NEW_HEADQUARTERS of 40 Days for Life
I’m excited to announce what that former Planned Parenthood abortion center in Bryan/College Station, Texas is about to become ... … the NEW HEADQUARTERS of 40 Days for Life!!
Dear Readers,
I have a HUGE announcement today ... and it’s not about this week’s elections (as encouraging as those were for many pro-life Americans).

Ten years ago, the very first 40 Days for Life campaign was conducted outside the Planned Parenthood abortion center in Bryan/College Station, Texas.
Last year, it became the 37th abortion facility to shut down following 40 Days for Life campaigns outside their doors (22 more have closed since then).
And today, I’m excited to announce what that former Planned Parenthood abortion center in Bryan/College Station, Texas is about to become ... … the NEW HEADQUARTERS of 40 Days for Life!!
... go to: http://40daysforlife.com/2014/11/06/headquarters/

Read the news release that just went out:
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/6804275088.html
We’ll have lots more to share about this huge development over the next few weeks .. but for now, spread the word to everyone you know:
God answers prayers and makes ALL THINGS NEW.
For Life,
SHAWN CARNEY Campaign Director
40 Days for Life
www.40daysforlife.com

The Synaxis of the Chief of the Heavenly Hosts, Archangel Michael and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Powers:

Archangels Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jehudiel, Barachiel, and Jeremiel

was established at the beginning of the fourth century at the Council of Laodicea, which met several years before the First Ecumenical Council. The 35th Canon of the Council of Laodicea condemned and denounced as heretical the worship of angels as gods and rulers of the world, but affirmed their proper veneration.

A Feastday was established in November, the ninth month after March (with which the year began in ancient times) since there are Nine Ranks of Angels.

The eighth day of the month was chosen for the Synaxis of all the Bodiless Powers of Heaven since the Day of the Dread Last Judgment is called the Eighth Day by the holy Fathers.

After the end of this age (characterized by its seven days of Creation) will come the Eighth Day, and then “the Son of Man shall come in His Glory and all the holy Angels with Him”. (Mt. 25:31).

The Angelic Ranks are divided into three Hierarchies: highest, middle, and lowest.

The Highest Hierarchy includes: the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones.
    The six-winged SERAPHIM (Flaming, Fiery) (Is 6:12) stand closest of all to the Most Holy Trinity. They blaze with love for God and kindle such love in others.
    The many-eyed CHERUBIM (outpouring of wisdom, enlightenment) (Gen 3:24) stand before the Lord after the Seraphim. They are radiant with the light of knowledge of God, and knowledge of the mysteries of God. Through them wisdom is poured forth, and people's minds are enlightened so they may know God and behold His glory.
    The THRONES (Col 1:16) stand after the Cherubim, mysteriously and incomprehensibly bearing God through the grace given them for their service. They are ministers of God's justice, giving to tribunals, kings, etc. the capacity for righteous judgment.

The Middle Angelic Hierarchy consists of three Ranks: Dominions, Powers, and Authorities:

DOMINIONS (Col 1:16) hold dominion over the angels subject to them. They instruct the earthly authorities, established by God, to rule wisely, and to govern their lands well. The Dominions teach us to subdue sinful impulses, to subject the flesh to the spirit, to master our will, and to conquer temptation.

POWERS (1 Pet 3:22) fulfill the will of God without hesitation. They work great miracles and give the grace of wonderworking and clairvoyance to saints pleasing to God. The Powers assist people in fulfilling obediences. They also encourage them to be patient, and give them spiritual strength and fortitude.
AUTHORITIES (1 Pet 3:22, Col 1:16) have authority over the devil. They protect people from demonic temptations, and prevent demons from harming people as they would wish. They also uphold ascetics and guard them, helping people in the struggle with evil thoughts.

The Lowest Hierarchy includes the three Ranks: Principalities, Archangels, and Angels:

    PRINCIPALITIES (Col 1:16) have command over the lower angels, instructing them in the fulfilling of God's commands. They watch over the world and protect lands, nations and peoples. Principalities instruct people to render proper honor to those in authority, as befits their station. They teach those in authority to use their position, not for personal glory and gain, but to honor God, and to spread word of Him, for the benefit of those under them.
    ARCHANGELS (1 Thess 4:16) are messengers of great and wondrous tidings. They reveal prophecies and the mysteries of the faith. They enlighten people to know and understand the will of God, they spread faith in God among the people, illuminating their minds with the light of the Holy Gospel.
    ANGELS (1 Pet 3:22) are in the lowest rank of the heavenly hierarchy, and closest to people. They reveal the lesser mysteries of God and His intentions, guiding people to virtuous and holy life. They support those who remain steadfast, and they raise up the fallen. They never abandon us and they are always prepared to help us, if we desire it.
All the Ranks of the Heavenly Powers are called angels, although each has its own name and position by virtue of their service. The Lord reveals His will to the highest ranks of the angels, and they in turn inform the others.

Over all the Nine Ranks, the Lord appointed the Holy Archangel Michael (his name in Hebrew means “who is like unto God”), the faithful servitor of God, as Chief Commander. He cast down from Heaven the arrogantly proud Lucifer and the other fallen spirits when they rebelled against God. Michael summoned the ranks of angels and cried out,

“Let us attend! Let us stand aright before our Creator and do not consider doing what is displeasing unto God!”

