Mary Mother of GOD
May 29 - Our Lady of the Ardents (Arras, France, 1095)

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!)
RDeo grátias. R.  Thanks be to God.
May, the month of Mary, is the oldest
and most well-known Marian month, officially since 1724;

 2023
22,600  Lives Saved Since 2007

CAUSES OF SAINTS April

Solemnity of Pentecost, the Pope recalls the 53rd anniversary
of Servant of God Pius XII's Encyclical "Fidei donum,"
which "promoted and encouraged cooperation
 between Churches for the mission 'ad gentes
'."

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



Cameríni pássio sanctórum mille quingentórum et vigínti quinque Mártyrum.
    At Camerino, the passion of fifteen hundred and twenty-five holy martyrs.
  251? ST CYRIL OF CAESAREA, BOY MARTYR
  275 St. Conon Two men, father and son, having the same name, martyred at Iconium in Asia Minor
  299 St. Restitutus Roman martyr first Bishop of London
 
303 St. Theodosia & Companions group of thirteen female martyrs who were supposedly slain at Caesarea, in Palestine. Theodosia was also the reputed mother of St. Procopius.
  347 St. Maximinus Bishop of Trier, Germany miracle worker ardent enemy of the Arian heretics in the councils of Milan, Sardica, and Cologne apologist for orthodox Catholicism called “one of the most courageous bishops of his time” by St. Jerome
5th v. Sisinius, Martyrius, and Alexander, who were persecuted by the heathens of Anaunia
         St. Maximus 6th century bishop of Verona, Italy he governed his see in a period of political and military turmoil.
 
745 St. Theodosia and companions Nun and martyr defended icons 745 St. Theodosia
 
750 St. Votus, Felix (brothers), & John Hermits in the Pyrenees Mountains Their place of seclusion became the site of the Benedictine abbey of St. John de La Pena
 
750 St. John de Atares Spanish hermit in the Aragonese Pyrenees the Benedictine Abbey of St. John de Ia Pena.  It served as the cradle of the religious and spiritual life of Navarre and Aragon.
1242 Bl. Marytrs of Toulouse Twelve martyrs put to death by Albigensian heretics near Toulouse 4 diocesan priests, 3 Dominicans, 2 Benedictines, 2 Franciscans, and 1 layman died singing the Te Deum on the eve of the feast of the Ascension
1242 St. William Arnaud martyred by the heretics with eleven companions Dominican inquisitor general in Southern France during the effort to extirpate the Albigensian heresy
1242 SS. WILLIAM, STEPHEN, RAYMUND AND THEIR COMPANIONS, MARTYRS Many cures reported at their grave
         St. Eleutherius Patron saint of Rocca d’Arce, southern Italy brother of Sts. Grimbald and Fulk, was English
1361     BD PETER PETRONI
1583 Bl. Richard Thirkeld priest English martyr receive preparation for priesthood at Reims and Douai, France educated at Queen's College, Oxford. He ministered to the Catholics of Yorkshire
1607 St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi virgin of the Order of the Carmelites famed for her holy life suffering;  mystical experiences God gave this saint  saw her ecstasies as evidence of a great fault in her, not a reward for holiness



Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List
Joyful Mystery on Monday Saturday   Glorius Mystery on Sunday Wednesday
   Sorrowful Mystery on Friday Tuesday   Luminous Mystery on Thursday Veterens of War

Acts of the Apostles

Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
How do I start the Five First Saturdays?
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

May 29 - Our Lady of the Ardents (Arras, France, 1095)
Warns the People to Change Their Lives (II)

The apparition added that the four women responsible for the public disorder must do penance.
She asked John to leave his spade near the fountain where she assured him that the water would be good.
When he came back to recuperate it, he would find a "sign" on the end of the handle.
John ran quickly home to the farm and asked his brother and sister to go back and retrieve his spade.
The youngsters found it "standing straight up with three cross-shaped oak leaves coming out of the top of the handle."
The four women made reparation for their wrongs and people went in procession to the place of the miracle.

In early July, the Virgin appeared a second time to John, in his bedroom. "You did what I asked you to do well,
and the fountain will be good; the people have corrected themselves well," she told him.

A commission of inquiry has identified twenty-eight cures from the water of the fountain. In October 1686, a second inquiry mentioned seven new cases. The chapel of Pla-Rouzaud was built by the poor villagers and blessed on September 8, 1695 by Monsignor de Verthamon. The renown of the shrine Our Lady of Celles spread widely and attracted believers from the entire region and even Spain. The pilgrimage, takes place to this day at restored shrine on third Sunday of July,
marked by evangelical simplicity and Marian humility.
According to Dictionnaire des Apparitions  Fr. Rene Laurentin, Fayard 2007

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

May 29 – Ascension - Our Lady of Peace (Italy, 1916) - Apparition to Sister Lucy of Fatima at the Convent of Tuy (1930) 
 
Where does the First Saturday devotion come from?
Sister Lucia was at the Mother House convent of Tuy. Her confessor had given her a series of questions in writing, on the topic of the Act of Reparation devotion of the first five Saturdays of the month. One of them was:
“Why five Saturdays and not nine, or seven, in honor of the sorrows of Our Lady?”
In the evening, at the chapel, a divine presence revealed to her that there are five sorts of offenses and blasphemies made against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception;
Blasphemies against her Perpetual Virginity; 
Blasphemies against her Divine Maternity, in refusing at the same time to recognize her as the Mother of mankind; 
The blasphemies of those who publicly seek to sow in the hearts of children indifference or scorn, or even hatred of the Immaculate Mother; 
The offenses of those who outrage her directly in her holy images.  
 www.fatima.be

Mary's Divine Motherhood
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).

Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.

Mary the Mother of God

Cameríni pássio sanctórum mille quingentórum et vigínti quinque Mártyrum.
    At Camerino, the passion of fifteen hundred and twenty-five holy martyrs.
  251? ST CYRIL OF CAESAREA, BOY MARTYR
  275 St. Conon Two men, father and son, having the same name, martyred at Iconium in Asia Minor
  299 St. Restitutus Roman martyr first Bishop of London
 
303 St. Theodosia & Companions group of thirteen female martyrs who were supposedly slain at Caesarea, in Palestine. Theodosia was also the reputed mother of St. Procopius.
  347 St. Maximinus Bishop of Trier, Germany miracle worker ardent enemy of the Arian heretics in the councils of Milan, Sardica, and Cologne apologist for orthodox Catholicism called “one of the most courageous bishops of his time” by St. Jerome
5th v. Sisinius, Martyrius, and Alexander, who were persecuted by the heathens of Anaunia
         St. Maximus 6th century bishop of Verona, Italy he governed his see in a period of political and military turmoil.
 
745 St. Theodosia and companions Nun and martyr defended icons 745 St. Theodosia
 
750 St. Votus, Felix (brothers), & John Hermits in the Pyrenees Mountains Their place of seclusion became the site of the Benedictine abbey of St. John de La Pena
 
750 St. John de Atares Spanish hermit in the Aragonese Pyrenees the Benedictine Abbey of St. John de Ia Pena.  It served as the cradle of the religious and spiritual life of Navarre and Aragon.
1242 Bl. Marytrs of Toulouse Twelve martyrs put to death by Albigensian heretics near Toulouse 4 diocesan priests, 3 Dominicans, 2 Benedictines, 2 Franciscans, and 1 layman died singing the Te Deum on the eve of the feast of the Ascension
1242 St. William Arnaud martyred by the heretics with eleven companions Dominican inquisitor general in Southern France during the effort to extirpate the Albigensian heresy
1242 SS. WILLIAM, STEPHEN, RAYMUND AND THEIR COMPANIONS, MARTYRS Many cures reported at their grave
         St. Eleutherius Patron saint of Rocca d’Arce, southern Italy brother of Sts. Grimbald and Fulk, was English
1361     BD PETER PETRONI
1583 Bl. Richard Thirkeld priest English martyr receive preparation for priesthood at Reims and Douai, France educated at Queen's College, Oxford. He ministered to the Catholics of Yorkshire
1607 St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi virgin of the Order of the Carmelites famed for her holy life suffering;  mystical experiences God gave this saint  saw her ecstasies as evidence of a great fault in her, not a reward for holiness


Paul VI_Athenagoras_05_01_1964
Quote: Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Instruction on the Contemplative Life includes this passage:   Benedict_XVI_Patriarch_Bartholomew
 "To withdraw into the desert is for Christians tantamount to associating themselves more intimately with Christ’s passion, and 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

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

251? ST CYRIL OF CAESAREA, BOY MARTYR
OF this boy martyr we are told that without the knowledge of his pagan father he had become a Christian. The father, discovering that the child refused to pay any mark of respect to the idols, turned him out of doors. This happened at Caesarea in Cappadocia, and the governor of the city gave orders that Cyril should be brought before him. Cajoleries and threats proved equally ineffectual to shake the boy’s resolution. Then the governor ordered him off as if to execution; but he gave directions that after the youth had seen the blazing pyre into which he might be thrown, he was to be brought back to the court. On his return Cyril only complained that the sentence had not been carried out, and the governor, infuriated, had him put to death by the sword.
The so-called passio, which exists only in Latin, looks more like a fragment of a panegyric than a historical document. It is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vii, and in Ruinart. The real interest of the case lies in the fact that Cyril’s name, with a mention of Caesarea in Cappadocia, was included already in the Syriac breviarium of the early fifth century under May 28, and that the same entry also appears on May 29 in the Hieronymianum, revised in Gaul a century or two later.
275 St. Conon Two men, father and son, having the same name, martyred at Iconium in Asia Minor
Apud Icónium, in Lycaónia, pássio sanctórum Conónis, et fílii annórum duódecim, qui, sub Aureliáno Imperatóre, cratículæ, prunis suppósitis et óleo superinfúso candéntis, suspensiónis in equúleo atque ignis pœnam constánter passi, ad extrémum, málleo lígneo mánibus eórum contrítis, spíritum emisérunt.
    At Iconium in Lycaonia, in the time of Emperor Aurelian, the martyrdom of the Saints Conon and his son, a child twelve years of age, who were laid on a grate over burning coals sprinkled with oil, placed on the rack, and exposed to the fire.  Finally their hands were crushed with a mallet, and they breathed their last.
The younger Conon was only twelve when he and his father were roasted over a fire and then killed on the rack.
299 St. Restitutus Roman martyr first Bishop of London
Romæ, via Aurélia, natális sancti Restitúti Mártyris.
    At Rome, on the Via Aurelia, the birthday of St. Restitutus, martyr.

