fell asleep in the Lord on May 26, 604. He was laid to rest at the entrance of the unfinished church of Sts Peter and Paul. When the church was dedicated in 613, his holy relics were placed inside. An epitaph was composed for his tomb. In part, it reads: "Here lies the Lord Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, sent here by blessed Gregory, bishop of the city of Rome, who with the help of God, and aided by miracles, guided King Ethelbert and his people from the worship of idols to the Faith of Christ."
St Bede (May 27) gives detailed information about St Augustine's mission to Britain in his HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH AND PEOPLE (Book I, 23-33. Book II, 1-3).
6th v. ST  ELEUTHERIUS, ABBOT
"THE holy man, old father Eleutherius ",is spoken of several times in the Dialogues of St Gregory, wherein are chronicled certain miracles reported of him by his monks.  He was abbot of the monastery of St Mark, near Spoleto, and once when lodging at a convent of nuns he was asked to take over the care of a boy who was nightly troubled by an evil spirit.      St Eleutherius did so, and for long nothing uatoward happened to the boy, so that the abbot said, "The Devil is having a game with those sisters ; but now that he has to deal with the servants of God he daren't come near the child ". As if in rebuke of a speech that certainly savoured of boasting, the boy was at once afflicted by his former trouble.  Eleutherius was conscious-stricken, and said to the brethren that stood by, "None of us shall eat food to-day until this boy is dispossessed ".  All fell to prayer, and did not cease until the child was cured.
   One Holy Saturday St Gregory was ill and could not fast, whereat, he tells us, he was considerably disturbed.  "When I found on this sacred vigil, when not only adults but even children fast, that I could not refrain from eating, I was more grieved thereby than troubled by my illness." So he asked Eleutherius to pray for him that he might join the people in their penance, and soon by virtue of that prayer Gregory found himself enabled to abstain from food. St Eleutherius lived for many years in Gregory's monastery at Rome, and died there.
    We know practically nothing more about St Eleutherius than St Gregory tells us in his Dialogues, notably in bk , ch. 33   but the story is discussed by the Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum, September, vol. ii.
695 St. Oduvald Scottish abbot native of Scotland entered monastic life became abbot of Melrose,  then a great spiritual center of the era.
800 Saint John Psichaita the Confessor Because of his holy life and deeds, he received from God the gift to cast out demons and to heal the sick called emperor Leo the Isaurian a heretic
Lived during the end of the eighth or the beginning of the ninth century. In his youth he left the secular world and became a monk in the Psichaita Lavra (in the suburbs of Constantinople).  Because of his holy life and deeds, he received from God the gift to cast out demons and to heal the sick. During this time the heresy of the iconoclasts was raging, and those venerating holy icons were subjected to persecution.
St John was led away for interrogation, and they tried to force him to sign a document renouncing the veneration of holy icons. Instead of renouncing the holy icons, the saint denounced his persecutors, calling the emperor Leo the Isaurian (717-741) a heretic. Therefore, they sent St John into exile. He died, having suffered much from the iconoclasts.

1050 St. Guinizo Benedictine of Spain who was a hermit at Monte Cassino, in Italy. He was greatly revered as a model eremite.

1154 St Lambert, Bishop of Vence

St Lambert was born at Bauduen, in the diocese of Riez, and became a monk in the abbey of Lérins, where he had lived from his childhood. Though kindly to all and popular with his brethren, he was so great a lover of solitude and study that he never left his cell except when obedience required him to do so. Much against his will he was made bishop of Vence in 1114. For forty years he ruled his diocese, instructing the people and healing many sick persons by prayer and the laying-on of hands. He was famous for his learning and for his miracles. Beloved of all, he died in the year 1154, and was buried in his cathedral church.

The life printed n the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vi, seems to have been written within ten years of St Lambert’s death, but its dullness is only relieved by the narration of some very dubious miracles. A copy of his epitaph has been published in the Revue des Sociétés savantes, vol. iv (1876), p. 196.

1265 Bd Eva of Liege, Virgin 

When Bd Juliana was prioress of Mount Cornillon, one of her closest friends was a holy recluse, Eva, or Heva, of Liege, whom she inspired with her own enthusiastic purpose to obtain the institution of a feast in honour of the Blessed Sacrament. It was in Eva’s cell near the church of St Martin that Juliana found refuge when she was driven for the first time from Cornillon, and it was Eva who took up her mission after she died. The accession of Pope Urban IV raised her hopes, for he had formerly shown himself sympathetic when, as Archdeacon James Pantaleon, he had been approached on the subject by Bd Juliana. Eva’s hopes were fulfilled. Not only did he institute the festival of Corpus Christi, but he sent to her the bull of authorization as well as the special office for the day which St Thomas Aquinas had compiled at his desire. The cultus of Bd Eva was confirmed in 1902.