According to Church Tradition, and in the church services to the Archangel Michael, he participated in many other Old Testament events.
    During the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt he went before them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Through him the power of the Lord was made manifest, annihilating the Egyptians and Pharaoh who were in pursuit of the Israelites. The Archangel Michael defended Israel in all its misfortunes.
    He appeared to Joshua Son of Navi and revealed the will of the Lord at the taking of Jericho (Josh 5:13-16). The power of the great Chief Commander of God was manifest in the annihilation of the 185 thousand soldiers of the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib (4/2 Kings 19:35); also in the smiting of the impious leader Heliodorus (2 Macc. 3: 24-26); and in the protection of the Three Holy Youths: Ananias, Azarias and Mishail, thrown into the fiery furnace for their refusal to worship an idol (Dan 3:22-25).
    Through the will of God, the Chief Commander Michael transported the Prophet Habbakuk (December 2) from Judea to Babylon, to give food to Daniel in the lions' den (Dan. 14:33-37).
    The Archangel Michael disputed with the devil over the body of the holy Prophet Moses (Jude 1:9).
    The holy Archangel Michael showed his power when he miraculously saved a young man, cast into the sea by robbers with a stone about his neck on the shores of Mt Athos. This story is found in the Athonite Paterikon, and in the Life of St Neophytus of Docheiariou (November 9).
    From ancient times the Archangel Michael was famed for his miracles in Rus. In the Volokolamsk Paterikon is a narrative of St Paphnutius of Borov with an account of Tatar tax-gatherers concerning the miraculous saving of Novgorod the Great: “Therefore Great Novgorod was never taken by the Hagarenes... when... for our sins the godless Hagarene emperor Batu devoured and set the Russian land aflame and came to Novgorod, and God and the Most Holy Theotokos shielded it with an appearance of Michael the Archangel, who forbade him to enter into it. He [Batu] was come to the Lithuanian city and came toward Kiev and saw the stone church, over the doors of which the great Archangel Michael had written and spoken to the prince his allotted fate, 'By this we have forbidden you entry into Great Novgorod'.”

    Intercession for Russian cities by the Most Holy Queen of Heaven always involved Her appearances with the Heavenly Hosts, under the leadership of the Archangel Michael. Grateful Rus acclaimed the Most Pure Mother of God and the Archangel Michael in church hymns. Many monasteries, cathedrals, court and merchant churches are dedicated to the Chief Commander Michael.
    In old Kiev at the time of the accepting of Christianity, a cathedral of the Archangel was built, and a monastery also was named for him. Archangel cathedrals are found at Smolensk, Nizhni Novgorod, Staritsa, at Great Ustiug (beginning of the thirteenth century), and a cathedral at Sviyazhsk. In Rus there was not a city, where there was not a church or chapel dedicated to the Archangel Michael.
    One of the chief temples of the city of Moscow, the burial church in the Kremlin, is dedicated to him. Numerous and beautiful icons of the Chief Commander of the Heavenly Hosts are also in his Cathedral. One of these, the Icon “Blessed Soldiery,” was painted in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The saintly soldiers, Russian princes, are depicted under the leadership of the Archangel Michael.

    We invoke St Michael for protection from invasion by enemies and from civil war, and for the defeat of adversaries on the field of battle. He conquers all spiritual enemies.
Holy Scripture and Tradition give us the names of the Archangels:
    Gabriel: strength (power) of God, herald and servitor of Divine omnipotence (Dan 8:16, Luke 1:26). He announces the mysteries of God.

    Raphael: the healing of God, the curer of human infirmities (Tobit 3:16, 12:15)
    Uriel: the fire or light of God, enlightener (3 Ezdras 5:20). We pray for him to enlighten those with darkened minds.
    Selaphiel: the prayer of God, impelling to prayer (3 Ezdras 5:16). He prays to God for mankind.
    Jehudiel: the glorifying of God, encouraging exertion for the glory of the Lord and interceding for the reward of efforts.
    Barachiel: distributor of the blessings of God for good deeds, entreats the mercy of God for people.
    Jeremiel: the raising up to God (3 Ezdras 4:36)

On icons the Archangels are depicted in according to the character of their service:

    Michael tramples the devil underfoot, and in his left hand holds a green date-tree branch, and in his right hand a spear with a white banner (or sometimes a fiery sword), on which is outlined a scarlet cross.
    Gabriel with a branch from Paradise, presented by him to the Most Holy Virgin, or with a shining lantern in his right hand and with a mirror made of jasper in his left.
    Raphael holds a vessel with healing medications in his left hand, and with his right hand leads Tobias, carrying a fish for
healing (Tobit 5-8).
    Uriel in his raised right hand holds a naked sword at the level of his chest, and in his lowered left hand “a fiery flame.”
    Selaphiel in a prayerful posture, gazing downwards, hands folded on the chest. The Archangel Selaphiel, whose name
means “the prayer of God, impelling to prayer” (3 Ezdras 5:16). He prays to God for mankind.

On icons the Archangels are depicted in according to the character of their service:

    The Archangel Jehudiel, whose name means “one who glorifies God,” encourages us to strive for the glory of the Lord, and intercedes for our efforts to be rewarded. Jehudiel holds a golden crown in his right hand, in his left, a whip of three red
     (or black) thongs.
    The Archangel Barachiel, whose name means “the blessing of God,” entreats the mercy of God for people.
     Barachiel is shown with a white rose on his breast.
    Jeremiel holds balance-scales in his hand.

Each person has a guardian angel, and every nation also receives its own guardian angel from God (Dan. 10:13).

When a church is consecrated, it also receives a guardian angel (Palladius, Dial. Ch. 10).

Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome The Importance of the House of God
Gospel Commentary By Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap ROME, NOV. 7, 2008 Zenit.org
This year, in the place of the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we celebrate the feast of the Dedication of Lateran Basilica in Rome, the cathedral of Rome, originally dedicated to the Savior, but then to St. John the Baptist.

What does the dedication and existence of a church, understood as a place of worship, represent for the Christian liturgy and Christian spirituality? We must begin with the words of John's Gospel: “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such worshippers.”

Jesus teaches that God’s temple is primarily the human heart, which has welcomed the Word of God. Speaking of himself and of the Father, Jesus says: “We will come to him and make our abode in him” (John 14:23), and Paul writes one of his communities: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). The believer, then, is the new temple of God. But the place of God’s presence and Christ’s is also there “where two or more are gathered in my name” (Matthew 18:20).