He was put to death during the persecution of the Church under Emperor Diocletian.becomes the first Bishop of London. The site of his cathedral is unknown.
303 St. Theodosia & Companions group of thirteen female martyrs who were supposedly slain at Caesarea, in Palestine. Theodosia was also the reputed mother of St. Procopius.
Cæsaréæ Philíppi sanctárum Mártyrum Theodósiæ, quæ sancti Procópii Mártyris éxstitit mater, et aliárum duódecim nobílium matronárum; quæ, in persecutióne Diocletiáni, cápitis obtruncatióne consummátæ sunt.
    At Caesarea Philippi, the holy martyrs Theodosia, mother of the martyr St. Procopius, and twelve other noble women, whose lives were ended by their being beheaded in the persecution of Diocletian.
347 St. Maximinus of Trier Bishop of Trier, Germany miracle worker ardent enemy of the Arian heretics in the councils of Milan, Sardica, and Cologne apologist for orthodox Catholicism called “one of the most courageous bishops of his time” by St. Jerome
Tréviris beáti Maximíni, Epíscopi et Confessóris; a quo sanctus Athanásius Epíscopus, ob persecutiónem Arianórum éxsulans honorífice suscéptus fuit.
    At Treves, blessed Maximinus, bishop and confessor, who received with honour the patriarch St. Athanasius when he was banished by the Arian persecutors.
He was probably born at Silly, France, and succeeded St. Agritus as bishop of Trier, giving refuge to St. Athanasius in 336. St. Paul, the patriarch of Constantinople, was also given Maximinus’ protection. Maximinus was an ardent enemy of the Arian heretics, opposing them in the councils of Milan, Sardica, and Cologne. He was a known miracle worker and apologist for orthodox Catholicism and was called “one of the most courageous bishops of his time” by St. Jerome.
347 ST MAXIMINUS, BISHOP OF TRIER
ST MAXIMINUS, who was perhaps a native of Poitiers, left his home in early youth for Trier, possibly attracted thither by the reputation of its bishop, St Agritius. There he completed his education and there he was raised to the episcopate to become the successor of St Agritius. When St Athanasius went to Trier as an exile in 336, St Maximinus received him with honour, deeming it a privilege to be able to entertain so illustrious a servant of God. St Athanasius stayed with him two years; and his writings emphasize the courage, vigilance and noble qualities of his host who was, moreover, already famous for his miracles. St Paul, bishop of Constantinople, when banished by Constantius, likewise found a retreat at Trier and a powerful protector in its bishop. St Maximinus convened the synod of Cologne which condemned Euphratas as a heretic, depriving him of his see. He warned the Emperor Constans, whose favourite residence was at Trier, against the errors of the Arians and he himself opposed them on every possible occasion: so that his name was coupled with that of St Athanasius in the excommunication which the Arians afterwards launched against their opponents from Philippopolis. The date of his death is uncertain: but we are told that it cannot have been later than 347 because his successor Paulinus is known to have been in possession of the see of Trier in that same year. Although St Maximinus seems to have written much, none of his works have survived.
A life of Maximinus is printed in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vii, but the biography written by Servatus Lupus in the ninth century is probably preferable. It has been edited by B. Krusch in MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. iii, pp. 71—82. The question of the Council of Cologne in 346 has been much debated. Mgr Duchesne denied the existence of any such council see Revue d’Histoire ecclésiastique, vol. iii (1902), pp. 16—29; but consult H. Quentin in Revue Bénédictine, vol. xxiii (1906), pp. 477—486, and Hefele-Leclercq, Histoire des Conciles, vol. i, pp. 830—836. On Maximinus, cf. Duchesne, Fastes Épiscopaux, vol. iii, p. 35, and the summary account by J. Hau, Sankt Maximinus (1935).

5th v. Sisinius, Martyrius, and Alexander, who were persecuted by the heathens of Anaunia
In agro Tridentíno natális sanctórum Mártyrum Sisínii, Martyrii et Alexándri; qui, témpore Honórii Imperatóris, in Anáuniæ pártibus (ut scribit in vita sancti Ambrósii Paulínus), persequéntibus Gentílibus, martyrii corónam adépti sunt.

In the district of Trent, in the time of Emperor Honorius, the birthday of the holy martyrs Sisinius, Martyrius, and Alexander, who were persecuted by the heathens of Anaunia, and obtained the crown of martyrdom, all of which is told by Paulinus in the Life of Ambrose.
397 SS SISINNIUS, MARTYRIUS AND ALEXANDER, MARTYRS
AMONGST the many strangers who came to sojourn in Milan during the reign of Theodosius the Great were three natives of Cappadocia, Sisinnius and the two brothers Martyrius and Alexander. St Ambrose esteemed them so highly that he commended them to St Vigilius, bishop of Trent, who was in great need of missionaries.
Sisinnius having been ordained deacon and Martyrius lector, the three were commissioned to preach the gospel in the Tyrolese Alps where Christianity had made but little way. They laboured especially in the valley of Anaunia (Val di Non). There, in spite of opposition and ill-treatment, they gained a great number of souls and Sisinnius built a church in the village of Methon or Medol, where he assembled his converts to complete their instruction. The pagans, enraged at the success of the missionaries, resolved to force the newly-baptized Christians to take part in one of their festivals. Sisinnius and his companions did their best to keep their converts away, and their opponents thereupon attacked the missionaries in their own church, beating them so severely that Sisinnius died within a few hours. Martyrius managed to creep away into a garden, but his enemies found him the following day, and dragged him by the legs over sharp stones till he died under this brutal treatment. Alexander also fell into their hands. They tried by threats to make him renounce his faith as they were burning the bodies of his companions. Finding their efforts unavailing, they cast him alive into the same fire. The ashes of the saints were collected by the faithful and taken to Trent. Afterwards St Vigilius erected a church on the spot where they had suffered.