The brief authorizing the cultus may be read in the Analecta Ecclesiastica, vol. X (1902), p. 245. See also Demarteau, La premiere auteur wallonne, Eve de Saint-Martin (1898); Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xvi (1897), pp. 531—532; and cf. the bibliography given under Bd Juliana on April 5.

1293 St. Berencardus Benedictine monk known for his charity. He was a member of the community of St. Papoul Abbey in Languedoc, France.
St. Dyfan He is also called Deruvianus and Damian Mssioary to the Britons sent by Pope St. Eleutherius when a local Briton king requested missionaries from the pope
Dyfan is remembered with a church at Merthyr-Dyfan, Britain.
1515 George the New Holy Martyr attentively studied the Holy Scriptures pious and chaste refused to accept Islam bright light over his burnt relics
Born into an illustrious Bulgarian family, living in the capital city of Bulgaria, Sredets (now the city of Sofia). St George's childless parents, John and Mary, in their declining years entreated the Lord to send them a child. Their prayer was answered, and they baptized the infant with the name of the holy Great Martyr George (April 23).

Young George received a fine upbringing, he attentively studied the Holy Scriptures, and he was pious and chaste. His parents died when George was twenty-five. At that time Bulgaria found itself under the rule of the Turks, who forcibly converted Christians to Islam. Once, several Moslems tried to convert George. They put a fez on the saint's head. This is a red circular hat which Moslems wear to enter their house of prayer. But George threw the fez on the ground. The Turks brought the martyr to their governor with beatings and abuse.

The governor was impressed with St George's appearance and bearing, and he urged him to accept Islam, promising honors and wealth from Sultan Selim (1512-1520). The saint boldly and steadfastly confessed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and reproached the errors of Islam. The governor in a rage gave orders to beat St George with rods, but the saint persevered in his confession of faith in Christ.

The governor ordered the tortures to be increased. The passion-bearer bore all his sufferings, calling on the Lord Jesus Christ for help. Then they led the martyr through the city to the beat of a drum and shouts: "Do not insult Mohammed nor abase the Moslem faith".
Finally, a large fire was lit in the city, to burn St George. Weakened by his wounds, the saint fell to the ground. They threw him into the fire still alive, and they threw corpses of dogs on top of him so that Christians would not be able to find the relics of the martyr.

Suddenly, a heavy rain fell and extinguished the fire. With the onset of darkness, the place where the body of the martyr was thrown was illumined with a bright light. They gave permission to a certain Christian priest to take the venerable relics of the martyr for burial. Informed about the occurrence, Metropolitan Jeremiah and his clergy went to the place of execution. In the ashes of the fire they located the body of the holy Martyr George and carried it to the church of St George the Great Martyr in the city of Sredets
.
1521 Uncovering of the Relics of St Macarius of Kalyazin a grave was discovered, exuding an ineffable fragrance. Igumen Joasaph immediately recognized the grave of the monastery's founder, St Macarius, who reposed in the year 1483
Occurred on May 26, 1521. A merchant from the city of Dmitrov, Michael Voronkov, offered the means for the construction of a stone church to replace the decaying wooden one at the Kalyazin monastery.

The igumen of the monastery, Joasaph, set up a cross at the spot designated for the altar, and gave a blessing to dig the trench for the foundation. During the work a grave was discovered, exuding an ineffable fragrance. Igumen Joasaph immediately recognized the grave of the monastery's founder, St Macarius, who reposed in the year 1483.

The brethren of the monastery and a crowd of people sang a Panikhida during the transfer of the coffin to the church. From that day the incorrupt relics of the saint began to work healings. A report about this was made to Metropolitan Daniel of Moscow (1522-1539), who convened a Council at Moscow. After examining testimony about the sanctity of Macarius, he established a Feast day for the newly-appeared saint. The relics were solemnly transferred to the church of the Holy Trinity.

Theodosius of Tver composed the service for the Uncovering of the Relics. Until 1547, St Macarius was venerated only at this monastery. During the Moscow Council of 1547 under Metropolitan Macarius (1543-1564), St Macarius of Kalyazin was numbered among the saints, and his name added to the calendar of other Russian saints to be celebrated throughout all of Russia.