The Second Vatican Council calls the Christian family a “domestic Church” (“ Lumen Gentium,” 11), that is, a little temple of God, precisely because, thanks to the sacrament of matrimony, it is, par excellence, the place where “two or more” are gathered in my name.

So, by what right do we Christians give such importance to church buildings if each one of us can worship God in spirit and truth in our own heart, or in his own house? Why this obligation to go to church every Sunday? The answer is that Jesus Christ does not save us separately from each other; he has come to form a people, a community of persons, in communion with him and among themselves.

What a house is for a family, a church is for the family of God. There is no family without a house. One of the films of Italian neo-realism that I still remember is “Il Tetto” (“The Roof”), written by Cesare Zavattini and directed by Vittorio De Sica. In postwar Rome a poor young man and woman fall in love and get married but do not have a home. Under Italian law at the time, once a house had a roof, its occupants could not be evicted. The couple hurriedly try to put a roof on a ramshackle dwelling and when they succeed, they are overjoyed and embrace, knowing that they have a home, a place of intimacy; they are a family.

I have seen this story repeat itself in many places in cities, towns and villages where there was no church and the people needed to build one. The solidarity and enthusiasm, the joy of working together with the priest to give the community a place of worship and a place to meet -- they are all stories that would merit a film such as De Sica’s.

We must also consider a sad phenomenon: the massive drop in church attendance and participation in Sunday Mass. The statistics on religious practice should make one weep. I do not say that those who do not go to church no longer believe; It is rather that they have replaced the religion instituted by Christ with a “do it yourself” religion, what in America they call “pick and choose,” like you do at the supermarket. Everyone makes up his own idea of God, of prayer, and he is content with it.

Thus it is forgotten that God revealed himself in Christ, that Christ preached a Gospel, that he founded an “ekklesia,” that is, an assembly of those called, he instituted sacraments as signs and conveyors of his presence and salvation. Ignoring this in order to cultivate your own image of God is to advocate total religious subjectivism. We take ourselves as the only standard: God is reduced -- as the German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach said -- to a projection of our own needs and desires; it is no longer God who creates man in his image, but man who creates a god in his image. But it is not a god who saves!

Of course, a religion that is entirely made up of external practices has no point; we see Jesus fighting against such a religion everywhere in the Gospel. But there is no contradiction between a religion of signs and sacraments and one that is intimate, personal; there is no contradiction between ritual and spirit. The great religious geniuses (Augustine, Pascal, Kierkegaard, our own Alessandro Manzoni) were men of a profound and personal interiority who were at the same time members of a community, went to church, they “practiced.”

In the “Confessions” (VIII, 2) St. Augustine recounts the great Roman philosopher and rhetorician Victorinus’ conversion to Christianity from paganism. Now convinced of the truth of Christianity he told the priest Simplicianus: “You know I am already Christian.” Simplicianus answered him: “I will not believe you until I see you in the church of Christ.” Victorinus replied: “Is it the walls that make a Christian?” The skirmish continued between the two. But one day Victorinus read in the Gospel these words of Christ: “Whoever disowns me in this generation, I will disown before my Father.” He understood that it was human respect, fear of what his academic colleagues would say, that kept him from going to church. He went to Simplicianus and said to him: “Let’s go to church, I want to become a Christian.” I think that this story has something to say to people of culture today too. [Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

Father Raniero Cantalamessa is the Pontifical Household preacher.

The readings for this Sunday are Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17; John 2:13-2.

4th v. St. Demetrius of Thessalonica Martyr; “Do whatever you please, for I will neither worship nor offer incense except to my Lord Christ the True God.” Coptic

On this day, the great St. Demetrius, was martyred, in the days of Maximianus the Emperor. He was a pious Christian young man from the city of Thessalonica. He learned various subjects, and most of all, those of the Orthodox Church. He taught and preached diligently in the Name of the Lord Christ. He converted many to the faith.

Some made accusations against him to Emperor Maximianus who ordered that he be brought to him. It happened that when he came before the Emperor, a wrestler whose body was strong and huge, and who surpassed the people of his time in strength, was present. The Emperor loved this man and was proud of him to the point that he specified a large sum of money for whoever could vanquish him. A Christian man whose name was Nostor came from among the people who were present at that time and asked St. Demetrius to pray for him and to make the sign of the Cross with his holy hand over his body. The saint prayed and made over him the sign of the Holy Cross which makes those who believed therein invincible.

Nostor went and asked to fight that fighter about whom the Emperor was boasting. Nostor fought him and vanquished him. The Emperor was very sorry and ashamed. The Emperor wondered how Nostor conquered him. He asked the soldiers for the secret behind that. They told him that a man called Demetrius prayed over him and made the sign of the Cross over his face.

The Emperor became angry with the saint and ordered that he be beaten until he offered incense to his idols and worshipped them. When St. Demetrius disobeyed them the Emperor ordered his men to thrust spears at him until his body would be torn to pieces and he would die. They told the saint that to frighten him and make him turn away from his faith in the Lord Christ and worship the idols. He told them, “Do whatever you please, for I will neither worship nor offer incense except to my Lord Christ the True God.” The soldiers drove the spears into him until he delivered his pure soul.

When they threw away his holy body, some Christians took it and laid it in a coffin made out of marbles. The body remained hidden until the end of the days of persecution, when the one who had hidden it revealed it. A great church was built for him in Thessalonica, and they laid his body therein.

Many great signs were made by his name. Each day, sweet oil was distilled from his body which cured those who used it with faith, especially on the day of his feast. On his feast day, the oil flowed in a larger quantity than on any other day, and it dripped from the walls of the church and the pillars. Though the gathering was huge, they all received their share, from what they took off the walls and put in their containers. Those of the righteous priests who had seen this told and testified to that.