Though the details supplied in the supposed “Acts” of Sisinnius, in the Bollandists, May, vol. vii, are of little account, the fact of the martyrdom is certain. We possess the letters written by Vigilius himself to the bishop of Milan and to St John Chrysostom. St Augustine also speaks of them, as does St Maximus of Turin. See further the references given in CMH., p. 281,.
550 St. Maximus 6th century bishop of Verona, Italy he governed his see in a period of political and military turmoil.
Verónæ sancti Máximi Epíscopi.      At Verona, St. Maximus, bishop.
745 St. Theodosia and companions Nun and martyr; defended icons
Born to a noble family, she was orphaned in her youth and eventually became a nun at Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) at the monastery of St. Anastasia. She led a group of nuns in defense of the icon of Christ which hung over the main door of the community when soldiers were sent to enforce the decrees of the Iconoclast emperors Leo Ill the Isaurian  and Constantine V. Theodosia and twelve other nuns were arrested and tortured; Theodosia died of her grievous injuries while in prison. Theodora and companions who are venerated on the same feast day.
745 ST THEODOSIA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR
THE history of St Theodosia was written in the fourteenth century by Constantine Akropolites, who seems to have drawn upon early written records and oral tradition; he inhabited a house at Constantinople near the martyr’s tomb and was one of her great votaries. According to him she came of a noble family and lost her parents when she was still very young. She afterwards took the veil in the monastery of the Anastasis in Constantinople. She lived in the days of the Emperors Leo the Isaurian and his son, Constantine Copronymus, who strove to abolish the public veneration of sacred images. When the order had gone forth for the destruction of a greatly revered image of our Lord, Theodosia at the head of a band of women shook the ladder which supported the official who was about to cast it down. The man fell and was killed. The women then stoned the palace of the pseudo-patriarch Anastasius, obliging him to flee. Summary punishment was meted out to the women but especially to Theodosia as their ringleader. She was tortured in prison, her throat was torn out, and she died of the treatment she received. It is not difficult to suggest reasons why the name of this nun is not found in the Roman Martyrology.
A sufficient account is provided in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vii. Probably the most reliable text is that of the Constantinople Synaxary (ed. Delehaye), cc. 828—829, under July 18. A translation of the “passion” will be found in Dom Leclercq, Les Martyrs, vol. iv.
750 St. Votus, Felix (brothers), & John Hermits in the Pyrenees Mountains Their place of seclusion became the site of the Benedictine abbey of St. John de Ia Pena
Votus and Felix were brothers from Saragossa, Spain, who gave up all worldly interests and embraced the eremitical life. Upon going to the Pyrenees, they became companions of John. Their place of seclusion, beneath a rock (called a pena) became the site of the Benedictine abbey of St. John de La Pena.
750 St. John de Atares Spanish hermit in the Aragonese Pyrenees the Benedictine Abbey of St. John de La Pena. It served as the cradle of the religious and spiritual life of Navarre and Aragon.
lived under a rock promontory, and a monastery was later established on the site, the Benedictine Abbey of St. John de Ia Pena. It served as the cradle of the religious and spiritual life of Navarre and Aragon.
 St. Eleutherius Patron saint of Rocca d’Arce, southern Italy brother of Sts. Grimbald and Fulk, was English
Arcáni, in Látio, sancti Eleuthérii Confessóris.    At Arcano in Lazio, St. Eleutherius, confessor.
Eleutherius, the brother of Sts. Grimbald and Fulk, was English. A pilgrim, he died in Rocca d’Arce.
 1242 SS. WILLIAM, STEPHEN, RAYMUND AND THEIR COMPANIONS, MARTYRS Many cures reported at their grave
THE twelve martyrs who are commemorated together on this day were all directly or indirectly connected with the branch of the Inquisition which had been set up at Toulouse in s 1228 to combat the errors of the Albigensians and other false teachers in Languedoc. Pope Gregory IX specially commissioned the Order of Preachers to expound the faith in Toulouse and the neighbouring districts, and to deliver heretics over to the secular arm. The Dominicans encountered great hostility and drew upon themselves the bitter hatred of the Albigensians; they were driven out of Toulouse, Narbonne and other places by the mob. As they went, the friars, undaunted by the treatment they were receiving, chanted aloud the “Salve Regina” and the Apostles’ Creed. At Avignonet, to the south-west of Toulouse, they conducted a preaching mission with the assistance of other priests, and were offered hospitality in the local castle, which belonged to Count Raymund VII of Toulouse but which was then in charge of his bailiff. All unsuspecting, they accepted the invitation. As they were retiring for the night, they were set upon and butchered by a band of soldiers who had been secretly introduced into the building. They uttered no cry, but with their dying breath praised God in the words of the Te Deum. The little company included three Dominicans—William Arnaud and two others—two Friars Minor, Stephen and Raymund, two Benedictines, four other clerics and a layman. Many cures reported at their grave led to a cultus that was confirmed more than six hundred years later, in 1856.
A summary compiled from the Chronicle of Toulouse and other sources will be found in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vii. See also the Monumenta 0. P. Historica, vol. i, pp. 231 seq. Mortier, Histoire des Maîtres généraux 0. P., vol. i, pp. 357 seq. Fr Léon, Auréole Séraphique (Eng. trans.),, vol. ii, pp. 356—374; Procter, Lives of Dominican Saints, pp. 152—155.
1242 St. William Arnaud martyred by the heretics with eleven companions Dominican inquisitor general in Southern France during the effort to extirpate the Albigensian heresy
Martyr and inquisitor. A member of the Dominicans, he held the post of inquisitor general in Southern France during the effort to extirpate the Albigensian heresy. He was martyred by the heretics with eleven companions and is counted among the Martyrs of Toulouse.
1242 Bl. Marytrs of Toulouse Twelve martyrs put to death by Albigensian heretics nearToulouse 4 diocesan priests, 3 Dominicans, 2 Benedictines, 2 Franciscans, and 1 layman died singing the Te Deum on the eve of the feast of the Ascension
Four diocesan priests, three Dominicans, two Benedictines, two Franciscans, and one layman died singing the Te Deum. They were beatified in 1866.