The Life of St Macarius of Kalyazin is found under March 17, the day of his blessed repose.
1595 Saint Philip Neri Patron of Rome  showed the humorous side of holiness
Romæ sancti Philíppi Nérii, Presbyteri et Confessóris, qui Congregatiónis Oratórii Fundátor fuit, ac virginitate, prophetíæ dono, et miráculis éxstitit insígnis.
    At Rome, St. Philip Neri, priest and confessor, founder of the Congregation of the Oratory, celebrated for his virginal purity, the gift of prophecy, and miracles.

Born at Florence, Italy, 22 July, 1515; died 27 May, 1595 
If one had to choose one saint who showed the humorous side of holiness that would Philip Neri.

1595 St Philip Neri * [* To-day is the feast of St Augustine of Canterbury in England and Wales; see May 28, his date in the general calendar.] “the Apostle of Rome”; “Well, brothers, when shall we begin to do good?”; Here, in the grotte as they were then called, he was fervently praying for the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the eve of Pentecost 1544 when there appeared to him as it were a globe of fire which entered his mouth and which he afterwards felt dilating his breast. Immediately he was filled with such paroxysms of divine love that he rolled upon the ground exclaiming, “Enough, enough, Lord, I can bear no more!” When he had risen and was more composed, on putting his hand to his heart he discovered a swelling as big as a man’s fist, but neither then nor subsequently did it give him pain. From that day, under the stress of spiritual emotion he was apt to be seized with violent palpitations, which caused his whole body to tremble and sometimes the chair or the bed on which he rested to be violently shaken. The fervour which consumed him often obliged him to bare his breast to relieve the heat within and he would ask God to mitigate His consolations lest he should die with love. After his death it was discovered that two of the saint’s ribs were broken and had formed an arch which added to the normal space for the beating of his heart—all before becoming priest in 1551;  a small community of priest joined him with the townspeople calling them “Oratorians” because of the little bell he rang to assembly;

St Philip Neri was born in Florence in the year 1515 and was one of the four children of a notary called Francis Neri. Their mother died while they were very young, but her place was well supplied by an excellent step­mother. From infancy Philip was remarkable for his docility and sweet disposition, which caused him to bespoken of as “Pippo buono”—“good little Phil.” Indeed, the only time he ever merited and received a reprimand from his elders was when he once pushed away his elder sister because she persisted in interrupting him and his little sister while they were reciting some of the psalms. His first religious teachers were the Dominicans of San Marco, whose instructions and example made a deep and permanent impression. He grew up a pious, attractive, cheerful lad— very popular with all who came in contact with him. When he was eighteen he was sent to San Germano, to a childless kinsman who was supposed to have a flourishing business and who was likely to make him his heir. Philip, however, did not stay there long. Soon after his arrival he passed through a mystical experience which in after years he spoke of as “conversion”, and from thenceforth worldly affairs had no more attraction for him. The atmosphere in which he was living became uncongenial, and he set out for Rome, without money and without plans, trusting entirely to the guidance of divine providence. In Rome he found shelter under the roof of Galeotto Caccia, a Florentine customs-official, who provided him with an attic and the bare necessaries of life. It was little enough that Philip needed. His entire fare consisted of bread, water and a few olives or vegetables, which he usually took once a day: and his room was practically bare except for a bed, a chair, some books, and a line on which he hung his clothes. In return for his hospitality Philip gave lessons to his host’s two small sons who, if we may accept the testimony of their mother and their aunt, became veritable little angels under his direction.

Except for the hours he devoted to his charges, St Philip seems to have spent the first two years of his residence in Rome almost like a recluse, giving up whole days and nights to prayer in his garret. It proved to be a period of inward pre­paration, at the close of which he emerged from his retreat, with his spiritual life strengthened and his determination to live for God confirmed, while he proceeded to take up courses of philosophy and theology at the Sapienza and at Sant’ Agostino. For three years he worked with diligence and with such success that he was regarded as a promising scholar. Then, quite suddenly—perhaps in response to some intuition or intimation—he threw up his studies, sold most of his books and embarked upon an apostolate amongst the people. Religion at that time was at a low ebb in Rome, which was very slowly recovering from the effects of the sacking in 1527. There were several contributory causes. Grave abuses had crept into the Church: they had long been generally recognized, but nothing was being done to remove them. Elections to the Sacred College had been controlled by the Medici, with the result that the cardinals, with few exceptions, were princes of the state rather than of the Church. The enthusiasm for classical authors fostered by the Renaissance had gradually substituted pagan for Christian ideals, thereby lowering the moral standard and weakening faith. Indifference, if not corruption, was rife amongst the clergy, many of whom seldom celebrated Mass, let their churches fall into disrepair and neglected their flocks. It was small wonder that the people were lapsing into semi-godlessness. To re-evangelize Rome was to be St Philip’s life-work, and he accomplished it with such success as to earn from posterity the title of “the Apostle of Rome”.