His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God, forever. Amen.

305 4 crowned martyrs Castorius, Claudius, Nicostratus, and Symphorian
Romæ, via Lavicána, tértio ab Urbe milliário, pássio sanctórum Mártyrum Cláudii, Nicóstrati, Symphoriáni, Castórii et Simplícii, qui, primo in cárcerem missi, deínde scorpiónibus gravíssime cæsi, tandem, cum ex fide Christi dimovéri non possent, a Diocletiáno jussi sunt in flúvium præcípites dari.
At Rome, on the Lavican Way, three miles from the city, the martyrdom of the Saints Claudius, Nicostratus, Symphorian, Castorius, and Simplicius. They were first sent to prison, then scourged with whips set with metal, but since they could not be made to forsake the faith of Christ, Diocletian ordered them to be thrown into the river.

Two separate groups who suffered for the faith, called Sancti Quatuor Coronati, "the Four Holy Crowned Ones.” Castorius, Claudius, Nicostratus, and Symphorian were tortured and slain in Pannonia, having been carvers from Sirmium. They refused to carve a pagan statue and were martyred by retired co-Emperor Diocletian. A martyr named Simplicius died with them.

The second group of Four Holy Crowned Ones died at Albano, Italy. They were Carpophorus, Secundius, Severian, and Victorinus. A basilica was erected in honor of these martyrs in Rome. Their cult was confined to local calendars in 1969.

306 THE FOUR CROWNED ONES, MARTYRS
THE Roman Martyrology has today: “At Rome, three miles from the City on the Via Lavicana, the passion of the holy martyrs Claudius, Nicostratus, Symphorian, Castorius and Simplicius, who were first cast into prison, then terribly beaten with loaded whips, and finally, since they could not be turned from Christ’s faith, thrown headlong into the river by order of Diocletian.
         “Likewise on the Via Lavicana the birthday of the four holy crowned brothers, namely, Severus, Severian, Carpophorus and Victorinus, who, under the same emperor, were beaten to death with blows from leaden scourges. Since their names, which in after years were made known by divine revelation, could not be discovered it was appointed that their anniversary, together with that of the other five, should be kept under the name of the Four Holy Crowned Ones; and this has continued to be done in the Church even after their names were revealed.”
These two entries and the passio upon which they are founded provide a puzzle which has not yet been solved with complete certainty. Severus, Severian, Carpophorus and Victorinus, names which the Roman Martyrology and Breviary say were revealed as those of the Four Crowned Martyrs, were borrowed from the martyrology of the diocese of Albano, where their feast is kept on August 8. On the other hand, the Four Crowned Martyrs were sometimes referred to as Claudius, Nicostratus, Symphorian and Castorius. These, with the addition of Simplicius, so far from being the names of Roman martyrs (as stated above), belonged to five martyrs under Diocletian in Pannonia.
      The legend falls into two distinct parts, the conventional and vague “Roman passio”, preceded by the vivid and interesting “Pannonian passio” wherein, as Father Delehaye points out, we have a striking picture of the imperial quarries and workshops at Sirmium (Mitrovica in Yugoslavia), and Diocletian appears not simply as a commonplace blood-stained monster but as the emperor of rather unstable temperament with a passion for building. His attention is drawn by the work of four specially skilled carvers, Claudius, Nicostratus, Simpronian and Castorius, all Christians, and a fifth, Simplicius, who also has become a Christian, because it seems to him that the skill of the others is due to their religion. Diocletian orders them to do a number of carvings, which are duly executed with the exception of a statue of Aesculapius, which they will not make because they are Christians (though their other commissions have already included a large statue of the Sun-god). “If their religion enables them to do such good work, all the better “, says the emperor, and confides Aesculapius to some heathen workmen.
   But public opinion was aroused against Claudius and his comrades, and they were jailed for refusing to sacrifice to the gods. Both Diocletian and his officer Lampadius treated them with moderation at first; but Lampadius dying suddenly, his relatives furiously blamed the five Christians, and the emperor was induced to order their death. Thereupon each was enclosed in a leaden box, and thrown into the river to drown. Three weeks later the bodies were retrieved by one Nicodemus.
A year later Diocletian was in Rome, where he built a temple to Aesculapius in the baths of Trajan, and ordered all his troops to sacrifice to the god. Four cornicularii refused: whereupon they were beaten to death with leaded scourges and their bodies cast into the common sewer. They were taken up and buried on the Via Lavicana by St Sebastian and Pope Miltiades, who later directed, their names having been forgotten, that they should be commemorated under the names of Claudius, Nicostratus, Simpronian and Castorius.*{* The names Claudius Nicostratus, Symphorian and Castorius, with Victorinus, also occur in the legend of St Sebastian, among the converts of St Polycarp the Priest who were cast into the sea, and have as such separate mention in the Roman Martyrology on July 7.}
        A basilica was built and dedicated in honour of the Four Crowned Ones on the Coelian hill at Rome, probably during the first half of the fifth century: it became, and its successor still is, one of the titular churches of the cardinal-priests of the City. There is evidence that those thus commemorated were four of the Pannonian martyrs (why Simplicius was omitted does not appear), and that their relics were later translated to Rome. Then, it has been suggested, their names and history became known, and there emerged the difficulty that they were five, not four; and accordingly a hagiographer produced the second story outlined above, showing that the Quatuor Coronati were four Romans, not five Pannonians, and soldiers, not stone-masons. Of which convenient fiction Father Delehaye remarks that it is “ l’opprobre de l’hagiographie”.
         It was natural that in the medieval organizations of” operative” masonry the Four Crowned Ones should be held in great honour. A poem of the early fifteenth century setting out the articles of one of these stone-mason gilds is preserved in MS. Royal XVII. A. i at the British Museum. It has a section headed Ars quatuor coronatorum, beginning:
                      Pray we now to God almyght
                      And to hys moder Mary bryght;

and it then goes on to tell briefly the story “of these martyres fowre, that in thys craft were of gret honoure”. It is stated that those who want to know more about them may find—
                       In the legent of sanctorum [i.e. the book Legenda Sanctorum]
                      The names of quatuor coronatorum.
                      Their fest wol be, withoute nay,
                      After Alle Halwen the eyght day.