 1361     BD PETER PETRONI he is said to have been favoured by God with marvellous graces and with preternatural knowledge; wonders reported at his tomb threatened to disrupt the peace of the monastery so they ceased.
IN the Carthusian Order Peter Petroni of Siena is held in great veneration. Born of a distinguished family in that city, he seems to have manifested from his earliest childhood an extraordinary attraction for the things of God. He loved to go apart and pray, and sought out little ragamuffins in the streets to teach them and relieve their needs, spoiling his rich clothes, so his parents complained, by living in such company. When the Carthusian monastery of Maggiano was built near by through the munificence of one of his relatives, he was eager to enter there, and in spite of opposition he accomplished his purpose at the age of seventeen. His superiors wished him later to be ordained priest, but he so shrank from the responsibilities entailed that, after all his remonstrances had proved fruitless, he chopped off the index finger of his left hand to render himself for ever disqualified for ordination. His life was marked by what might seem an almost fanatical determination to have nothing to do with his own family; on the other hand he is said to have been favoured by God with marvellous graces and with preternatural knowledge. Shortly before his death he commissioned a devoted protégé of his, Gioacchino Ciani, to warn the famous humanist, Boccaccio, that unless he gave up his wanton literary work and mended his life, God would very soon summon him to juggernaut. The message was delivered; Boccaccio demurred, but when Ciani proceeded to remind him of secrets in his past, which were known to no human being, but which he had learnt from Pd Peter’s disclosures, the scholar was converted. Peter died on May 29, 1361, and the wonders reported at his tomb threatened to disrupt the peace of the monastery so they ceased.

There is an Italian life of Bd Peter, written at least in part by his disciple, Bd John Colombini, which has been translated into Latin in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vii. See also the Annales Ordinis Cartusiensis, by Dom Le Couteulx, vols. v, vi and vii. the conversion of Boccaccio is confirmed by his correspondence with Petrarch.
1583 Bl. Richard Thirkeld priest English martyr receive preparation for the priesthood at Reims and Douai, France educated at Queen's College, Oxford. He ministered to the Catholics of Yorkshire
Also listed as Thirkild. Born in County Durham, England, he studied at Oxford and was said to be quite old when he left the isle to receive preparation for the priesthood at Reims and Douai, France. Ordained in 1579, he went back to England and served the Catholics in the area around Yorkshire until his execution for being a priest on May 29 at York. England; died at York, England, 1583; beatified 1886. Richard was educated at Queen's College, Oxford. He ministered to the Catholics of Yorkshire and was condemned and executed for his priesthood at York (Benedictines).
1583     BD RICHARD THIRKELD, MARTYR
RICHARD TH1RKELD was already an old man when he was ordained a priest in 1579, after having studied at Douai and Rheims. He had been a student, probably a “scholar”, at Queen’s College, Oxford. He was born in the diocese of Durham, and for eight years he had prayed daily to be allowed to suffer death for the faith. He was sent upon the English mission, where he exercised his ministry chiefly at York and in the neighbouring districts. A night visit to a Catholic prisoner aroused suspicion, and nine days after the execution of Bd William Hart he was arrested on the charge of being a priest. He at once acknowledged his priesthood, explaining the purpose for which he had come to England, and he was accordingly imprisoned in the Kidcote prison at York. Two months later he was tried by a jury which pronounced him guilty of treason, mainly on the score of his admission that he had absolved and had reconciled to the Church of Rome some of the Queen’s subjects. Remitted to the condemned cell, he spent the whole night instructing some of the criminals by whom he was surrounded and preparing them for death. The following day he came up again before the court, and was condemned to die with the usual barbarities: he fell upon his knees and gave thanks to God, saying, “This is the day which the Lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein.” The sentence was duly carried out, but no details are available because extraordinary pains were taken by the authorities to prevent the public in general from being present, so universal was the admiration and sympathy felt for the holy and venerable-looking old priest.
An account is printed in Challoner, MMP., pp. 79—83, but more fully in Camm, LEM., vol. ii, pp. 635—653.
1607 St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi virgin of the Order of the Carmelites famed for her holy life suffering;  mystical experiences God gave this saint  saw her ecstasies as evidence of a great fault in her, not a reward for holiness
Floréntiæ natális sanctæ Maríæ-Magdalénæ de Pazzis, Vírginis, ex Ordine Carmelitárum, vita et sanctitáte illústris.  Ejus vero festívitas quarto Kaléndas Júnii celebrátur.
1607 Sanctæ Maríæ-Magdalénæ de Pazzis, ex Ordine Carmelitárum, Vírginis, cujus dies natális octávo Kaléndas Júnii recensétur.
    St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi of the Order of Carmelites, and virgin.  Her birthday was mentioned on the 25th of May.

At Florence, the birthday of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, a virgin of the Order of the Carmelites, who is famed for her holy life.