He began in a small way. He would stand about the street-corners and market place, entering into conversation with all sorts of people—especially with the young Florentines employed in the banks and shops of the Sant’ Angelo quarter. He had an attractive personality with a notable sense of humour, and he readily won a hearing. Then he would put in a word in season or speak to his audience about the love of God and the state of their souls. In this manner he gradually prevailed upon many to give up evil practices and to reform their lives. His customary greeting, “Well, brothers, when shall we begin to do good?” found them willing enough to respond provided he would show them the way. So he took them with him to wait upon the sick in the hospitals and to visit the Seven Churches—a favourite devotion of his own. His days were given up to men; but towards evening he would retire into solitude, sometimes spending the night in a church porch, sometimes in the catacombs of St Sebastian beside the Appian Way. Here, in the grotte as they were then called, he was fervently praying for the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the eve of Pentecost 1544 when there appeared to him as it were a globe of fire which entered his mouth and which he afterwards felt dilating his breast. Immediately he was filled with such paroxysms of divine love that he rolled upon the ground exclaiming, “Enough, enough, Lord, I can bear no more!” When he had risen and was more composed, on putting his hand to his heart he discovered a swelling as big as a man’s fist, but neither then nor subsequently did it give him pain. From that day, under the stress of spiritual emotion he was apt to be seized with violent palpitations, which caused his whole body to tremble and sometimes the chair or the bed on which he rested to be violently shaken. The fervour which consumed him often obliged him to bare his breast to relieve the heat within and he would ask God to mitigate His consolations lest he should die with love. After his death it was discovered that two of the saint’s ribs were broken and had formed an arch which added to the normal space for the beating of his heart.

In the year 1548, with the help of his confessor, Father Persiano Rossa, who lived at San Girolamo della Carità, St Philip founded a confraternity of poor laymen who met for spiritual exercises in the church of San Salvatore in Campo. With their aid he popularized in Rome the devotion of the forty hours and under­took the care of needy pilgrims. This work was greatly blessed and developed into the celebrated hospital of Santa Trinità dei Pellegrini, which in the year of jubilee 1575 assisted no less than 145,000 pilgrims, and afterwards undertook the charge of poor convalescents.

Thus by the time he was thirty-four, St Philip Neri had accomplished much; but his confessor was convinced that he could do still more as a priest. Though the saint’s humility made him shrink from the idea of taking holy orders, he eventually deferred to his director’s wishes. He was ordained on May 23, 1551, and went to live with Father Rossa and other priests at San Girolamo della Carità. His apostolate was now exercised mainly through the confessional. From before daybreak until nearly midday and often again in the afternoon he sat in the tribunal of penance, to which flocked a host of penitents of all ages and ranks. He had a wonderful power of reading the thoughts of those who resorted to him and effected an enormous number of conversions. For the benefit of these penitents he would hold informal spiritual conferences and discussions, followed by visits to churches or attendance at Vespers and Complin. Often they would read aloud the lives of martyrs and missionaries. The account of the heroic career and death of St Francis Xavier so inspired St Philip himself that he was tempted to volunteer for the foreign mission field. However, a Cistercian whom he consulted assured him that Rome was to be his Indies, and the saint accepted the decision.

A large room was built over the nave of San Girolamo to accommodate the increasing numbers of those who attended the conferences, in the direction of which St Philip was aided by several other priests. The people called them Oratorians, because they rang a little bell to summon the faithful to prayers in their oratory, but the real foundation of the congregation so-named was laid a few years later, when St Philip presented five of his young disciples for ordination and sent them to serve the church of San Giovanni, the charge of which had been entrusted to him by his fellow Florentines in Rome. For these young priests, amongst whom was Cesare Baronius, the future historian, he drew up some simple rules of life. They shared a common table and spiritual exercises under his obedience, but he forbade them to bind themselves to this state by vows or to renounce their property if they had any. Others joined them and their organization and work developed rapidly-­the more so, perhaps, because it met with opposition and even persecution in certain quarters. However, in 1575, the new society received the formal approbation of Pope Gregory XIII, who afterwards gave to it the ancient church of Sta Maria in Vallicella. The edifice, besides being in a ruinous condition, was far too small, and St Philip decided to demolish it and to rebuild it on a large scale. He had no money, but contributions came in from rich and poor. The pope and St Charles Borromeo were generous in their donations, as were many of the most prominent men in Rome. Cardinals and princes were amongst his disciples, though he not infrequently disconcerted them by the strange things he did and said—sometimes spontaneously, for he was the most unconventional of saints, but often deliberately in order to conceal his spiritual emotion or to lower himself in the esteem of on­lookers. Humility was the virtue which, of all others, he strove to practise himself and to instil into his penitents. He could not succeed, however, in blinding others to his own sanctity or in wholly concealing from them the extraordinary gifts and graces with which he was endowed.