        The English Freemasons of modern times have in a sense clung to the tradition, and the most scholarly organ of the craft in this country has for many years past been published under the name Ars Quatuor Coronatorum. Bede refers to a church at Canterbury dedicated in honour of the Four Crowned Martyrs so early A.D. 620.

Any detailed discussion of the problems outlined above would be out of place here. In the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iii, Delehaye in 1910 devoted thirty-six folio pages to the question, editing the text of the passio of the Pannonian group, written, it is believed, by a certain Porphyry, and also the tenth-century recension of the same, due to one Peter of Naples. The Depositio martyrum of the fourth century, confirmed by the Leonine and other sacramentaries, leaves no doubt that this group of martyrs was honoured in Rome at an early date, and Delehaye, in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xxxii (1913), pp. 63—71, as well as in his Les passions des martyrs...(1921), pp. 328—344, his Étude sur le légendier romain (1936), pp. 65—73, and the CMH., pp. 590—591, adheres firmly to the view that there was only one group of martyrs, the stone-masons of Pannonia, whose relics were brought to Rome and interred in the catacomb on the Via Labicana. Other theories, however, have been propounded, notably by Mgr Duchesne in Mélanges d’archéologie et d’histoire, vol. xxxi (1911), pp. 23 1—246 ; by P. Franchi de’ Cavalieri in Studi e Testi, vol. XXIV (1912), pp. 57—66; and J. P. Kirsch in the Historisches Yahrbuch, vol. xxxviii (1957), pp. 72—97.

Four Crowned Martyrs (RM). On the Caelian Hill in Rome stands the church of Santi Quattro Incoronati. In it is a chapel specially dedicated to the guild of marble-workers.

A church has stood in this place since the 6th century and probably before that, too.

Much has been written about who the four crowned martyrs might be, but the stories break down into two irreconcilable groups with different names and different places. Oddly enough, the Church commemorates not four but five Christian martyrs in both versions. Since in both cases their names were at first unknown, they are generally referred to by the collective title.

The most convincing explanation is that they were five men who were martyred in either in Pannonia (modern Hungary) or at Albano, Italy, one of whom, Simplicius, was unaccountably omitted. Some time after the relics of Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus, and Victorinus had been brought to Rome and interred on the Via Labicana, a legend was fabricated in which four Roman soldiers were represented as having been martyred under Diocletian for refusing to sacrifice to an image of Aesculapius, the Greek god of medicine, in the Baths of Trajan. They were later named by Pope Miltiades.

The more popular Pannonian account relates that they came from Sirmium (Mitrovica) in Pannonia, were average Christians, and were brilliant stone-carvers, who worked together. Their names were Simpronian, Claudius, Nicostratus, Castorius, and Simplicius.

Their work exhibited a perfect understanding of stone and space. Emperor Diocletian himself had commissioned a number of works from them and he was pleased with their work. Other less talented sculptors were doubtless envious and persuaded Diocletian to order them to carve a statue of Aesculapius. The commission would have brought additional renown as well as pay. But the five stone- carvers were Christians and politely refused to cooperate in the worship of idols.

The masons were then ordered to make a sacrifice to the Sun god. This was even less acceptable than the notion of carving a statue of Aesculapius. The emperor accepted their beliefs, but when they refused to do their civic duty--sacrifice to the gods--they were imprisoned. When Diocletian's officer Lampadius, who was trying to convince them to sacrifice to the gods, suddenly died, his relatives accused them of his death.
To placate the relatives, Diocletian had them bound, fastened in leaden boxes and drowned in the river.

The late 4th century account of them is of special interest for what it tells about the imperial quarries and workshops in the mountains near Sirmium; and also because it gives a more human picture of Diocletian than that of the bloodthirsty tyrant commonly represented in the passions of martyrs.

Whatever the true story, the bodies were buried on the Lavican way about three miles from Rome. Pope Gregory the GreatPope Leo IV, in 841, repaired the church and translated the relics from the cemetery on the Lavican Way. When this church was destroyed by fire, Paschal II rebuilt it. During the course of the reconstruction two rich urns--one of porphyry, the other of serpentine marble--were discovered under the altar. The urns were deposited in a stone vault under the new altar where they were again found by Paul V. mentions an old church of the four crowned martyrs in Rome.

Working masons of the Middle Ages held the Four Crowned Martyrs in special honor, and this has been perpetuated in English Freemasonry; there is a Quatuor Coronati lodge in London that has published its annual report for 75 years under the title of Ars Quatuor Coronatorum. There was already a chapel of the Four Crowned Martyrs in Canterbury in the year 619 (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).

In art the are, of course, represented by four men with sculptor's tools. At times the picture will include a chisel, column and sculptor's tools; or Claudius planing a plank, Simplician (Simpronian) with a pickaxe, and Castor as an old man.
They are the patrons of sculptors, stone-cutters, and marble- workers, as well as protectors of cattle. Invoked against fever (Roeder).

St. Castorius Claudius, Nicostratus, and Symphorian called 4 crowned martyrs Pannonia Hungary Patron of sculptors during the reign of Diocletian. According to legend, they were employed as carvers at Sirmium (Mitrovica, Yugoslavia) and impressed Diocletian with their art, as did another carver, Simplicius.