1607 ST MARY MAGDALEN DEI PAZZI, VIRGIN
THE family of the Pazzi was one of the most illustrious in Florence and was closely allied to the Medici, the ruling house it gave to the state a long line of eminent politicians, governors and soldiers; and to the world one great woman who in fame has eclipsed them all. The father of St Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi, Camillo Geri by name, had married Mary Buondelmonte, the descendant of a family as distinguished as his own. The saint was born in Florence in 1566, and in honour of St Catherine of Siena received her name in baptism. Almost from infancy she began to display an intense attraction for religion and good works, and she made her first communion with wonderful fervour when she was ten. Her father having been appointed governor of Cortona, she was placed at the age of fourteen as a boarder in the convent of St John in Florence. There she could give full scope to her devotion and learnt to love the atmosphere of a religious house.
Fifteen months later her father took her home with a view to arranging a marriage for her. Several desirable suitors were proposed, but her heart was so strongly set upon the religious life that her parents after some opposition reluctantly gave way to her desire. She chose the Carmelite convent of her native town because its members made their communion almost every day. On the eve of the Assumption, 1582, she entered the convent of St Mary of the Angels upon the understanding that she should continue to wear her secular clothes until she had had full experience of the rule. She had only been there fifteen days when her parents fetched her home—hoping, no doubt, that she would reconsider her decision. Her resolution, however, was unbroken, and three months later she re-entered the convent with their approbation and blessing.
On January 30, 1583, she received the habit, and took the name of Mary Magdalen. When the priest placed the crucifix in her hands with the words, “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ", her face was suffused with an almost unearthly radiance and her heart was filled with an ardent desire to suffer during the rest of her life for her Saviour. That desire was never to leave her. After a most fervent noviciate she was allowed to take her vows unusually early, because she was dangerously ill. As her sufferings were obviously very severe, one of the sisters asked her how she could bear so much pain without a murmur. The saint pointed to the crucifix and said, “See what the infinite love of God has suffered for my salvation. That same love sees my weakness and gives me courage. Those who call to mind the sufferings of Christ and who offer up their own to God through His passion find their pains sweet and pleasant.” When she was conveyed back to the infirmary after her profession she sank into an ecstasy which lasted over an hour; and for forty days she enjoyed heavenly consolations in addition to frequent raptures. It has often been noticed by writers on the spiritual life that God is wont thus to visit elect souls with special consolations after their first act of complete self-surrender. He does it in order to brace them for the trials which never fail to ensue. To crucify in them all self-seeking, to teach them to know themselves, and to prepare them to be vessels of His pure love, He refines them in the crucible of internal tribulation. Usually the higher the degree of sanctity to which they are to rise, the fiercer are the cleansing fires. This we find exemplified in the state of desolation into which this saint fell after her first transports of spiritual joy. But she did not desire spiritual consolations. Her aspiration was to suffer for her Saviour’s sake.
Fearing that she might have offended God by over-eagerness to be professed, Mary dei Pazzi asked and obtained permission to live as a novice two years after she had made her vows. At the expiration of that time she was appointed second directress of the extern girls, and three years later she was set to instruct young nuns. She was now being tried by the most severe interior trials. Although she fasted always on bread and water, except on Sundays and holidays, she was assaulted with violent temptations to gluttony and impurity. To resist them she chastised her body with disciplines, while she never ceased to implore the help of her heavenly Spouse and of our Blessed Lady. She seemed to be plunged into a state of darkness in which she saw nothing but what was horrible in herself and in all around her. For five whole years she remained in this state of desolation and spiritual dryness, and then God restored to her soul His holy peace together with the comfort of His divine presence. In 1590, on Whitsunday at Matins when the Te Deum was intoned, she fell into a rapture. On emerging from it, she pressed the hands of the prioress and the novice-mistress, exclaiming, “Rejoice with me, for my winter is at an end Help me to thank and glorify my good Creator.”
From this time onwards God was pleased to manifest His graces in her.
Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi read the thoughts of others and predicted future events. To Alexander dei Medici she foretold that he would one day be pope. Repeating the prophecy on a subsequent occasion she added that his reign would be a short one: it actually lasted twenty-six days. During her lifetime she appeared to several persons in distant places and she cured a number of sick people. As time went on, her ecstasies became more and more frequent. Sometimes in that state she would appear rigid and lifeless, sometimes she would carry on her customary duties while remaining entranced. Occasionally from her words and gestures it was evident that she was in some way participating in the passion of our Lord or conversing with her divine Spouse and the denizens of Heaven. So edifying were the words that fell from her lips that a record was kept of them by her sisters, who collected them after her death into a book. Her union with God seemed unbroken she would call upon all created things to glorify their Creator and longed for all mankind to love Him as she did. She would pray with tears for the conversion of the heathen, of unbelievers, of heretics, of sinners. She would cry out, “0 Love, love is not loved, not known by His own creatures. 0 my Jesus If I had a voice sufficiently loud and strong to be heard in every part of the world, I would cry out to make this Love known, loved and honoured by all men as the one immeasurable good.”
In 1604 St Mary Magdalen became bedridden. She was now subject to violent headaches, and she lost all power in her limbs although she suffered agonies if touched. Besides being in constant pain she experienced much spiritual dryness. Nevertheless, the greater her suffering the greater grew her desire for it. “0 Lord”, she prayed, “let me suffer or let me die—or rather—let me live on, that I may suffer more!” She even rejoiced if her prayers were not granted because it meant that God’s will was being done, not hers. When she knew that her last hour was approaching, she gave a parting injunction to the nuns assembled round her. “Reverend mother and dear sisters”, she said, “I am about to leave you and the last thing I ask of you—and I ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ— is that you love Him alone, that you trust implicitly in Him and that you encourage one another continually to suffer for the love of Him.” On May 25, 1607, she went to her eternal reward at the age of forty-one years. Her body, which was untouched by corruption, still lies in a shrine in the church attached to her convent in Florence, and in 1669 she was canonized.
In the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vi, the Bollandists print a Latin translation of the two earliest lives of St Mary Magdalen del Pazzi. The first appeared in 1611, written by Vincent Puccini, the saint’s confessor in her last years. The narrative portion is comparatively brief, but it is accompanied by a supplement of some 700 pages consisting of extracts from her visions and letters. Father Cepari, who had also acted as her confessor, had likewise a biography in preparation, but he withheld it out of consideration for Puccini. It appeared, however, in 1669 with additions borrowed from the process of canonization. These two works, combined with her letters and five manuscript volumes of notes of her revelations and dialogues in ecstasy, taken down by her fellow nuns, constitute our sources. A new selection of her utterances, Extases et lettres, was presented in 1945 (in Italian, 1924) by Maurice Vaussard, who has further contributed a short life to the series “Les Saints” (1925). The life by Cepari was translated into English for the Oratorian Series and was printed in 1849, and there is a full biography in French by the Viscountess de Beausire-Seyssel (1913). See Fr E. E. Larkin’s paper on “The Ecstasies of the Forty Days of St Mary M. de’ Pazzi” in Carmelus, vol. i (1954), pp. 29—71.