Always a delicate man, he was once cured of a severe attack of stone by our Lady, who appeared to him in a vision. He had been lying in a state of exhaustion when he suddenly rose with outstretched arms exclaiming, “Oh, my beautiful Madonna! Oh, my holy Madonna!” A doctor who was present took him by the arm, but St Philip entreated him to let him be. “Would you not have me embrace my holy Mother who has come to visit me?” he asked. Then, realizing the presence of two physicians at his side, he hid his head in the bedclothes like a bashful child. Many sick persons were restored by him to health, and on several occasions he prophesied future events—all of which came to pass. He lived in such constant touch with the supernatural that sometimes it was with the greatest difficulty that he could pursue his worldly avocations. He would fall into an ecstasy when saying his office, when offering Mass, or even while he was dressing. Men looking upon his face declared that it glowed with celestial radiance.

By April 1577, work on the Chiesa Nuova, as it was called, had advanced sufficiently for the Congregation of the Oratory to be transferred to the Vallicella, but their superior went on living at San Girolamo as before. He had become attached to the room he had occupied for thirty-three years, and it was not until 1584 that he took up residence at the Chiesa Nuova, in compliance with the pope’s expressed wish. Even then he continued to live and have his meals apart from the community, although his spiritual sons had free access to him. So far, indeed, was he from leading the life of a solitary that his room was constantly crowded by visitors of all descriptions. The Roman people in his later years held him in extraordinary veneration: the whole college of cardinals resorted to him for counsel and spiritual refreshment; and so great was his reputation that foreigners coming to Rome were eager to obtain an introduction. It was thus, in his own room, that he continued his apostolate when increasing age and infirmities precluded him from going about freely. Rich and poor mounted the steep steps that led to his apart­ment at the top of the house, with its loggia looking out above and beyond the roofs—the holy man always loved open spaces—and to each person he gave advice suited to his special needs.

Towards the close of his life St Philip had several dangerous attacks of illness from which he rallied wonderfully after being anointed. Two years before the end he succeeded in laying down his office of superior in favour of his disciple Baronius. He also obtained permission to celebrate Mass daily in a little oratory adjoining his room. So enraptured did he become when offering the Holy Sacrifice that it became the practice for those who attended his Mass to retire at the Agnus Dei.

Even the server would leave the chapel after extinguishing the candles, lighting a little lamp and placing outside the door a notice to give warning that the Father was saying Mass. Two hours later he would return, relight the candles and the Mass would be continued. On the feast of Corpus Christi, May 25, 2595, the saint appeared to be in a radiantly happy mood, bordering on exultation, and his physician told him he had not looked so well for ten years. St Philip alone realized that his hour had come. All day long he heard confessions and saw visitors as usual, but before retiring he said, “Last of all, we must die”. About midnight he was seized with an attack of haemorrhage so severe that the fathers were called. He was obviously dying, and Baronius, who read the commendatory prayers, besought him to say a parting word, or at least to bless his sons. Though St Philip was past speaking, he raised his hand, and in bestowing his blessing passed to his eternal reward. He was eighty years of age and his work was done. His body rests in the Chiesa Nuova, which the Oratorians serve to this day. St Philip Neri was canon­ized in 1622.

Abbé Louis Ponnelle and Abbé Louis Bordet, in the best documented and most pains­taking life of St Philip which has yet been published (St Philip Neri and the Roman Society of his Times, translated by Father R. F. Kerr, 1932), devote a preliminary chapter to an exhaustive review of the sources. It is therefore only necessary here to indicate a few of those earlier publications by which Catholics, and more particularly those of English speech, have become familiarized with the lovable personality of the Apostle of Rome. The earliest biography is that of the Oratorian Father Gallonio, written in Latin and published in 1600. It is reproduced in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vi, together with another by Father Bernabei, probably chosen because it amounts to little more than a summary of the beati­fication process. The life by Bacci appeared in Italian in 1622, and it was supplemented by G. Ricci in 1678. This standard work was translated into English as part of the Oratorian Series, edited by Father Faber (1847). Another edition, revised by Father Antrobus, was issued in 1902. The life by Cardinal Capecelatro, written in Italian, has also been twice printed in English, in 1882 and 1926. Finally may be mentioned an excellent sketch, in much more compendious form, published by Father V. J. Matthews in 1934; A. Baudrillart’s book in the series “Les Saints” (1939) ; and T. Maynard’s good popular life, Mystic in Motley (1946)—a bad example of American “striking” titles.