Diocletian commissioned them to do several carvings, which they did to his satisfaction, but they then refused to carve a statue of Aesculapius, as they were Christians. The emperor accepted their beliefs, but when they refused to sacrifice to the gods, they were imprisoned. When Diocletian's officer Lampadius, who was trying to convince them to sacrifice to the gods, suddenly died, his relatives accused the five of his death; to placate the relatives, the emperor had them executed. Another story has four unnamed Corniculari beaten to death in Rome with leaden whips when they refused to offer sacrifice to Aesculapius. They were buried on the Via Lavicana and were later given their names by Pope Militiades. Probably they were the four Pannonian martyrs (not counting Simplicius) whose remains were translated to Rome and buried in the Four Crowned Ones basilica there. A further complication is the confusion of their story with that of the group of martyrs associated with St. Carpophorus in the Roman Martyrology under November 8th.

383 Saint Maurus of Verdun many miracles are said to have taken place at his tomb B (RM)
The relics of Saint Maurus, second bishop of Verdun (353-383), were enshrined in the 9th century, when many miracles are said to have taken place at his tomb (Benedictines).

397 Saint Clarus of Marmoûtier disciple of Saint Martin of Tours ordained a priest Hermit (RM)
Turónis, in Gállia, sancti Clári Presbyteri, cujus sanctus Paulínus epitáphium scripsit.
At Tours in France, St. Clarus, a priest whose epitaph was written by St. Paulinus.

(also known as Cler) Born at Tours, France; died . Cler joined the community of Marmoûtier as disciple of Saint Martin of Tours. He was ordained a priest and thereafter lived near Marmoûtier as a hermit (Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

6th v. St. Cybi Welsh abbot
one of the most venerated saints in Anglesey, also called Cuby and Kabius. Born in Cornwall, England, and a cousin of St. David of Wales, he refused the throne of his area. Cybi went to Monmouthshire and then to Avanmore, in Ireland, to study under St. Anda. On Anglesey, an island near Holyhead, Wales, Cybi founded a monastery called Caer Cybi. He is the patron of Llangebby and Llangybi, as well as Cornwall, Tregony, Landulf, and Cuby.
             ST CYBI, OR CUBY, ABBOT   (SIXTH CENTURY)
    OF the numerous Celtic saints whose feasts occur this month Cybi was probably one of the most important, but information about him is dependent chiefly on a very unreliable Latin vita of the thirteenth century and whatever can be gleaned from the evidence of place-names and local traditions. He was born in Cornwall, we are told, the son of Selyf (“St Levan), and two old churches in his native county are dedicated in his honour, at Duloe, near Liskeard, and at Cuby, in Tregony. The life says he learned to read at seven, and twenty years later, after the common imaginary pilgrimage to Jerusalem, became a disciple of St Hilary, by whom he was made bishop at Poitiers. This is chronologically impossible.
Cybi is supposed to have left Cornwall because he would not consent to be king there, and gone into what is now Monmouthshire; there is a place there called Llangibby, on the Usk. Then, by way of St David’s Menevia, he visited Ireland and spent four years on Aranmore with St Enda. He had to leave there because of a dispute with another monk, called Fintan the Priest, about a straying cows, and he went to the south of Meath where he founded a church. But Fintan followed him and turned him out and drove him eastward across Ireland and over the sea. The crossing was made in a coracle which had the usual framework, but no hides to Cover it.
  There is no necessity to suppose that St Cybi was ever in Ireland, for probably the writer of his life knew the traditions about St Enda, and by a confusion of names took Cybi to Aran and associated him with various incidents in the life of Enda. But when St Cybi lands in Anglesey we are on more solid ground, for this island was the chief centre of his cult us. Here he founded a monastery, and around that monastery rose the town called in English Holyhead but in Welsh Caer Gybi (“ Cybi’s Fort “), as the smaller island on which it stands, Holy Island, is called
         Ynys Gybi. From it Cybi evangelized the neighbourhood, where his name appears in places and local legends, as elsewhere in Wales ; and there he died and was buried, and his shrine was a place of pilgrimage. Throughout the middle ages his monastic community was represented by a college of secular canons, and on a gable of the fifteenth-century church of Holyhead may still be read the invocation,
         Sancte Kebie, ora pro nobis.
It is probable that St Cybi, like so many other Celtic saints, journeyed by water whenever he could; all the chief places bearing his name are on or near the sea.

An old Welsh proverb is attributed to him, in conversation with “the son of Gwrgi”
“—“ There is no misfortune like wickedness.”

November 8 for his feast is taken from the Latin life; Welsh calendars and other sources give several other dates.

The Latin life spoken of above has been printed in the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iii, and the tangled story which it tells has been discussed very completely by Canon Doble in his booklet St Cuby (1929), no. 22, in his Cornish Saints Series. See also A. W. Wade-Evans, The Life of St David (1923), pp. 98—100; and LBS., vol. ii, pp. 202—2 15. In his Vitae Sanctorum Brittaniae (1944) Wade-Evans gives the text and translation of the two versions of the Vita Kebii. Cf. E. G. Bowen, Settlements of the Celtic Saints in Wales pp. 118—120.

Cybi of Caenarvon, Abbot B (AC) (also known as Cuby)
6th century. Cuby is one of the few saints of Cornwall who seems to have been born there. He may have been the son of Saint Selevan (Levan) and cousin of Saint David of Wales. Consecrated a bishop, he settled with ten disciples near Tregony.

Place names suggest he was an energetic missionary monk, who visited southeast Wales and made his way by sea up the west coast to Anglesey. Here the prince Maelgwn Gwynedd is said to have given him a ruined Roman fort for his headquarters, where the town of Holyhead now stands; it is still known in Welsh as Caer Gybi, Cybi's fort. He is the patron saint of Llangibbi (Monmouth) and of Llangybi (Carnarvon).

The existing Life of the saint dates only from the 13th century, and takes him on a fabulous pilgrimage to Jerusalem as well as narrating a long stay with Saint Enda on Aranmore; but there is no reason to suppose that Cuby was ever in Ireland either.