It would be easy to concentrate on the mystical experiences God gave this saint, rather than on her life. In fact, it would be difficult to do differently, so overwhelming were those gifts from God. The temptation for many modern readers (including the author) would be to see little to identify with in these graces and walk away without seeing more. The other temptation would be to become so fascinated with these stories that one would neglect to dig deeper and learn the real lessons of her life.

But Mary Magdalene de Pazzi is not a saint because she received ecstasies and graces from God. Many have received visions, ecstasies, and miracles without becoming holy.
She is a saint because of her response to those gifts -- a lifelong struggle to show love and gratitude to the God who gave her those graces.

In fact Mary Magdalene saw her ecstasies as evidence of a great fault in her, not a reward for holiness. She told one fellow sister that God did not give this sister the same graces "because you don't need them in order to serve him." In her eyes, God gave these gifts to those who were too weak to become holy otherwise. That Mary Magdalene received these gifts proved, in her mind, how unworthy she was.
Born in Florence on April 2, 1566, Mary Magdalene (baptized Catherine) was taught mental prayer when she was nine years old at the request of her mother. Her introduction at this age to this form of prayer which involves half an hour of meditation did not seem to be unusual. And yet today we often believe children incapable of all but the simplest rote prayers.
At twelve years old she experienced her first ecstasy while looking at a sunset which left her trembling and speechless.
With this foundation in prayer and in mystical experience, it isn't surprising that she wanted to enter a contemplative monastery of the Carmelite Order. She chose the monastery of St. Mary's of the Angels because the nuns took daily Communion, unusual at the time.
In 1583 she had her second mystical experience when the other nuns saw her weeping before the crucifix as she said, "O Love, you are neither known nor loved."
Mary Magdalene's life is a contradiction of our instinctive thought that joy only comes from avoiding suffering. A month after being refused early religious profession, she was refused she fell deathly ill. Fearing for her life the convent had her professed from a stretcher at the altar. After that she experienced forty days of ecstasies that coexisted with her suffering. Joy from the graces God gave were mixed with agony as her illness grew worse. In one of her experiences Jesus took her heart and hid it in his own, telling her he "would not return it until it is wholly pure and filled with pure love." She didn't recover from her illness until told to ask for the intercession of Blessed Mary Bagnesi over three months later.

What her experiences and prayer had given her was a familiar, personal relationship with Jesus. Her conversations with Jesus often take on a teasing, bantering tone that shocks those who have a formal, fearful image of God. For example, at the end of her forty days of graces, Jesus offered her a crown of flowers or a crown of thorns. No matter how often she chose the crown of thorns, Jesus kept teasingly pushing the crown of flowers to her. When he accused her, "I called and you didn't care," she answered back, "You didn't call loudly enough" and told him to shout his love.
She learned to regret the insistence on the crown of thorns. We might think it is easy to be holy if God is talking to you every day but few of us could remain on the path with the five year trial that followed her first ecstasies. Before this trial, Jesus told her, "I will take away not the grace but the feeling of grace. Though I will seem to leave you I will be closer to you." This was easy for her to accept in the midst of ecstasy but, as she said later, she hadn't experienced it yet. At the age of nineteen she started five years of dryness and desolation in which she was repelled by prayer and tempted by everything. She referred to her heart as a pitch-dark room with only a feeble light shining that only made the darkness deeper. She was so depressed she was found twice close to suicide. All she could do to fight back was to hold onto prayer, penance, and serving others even when it appeared to do no good.
Her lifelong devotion to Pentecost can be easily understood because her trial ended in ecstasy in 1590. At this time she could have asked for any gifts but she wanted two in particular: to look on any neighbor as good and holy without judgment and to always have God's presence before her.
Far from enjoying the attention her mystical experiences brought her, she was embarrassed by it. For all her days, she wanted a hidden life and tried everything she could to achieve it. When God commanded her to go barefoot as part of her penance and she could not walk with shoes, she simply cut the soles out of her shoes so no one would see her as different from the other nuns. If she felt an ecstasy coming on, she would hurry to finish her work and go back to her room. She learned to see the notoriety as part of God's will. When teaching a novice to accept God's will, she told her, "I wanted a hidden life but, see, God wanted something quite different for me."
Some still might think it was easy for her to be holy with all the help from God. Yet when she was asked once why she was weeping before the cross, she answered that she had to force herself to do something right that she didn't want to do. It's true that when a sister criticized her for acting so different, she thanked her, "May God reward you! You have never spoken truer words!" but she told others it hurt her quite a bit to be nice to someone who insulted her.
Mary Magdalene was no pale, shrinking flower. Her wisdom and love led to her appointment to many important positions at the convent including mistress of novices. She did not hesitate to be blunt in guiding the women under her care when their spiritual life was at stake. When one of the novices asked permission to pretend to be impatient so the other novices would not respect her so much, Mary Magdalene's answer shook this novice out of this false humility: "What you want to pretend to be, you already are in the eyes of the novices. They don't respect you nearly as much as you like to think."
Mary Magdalene's life offers a great challenge to all those who think that the best penance comes from fasting and physical discomfort. Though she fasted and wore old clothes, she chose the most difficult penance of all by pretending to like the things she didn't like. Not only is this a penance most of us would shrink from but, by her acting like she enjoyed it, no one knew she was doing this great penance!
In 1604, headaches and paralyzation confined her to bed. Her nerves were so sensitive that she could not be touched without agonizing pain. Ever humble, she took the fact that her prayers were not granted as a sure sign that God's will was being done. For three years she suffered, before dying on May 25, 1607 at the age of forty-one.
In her footsteps: Prayer:
 Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, pray that we will make a commitment to seek the presence of God in prayer the way you did. Guide us to see the graces God gives us as gifts not rewards and to respond with gratitude and humility, not pride and selfishness. Amen


 PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 20

Sing a new song to Our Lady: her praise in the congregation of the just.

Let the heavens rejoice in her glory: the isles of the sea and the whole world.

Fire and water praise her: cold and heat, splendor and light.

Let her praises be in the mouth of the just: and her glory in the band of the triumphant.

City of God, be joyful in her: and for thy dwellers sing her a constant song.

Let every spirit praise Our Lady

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

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

God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique, for each is the result of a new idea.  As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike. It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints. Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences.  Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.
O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.  Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.   God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heavenonly saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
There are over 10,000 named saints beati  from history
 and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources

Patron_Saints.html  Widowed_Saints htmIndulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines  
India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes 1858  China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine  Loreto, Italy  Marian Apparitions (over 2000Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
 
Links to Related MarianWebsites  Angels and Archangels  Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell

Widowed Saints  html
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Of_The_Apostles  Roman Catholic Popes  Purgatory  UniateChalcedon

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

The great psalm of the Passion, Chapter 22, whose first verse “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Jesus pronounced on the cross, ended with the vision: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations shall worship before him
For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.
Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here} 2000 years of the Catholic Church in China
The saints “a cloud of witnesses over our head”, showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.

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

My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee.  I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not
O most Holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly.  I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended, and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  I beg the conversion of poor sinners,  Fatima Prayer, Angel of Peace
The voice of the Father is heard, the Son enters the water, and the Holy Spirit appears in the form of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
   These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is general and binds all the followers of Christ.
God loves variety. He doesn't mass-produce his saints. Every saint is unique each the result of a new idea.
As the liturgy says: Non est inventus similis illis--there are no two exactly alike.
It is we with our lack of imagination, who paint the same haloes on all the saints.

Dear Lord, grant us a spirit not bound by our own ideas and preferences.
 
Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves.

O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory.
 
Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives.
Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts.
The 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary ) Revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan)
1.    Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces. 2.    I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. 3.    The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. 4.    It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify them by this means.  5.    The soul that recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish. 6.    Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying themselves to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune.  God will not chastise them in His justice, they shall not perish by an unprovided death; if they be just, they shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. 7.    Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. 8.    Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. 9.    I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. 10.    The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.  11.    You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. 12.    I shall aid all those who propagate the Holy Rosary in their necessities. 13.    I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death. 14.    All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. 15.    Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
His Holiness Aram I, current (2013) Catholicos of Cilicia of Armenians, whose See is located in Lebanese town of Antelias. The Catholicosate was founded in Sis, capital of Cilicia, in the year 1441 following the move of the Catholicosate of All Armenians back to its original See of Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia enjoyed local jurisdiction, though spiritually subject to the authority of Etchmiadzin. In 1921 the See was transferred to Aleppo in Syria, and in 1930 to Antelias.
Its jurisdiction currently extends to Syria, Cyprus, Iran and Greece.
Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac
The exact date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa {Armenian Ourhaï in Arabic Er Roha, commonly Orfa or Urfa, its present name} is not known. It is certain, however, that the Christian community was at first made up from the Jewish population of the city. According to an ancient legend, King Abgar V, Ushana, was converted by Addai, who was one of the seventy-two disciples. In fact, however, the first King of Edessa to embrace the Christian Faith was Abgar IX (c. 206) becoming official kingdom religion.
Christian council held at Edessa early as 197 (Eusebius, Hist. Ecc7V,xxiii).
In 201 the city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed (“Chronicon Edessenum”, ad. an. 201).
In 232 the relics of the Apostle St. Thomas were brought from India, on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written.

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

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

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

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

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

The Church of Saint Mary of Saint Paul 1875-1922;
  (1932)
The Vikings in the American Heartland;
The Catholic Total Abstinence Society in Minnesota;
James Michael Reardon Born in Nova Scotia, 1872;  Priest, ordained by Bishop Ireland;
Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.
Affiliations and Indulgence Litany of Loretto in Stained glass windows here.  Nave Sacristy and Residence Here
Sanctuary
spaces between them filled with grilles of hand-forged wrought iron the
life of our Blessed Lady After the crucifixon
Apostle statues Replicas of those in St John Lateran--Christendom's earliest Basilica.
Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, Popes' cathedral and official residence first millennium of Christian history.

The only replicas ever made:  in order from west to east {1932}.
Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel
 
It Makes No Sense
Not To Believe In GOD
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi
  June 19, Trinity Sunday, 1991: Ordained Catholic Priest under Pope John Paul II;
then 2,000,000 miles delivering the Gospel to millions, and continues to do so.
By Father John Corapi
Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

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

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

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


God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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