Born in 1515 in Florence, he showed the impulsiveness and spontaneity of his character from the time he was a boy. In fact one incident almost cost him his life. Seeing a donkey loaded with fruit for market, the little boy had barely formed the thought of jumping on the donkey's back before he had done it. The donkey, surprised, lost his footing, and donkey, fruit, and boy tumbled into the cellar with the boy winding up on the bottom! Miraculously he was unhurt.
His father was not successful financially and at eighteen Philip was sent to work with an older cousin who was a successful businessman. During this time, Philip found a favorite place to pray up in the fissure of a mountain that had been turned into a chapel. We don't know anything specific about his conversion but during these hours of prayer he decided to leave worldly success behind and dedicate his life to God.
After thanking his cousin, he went to Rome in 1533 where he was the live-in tutor of the sons of a fellow Florentine. He studied philosophy and theology until he thought his studies were interfering with his prayer life. He then stopped his studies, threw away his books, and lived as a kind of hermit.

Night was his special time of prayer. After dark he would go out in the streets, sometimes to churches, but most often into the catacombs of St. Sebastiano to pray. During one of these times of prayer he felt a globe of light enter his mouth and sink into his heart. This experience gave him so much energy to serve God that he went out to work at the hospital of the incurables and starting speaking to others about God, everyone from beggars to bankers.
In 1548 Philip formed a confraternity with other laymen to minister to pilgrims who came to Rome without food or shelter. The spiritual director of the confraternity convinced Philip that he could do even more work as a priest. After receiving instruction from this priest, Philip was ordained in 1551.

At his new home, the church of San Girolamo, he learned to love to hear confessions. Young men especially found in him the wisdom and direction they needed to grow spiritually. But Philip began to realize that these young men needed something more than absolution; they needed guidance during their daily lives. So Philip began to ask the young men to come by in the early afternoon when they would discuss spiritual readings and then stay for prayer in the evening. The numbers of the men who attended these meetings grew rapidly. In order to handle the growth, Philip and a fellow priest Buonsignore Cacciaguerra gave a more formal structure to the meetings and built a room called the Oratory to hold them in.

Philip understood that it wasn't enough to tell young people not to do something -- you had to give them something to do in its place. So at Carnival time, when the worst excesses were encouraged, Philip organized a pilgrimage to the Seven Churches with a picnic accompanied by instrumental music for the mid-day break. After walking twelve miles in one day everyone was too tired to be tempted!

In order to guide his followers, Philip made himself available to everyone at any hour -- even at night. He said some of the most devout people were those who had come to him at night. When others complained, Philip answered, "They can chop wood on my back so long as they do not sin."

Not everyone was happy about this growing group and Philip and Buonsignore were attacked by the priests they lived with. But eventually Philip and his companions were vindicated and went on with their work.  In 1555, the Pope's Vicar accused Philip of "introducing novelties" and ordered him to stop the meetings of the Oratory. Philip was brokenhearted but obeyed immediately. The Pope only let him start up the Oratory again after the sudden death of his accuser. Despite all the trouble this man had caused, Philip would not let anyone say anything against the man or even imply that his sudden death was a judgment from God.  One church, for Florentines in Rome, had practically forced him to bring the Oratory to their church. But when gossip and accusations started, they began to harass the very people they had begged to have nearby! At that point, Philip decided it would be best for the group to have their own church. They became officially known as the Congregation of the Oratory, made up of secular priests and clerics.