We are told that he was accompanied on Aran by an aged kinsman name Cungar, an elusive saint whose name is found in Wales, Brittany, and Somerset (Congresbury). Matthew Arnold in his poem East and West narrates--but misunderstands--an Anglesey legend about Saint Cybi (Attwater, Benedictines).

618 St. Pope Deusdedit first pope to use bullae on documents
Item Romæ sancti Deúsdedit Papæ Primi, qui tanti mériti fuit, ut leprósum ósculo a lepra sanáverit.
    Also at Rome, St. Deusdedit, pope, whose merit was so great that he cured a leper by kissing him.
Pope from 615-618, also called Adeodatus I. He was the son of a subdeacon, Stephen, born in Rome. Consecrated pope on October 19, 615, he became known for his care of the poor. An earthquake hit Rome in August 618, and he worked tirelessly during the disaster. He was the first pope to use bullae on documents. It is possible that he was originally a Benedictine.

     ST DEUSDEDIT, POPE 618
         VERY little is known of the life and three-year pontificate of Pope Deusdedit (Adeodatus I), who was a Roman by birth and son of a subdeacon named Stephen.
         The times were troubled by civil disorder, war, and by an epidemic of skin disease following an earthquake; St Deusdedit was foremost in caring for the suffering (the Roman Martyrology mentions the tradition of his having healed a “leper” by a kiss), and encouraged his impoverished clergy to do the same. He is said to have been the first pope to have used the leaden seals called bullae, from which papal “bulls” get their name: one such seal dating from his time still exists.
         Pope St Deusdedit is called a Benedictine in ancient Benedictine calendars, but there is no certain evidence for the statement.

See Duchesne, Liber Pontificalis, vol. i, pp. 319—320; H. K. Mann, Lives of the Popes, vol. i, pp. 280—293.

Deusdedit I, Pope (RM) (also known as Adeodatus)
Born in Rome; died in Rome November 8, 618. Son of a subdeacon, Stephen, Deusdedit was consecrated pope on October 19, 615. He encouraged the secular clergy and devoted much of his time to aiding the needy, especially during the disastrous earthquake that devastated Rome in August 618. He also worked untiringly for the plague-stricken when the pestilence followed in Rome.

His pontificate was filled with troubles, civil commotions, and natural disasters. Rebels flouted the imperial authority both at Ravenna and Naples. Up north at Ravenna the exarch John, along with other imperial officials, had been murdered. Down south at Naples a certain John of Compsa had risen in revolt, taken over the town, and proclaimed his independence of the Emperor Heraclius.

Heraclius, who had succeeded the weak Phocas in 610, was not the man to allow his empire to fall to pieces. He sent his able chamberlain, the Patrician Eleutherius to correct the problems in his Italian dominions. Eleutherius acted with vigor. First he restored order in Ravenna. Then he marched south along the Flaminian Way. After pausing in Rome to receive a warm welcome from the loyal Pope, he marched on Naples, stormed the city, and put the rebel John to death. Instead of letting well enough alone, however, Eleutherius turned on the Lombards and rekindled a war which soon he was forced to end by once more buying off those tough barbarians.

Pope Deusdedit was especially fond of his secular clergy and seems to have leaned on them rather than on monks for support. His love for his secular clergy was manifested even after death, for in his will he left a sum of money to be distributed among them.

According to tradition, he was the first pope to use lead seals (bullae) on papal documents, which in time came to be called bulls. There still exists such a leaden bulla dating from this pope's reign. In all ancient Benedictine menologies he is called a Benedictine monk, but there is no certain evidence for it (Benedictines, Brusher, Delaney).

640 St. Tysilio Welsh abbot.

The son of a Welsh prince, Brochwel Ysgythrog, he left home at a young age to become a monk at Meifod in Powys, Wales, later serving as abbot. He departed Wales for Brittany, France, about 617, supposedly in an effort to escape the relentless attentions of the widow of his deceased brother and his father’s demands that he return home. In Brittany he settled on the site that became known as St. Suliac (his name in the region), although it is possible that the name may refer to some other person.

      ST TYSILIO, OR SULIAU, ABBOT   (SEVENTH CENTURY?)
         ACCORDING to the Breton account and the few surviving Welsh references, Tysilio was son of Brochwel Ysgythrog, prince of Powys in North Wales. When a young man he ran away to be a monk under the abbot Gwyddfarch at Meifod in Montgomeryshire. His father sent to fetch him back, but Tysilio refused to go and fled for greater security to an islet in the Menai Straits, Ynys Suliau. At the end of seven years he came back to Meifod, where he found Gwyddfarch in spite of his great age contemplating a pilgrimage to Rome. “I know what that means”, was Tysilio’s comment. “You want to see the churches and palaces there. Dream about them, instead of going all that way.” He took the old man a long walk over the mountains and tired him out, and Tysilio did not fail to point out that Rome was a much longer journey than they had been. Then they sat down and Gwyddfarch went to sleep, and dreamed he saw all the glory of Rome, and he was satisfied.
         When he died, Tysilio became abbot in his place.
When his elder brother, the prince of Powys, died, his widow Haiarnwedd wished to marry Tysilio and make him prince. To this he would not agree, for he had no taste for war and secular pursuits or for marriage, least of all within the prohibited degrees. His sister-in-law took this refusal as a personal insult, drove him from Meifod, and he took refuge at Builth in Breconshire. As her anger still pursued him, he left Wales altogether and sailed for Armorica with some of his monks. They landed at the mouth of the Rance, established contact with St Malo, and settled at the place still called Saint-Suliac. When Haiarnwedd died, a deputation came to fetch Tysilio back to Meifod; he did not go, but sent a book of the gospels and his staff as an indication of goodwill and blessing. He died and was buried in Brittany. As well as Ynys Suliau, Tysilio’s name is associated with other places in Wales; it is an element of the Anglesey (faked) place-name which has the distinction of having twenty-four syllables in it. A twelfth-century bard, Cynddelw, wrote of Tysilio, “the royal saint of Powys”:
                      A lord magnificent
                      A prince with princes holding intercourse.
                      Whoso loves cruelty he sorely hates,
                      Whilst all whose ends are loveable he loves
                      To chastisement he charity prefers.