Philip was known to be spontaneous and unpredictable, charming and humorous.
He seemed to sense the different ways to bring people to God. One man came to the Oratory just to make fun of it. Philip wouldn't let the others throw him out or speak against him. He told them to be patient and eventually the man became a Dominican. On the other hand, when he met a condemned man who refused to listen to any pleas for repentance, Philip didn't try gentle words, but grabbed the man by the collar and threw him to the ground. The move shocked the criminal into repentance and he made a full confession.
Humility was the most important virtue he tried to teach others and to learn himself.
Some of his lessons in humility seem cruel, but they were tinged with humor like practical jokes and were related with gratitude by the people they helped. His lessons always seem to be tailored directly to what the person needed. One member who was later to become a cardinal was too serious and so Philip had him sing the Misere at a wedding breakfast. When one priest gave a beautiful sermon, Philip ordered him to give the same sermon six times in a row so people would think he only had one sermon.
Philip preferred spiritual mortification to physical mortification.
When one man asked Philip if he could wear a hair shirt, Philip gave him permission -- if he wore the hair shirt outside his clothes! The man obeyed and found humility in the jokes and name-calling he received.
There were unexpected benefits to his lessons in humility. Another member, Baronius, wanted to speak at the meetings about hellfire and eternal punishment. Philip commanded him instead to speak of church history. For 27 years Baronius spoke to the Oratory about church history. At the end of that time he published his talks as a widely respected and universally praised books on ecclesiastical history!
Philip did not escape this spiritual mortification himself. As with others, his own humbling held humor. There are stories of him wearing ridiculous clothes or walking around with half his beard shaved off. The greater his reputation for holiness the sillier he wanted to seem. When some people came from Poland to see the great saint, they found him listening to another priest read to him from joke books.
Philip was very serious about prayer, spending hours in prayer.
He was so easily carried away that he refused to preach in public and could not celebrate Mass with others around. But he when asked how to pray his answer was, "Be humble and obedient and the Holy Spirit will teach you."

Philip died in 1595 after a long illness at the age of eighty years.
In his footsteps:  We often worry more about what others think that about what God thinks. Our fear of people laughing us often stops us from trying new things or serving God. Do something today that you are afraid might make you look a little ridiculous. Then reflect on how it makes you feel. Pray about your experience with God.
Prayer:  Saint Philip Neri, we take ourselves far too seriously most of the time. Help us to add humor to our perspective -- remembering always that humor is a gift from God. Amen

Romæ sanctórum Mártyrum Simítrii Presbyteri, et aliórum vigínti duórum; qui sub Antoníno Pio passi sunt.
    At Rome, the holy martyrs Simitrius, priest, and twenty-two others who suffered under Antoninus Pius.

1645  St. Mariana de Paredes Solitary and the “Lily of Quito,” Ecuador
In civitáte Quiténsi, Æquatoriánæ Ditiónis, sanctæ Maríæ Annæ a Jesu de Parédes Vírginis, e tértio Ordine sancti Francísci, austeritáte et in próximum caritáte præcláræ, quam Pius Papa Duodécimus sanctárum Vírginum catálogo adnumerávit.
    In the city of Quito in Ecuador, St. María Ana de Jesù de Paredes, a third order Franciscan, well known for her austerity and charity towards her neighbour.  Pope Pius XII numbered her in the book of Virgins.
She was born Mariana de Paredes y Flores and called herself Mariana of Jesus. Born in Quito she was a hermitess in her brother-in-law’s residence. Mariana offered herself as a victim for the city during an earthquake in 1645 and died. She was canonized in 1950.

1645 St Mariana of Quito, Virgin; “the Lily of Quito”; recipient of many spiritual favours and was endowed with the gifts of prophecy and miracles.

The present capital of Ecuador was a Peruvian town in 1628, the year which saw the birth of its famous citizen, Mariana Paredes y Flores, “the Lily of Quito”. Her parents, who came of noble Spanish stock, died when she was very young, leaving her to the care of an elder sister and brother-in-law, who loved her as they did their own daughters. She was remarkable for her piety almost from infancy and, when a mere child, liked to engage her nieces, still younger than herself, in saying the rosary or making the stations of the cross, and she would manufacture disciplines for her own use from thorn bushes or prickly leaves. So precocious did she appear that her sister obtained permission for her to make her first communion at the then unusually early age of seven. When she was twelve she decided to start off with a few companions to convert the Japanese, and after that scheme had been frustrated she inspired them with the idea of living as hermits on a mountain near Quito. Somewhat perturbed at the adventurous turn her piety was taking, her relations proposed placing her in a convent to try her vocation. But although on two occasions all preparations were made, her departure was prevented at the last moment by what appeared to be some special interposition of Providence. Mariana accordingly remained at home, and, under the direction of her Jesuit confessor, entered upon the life of a solitary in her brother-in-law’s house, which she never again left except to go to church.

Gradually she embarked upon a succession of austerities which can only be regarded as horrifying when practised by a frail young girl delicately reared, and one cannot but ask why her spiritual adviser did not restrain her. She kept a coffin, in which she spent each Friday night: at other times it contained the semblance of a corpse, as a constant reminder of death. Chains bound her arms and legs, and besides a wire girdle, she wore a hair shirt. Every Friday she put on two crowns, the one of thorns and the other of spiked iron, followed by other practices whose recital hardly tends to edification. She is said never to have slept more than three hours, the rest of her time being employed in religious exercises, according to a detailed time-table which was found after her death. Little by little she reduced her food until she came to subsist on a small portion of bread taken once a day. Towards the end of her life she deprived herself of drink in order the better to realize our Lord’s thirst on the cross; to add to her sufferings she would raise a glass of water to her parched lips in very hot weather and would then withdraw it untasted. She was, we are told, the recipient of many spiritual favours and was endowed with the gifts of prophecy and miracles.

In 1645 Quito was visited by earthquakes, followed by an epidemic which swept away many of the inhabitants. On the fourth Sunday in Lent Mariana, after listening to an eloquent sermon preached by her confessor in the Jesuit church, was moved to offer herself publicly as a victim for the sins of the people. We read that the earthquakes ceased immediately, but that as soon as the epidemic began to abate, Mariana was seized with a complication of maladies which soon brought her to the grave. She died on May z6, 1645, at the age of twenty-six. The whole city mourned for one whom they regarded as their saviour. St Mariana was canonized rn 1950, ninety-six years after her beatification.

There is a life in Italian and in French by Father Boero (1854), and in Spanish others by J. Moran de Bertrón (1854) and A. Bruchez (1908).

1747 Bl. Peter Sanz  Martyred bishop in China native of Catalonia, Spain Dominican
Peter entered the Dominicans in 1697 and was sent to the Pacific. In 1712 he arrived in the Philippines and then went to China the following year.
Nominated a vicar apostolic in 1730, he later became the titular bishop of Mauricastro. Arrested by anti-Christian forces in 1746, he was imprisoned and finally beheaded. He was beatified in 1893.

<>1747 And 1748 Bb. Peter Sanz, Bishop, And His Companions, Martyrs
It is one of the glories of the Church of Christ that so many of her sons in the prime of life have always been eager to surrender all that the world prizes in order to risk persecution and death on the foreign mission field. Amongst the number must be reckoned the five Dominican priests who were martyred in the Chinese province of Fu-kien in the years 1747 and 1748. Their names were Peter Martyr Sanz, Francis Serrano, Joachim Royo, John Alcober and Francis Diaz: all five were Spaniards; and all five from early youth were inflamed with the desire to spread the gospel of Christ amongst the heathen. Their future leader, Peter Sanz, a native of Asco in Catalonia, was sent in 1714 to the Chinese province of Fu-kien, where he laboured successfully until 1730 when he was named bishop of Mauricastro i.p.i. and vicar apostolic of Fu-kien, with the general supervision of the whole mission.

The previous year persecution had broken out against the Christians and it had required great circumspection on the part of the bishop to escape capture. The storm had died down, but in 1746 it began again on a much greater scale. A man at Fogan, who had applied to the bishop for money and been refused, drew up a formal indictment of the European missionaries who, as he complained, were infringing the laws and winning thousands in the city to the Catholic faith. The case came before the viceroy, a bitter enemy to Christianity, and stern measures were adopted. Bishop Peter, Father Royo and Father Alcober were imprisoned. After some time they were transferred, loaded with chains and emaciated by hunger, to the city of Foochow, where their patience under barbarous ill-treatment won the admiration even of their enemies. For a year they languished in prison under appalling conditions, and then Bd Peter was beheaded. His last words to his companions were: “Be of good courage: must we not rejoice that we are to die for the law of our God?“

The other four captives—Father Serrano and Father Diaz had by now joined their brethren in prison—had not very long to wait. The arrival of a document appointing Father Francis Serrano coadjutor to Bishop Sanz, the news of whose death had not yet reached Rome, sealed their fate. Father Serrano—bishop elect of Tipasa i.p.i.—Father Royo, Father Alcober and Father Diaz were cruelly executed in prison. They were all beatified in 1893.

See M. J. Savignol, Les Martyrs Dominicains de la Chine au XVIII’ siècle (1894); A. Marie, Missions Dominicaines dans l’Extrême Orient (1865); Monumenta 0. P. historica, vol. xiv, pp. 128 seq.; Wehofer, Die Apostel Chinas (1894).

1861 St. John Hoan  Martyr of Vietnam a Vietnamese priest beheaded during the anti-Christian persecutions. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1988.
1861 St. Matthew Phuong Martyr of Vietnam A native catechist and an ardent Christian
 Matthew was arrested by government officials for his faith. He was tortured and then beheaded. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1988.