See LBS., vol. iv, pp. 296—305; the Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, vol. iii (1807) A. W. Wade-Evans, Welsh Christian Origins (1934), pp. 200—201; and especially G. H. Doble, St Sulian and St Tysilio (1936); they seem to have been two (or three) different people, one Breton and one Welsh. See E. G. Bowen, Settlements of the Celtic Saints in Wales (1954).

Tysilio of Wales, Abbot (AC) (also known as Suliau, Tyssel, Tyssilo)

Tysilio, a Welsh prince, became abbot of Meifod in Montgomeryshire, where his cultus is centered. Nearby is a town named for him, Llandysilio. He founded several churches in the other parts of Wales, including Clwyd, southwest Cardiganshire, Menai Straits, and near Dyfed. Finally, around 617, he may have migrated to Brittany and died at Saint-Suliac, although this may be a different saint for whom a Welsh origin is claimed (Benedictines, Bowen, Doble, Farmer).

730 St Willehad besuchte etwa 770 die Utrechter Missionsschule und wurde von hier an die Kirche in Dokkum (Friesland) entsandt, in die Gegend also, in der 20 Jahre vorher Winfried (Bonifatius) den Märtyrertod erlitt.
Orthodoxe, Katholische und Evangelische Kirche: 8. November

789 ST WILLEHAD, Bishop OF BREMEN
      WILLEHAD was an Englishman, a native of Northumbria, and was educated probably at York, for he became a friend of Alcuin. After his ordination the spiritual conquests which many of his countrymen had made for Christ, with St Willibrord in Friesland and St Boniface in Germany, seemed a reproach to him, and he also desired to carry the saving knowledge of the true God to some of those barbarous nations. He landed in Friesland about the year 766 and began his mission at Dokkum, the place near which St Boniface and his companions had received the crown of martyrdom in 754. (The Roman Martyrology mistakenly calls St Willehad a disciple of St Boniface.) After baptizing some, he made his way through the country now called Overyssel, preaching as he went. In Humsterland the missionaries were all put in peril of their lives, for the inhabitants cast lots whether he and his companions should be put to death; Providence determined the lots for their preservation. Having escaped out of their hands, St Willehad thought it prudent to go back to Drenthe, in the more favourable neighbourhood of Utrecht. Here, in spite of the labours of St Willibrord and his successors, there was still plenty of heathens to convert, but the promising field was spoiled by imprudent zeal. Some of Willehad’s fellow missionaries venturing to demolish the places dedicated to idolatry, the pagans were so angered that they resolved to massacre them. One struck at St Willehad with such force that the sword would have severed his head but that the force of the blow, as his biographer assures us, was entirely broken by cutting a string about the saint’s neck by which hung a little box of relics which he always carried with him. The whole incident bears a suspicious resemblance to that recorded of St Willibrord on the island of Walcheren.
        Having made so little progress among the Frisians St Willehad went to the court of Charlemagne, who in 780 sent him to evangelize the Saxons, whom he had recently subdued. The saint thence proceeded into the country where Bremen now stands, and was the first missionary who passed the Weser; some of his companions got beyond the Elbe. For a short time all went well, but in 782 the Saxons rose in revolt against the Franks. They put to death all missionaries that fell into their hands, and St Willehad escaped by sea into Friesland, whence he took an opportunity of going to Rome and laying before Pope Adrian I the state of his mission. He then passed two years in the monastery of Echternach, founded by St Willibrord, and assembled his fellow labourers whom the war had dispersed; here, too, he made a copy of the letters of St Paul.
      Charlemagne put down the Saxon rebellion in ruthless fashion, and Willehad was able to return to the country between the Weser and the Elbe.* { Charlemagne’s dealings with the barbarous Saxons were not such as to make solid missionary work any easier.}
When the saint had founded many churches, Charlemagne in 787 had him ordained bishop of the Saxons, and he fixed his see at Bremen, which city seems to have been founded about that time. St Willehad redoubled his zeal and his solicitude in preaching. His cathedral church he built of wood and consecrated it on November I, 789, in honour of St Peter. A few days later he was taken ill, and it was seen that he was very bad. One of his disciples said to him, weeping, “Do not so soon forsake your flock exposed to the fury of wolves “. He answered, “Withhold me not from going to God. My sheep I recommend to Him who intrusted them to me and whose mercy is able to protect them.” And so he died, and his successor buried his body in the new stone church at Bremen. St Willehad was the last of the great English missionaries of the eighth century.

Our knowledge of St Willehad is almost entirely derived from a Latin life written about the year 856 by some ecclesiastic of Bremen. It was formerly attributed to the authorship of St Anskar, but this view has now been abandoned, though Anskar seems to be responsible for the book of miracles attached to the life. The best text of both is that edited by A. Poncelet in the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iii; but they have been printed several times before, e.g. by Mabillon, and in Pertz, MGH., Scriptores, vol. ii. See also H. Timerding, Die christliche Frühzeit Deutschlands, vol. ii (1929); Louis Halphen, Etudes critiques sur l’histoire de Charlemagne (1921); and Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. ii. Cf. W. Levison, England and the Continent...(1946).

Willehad, der um 730 geboren wurde, besuchte etwa 770 die Utrechter Missionsschule und wurde von hier an die Kirche in Dokkum (Friesland) entsandt, in die Gegend also, in der 20 Jahre vorher Winfried (Bonifatius) den Märtyrertod erlitt. Nachdem die Sachsen an der Unterweser mit Karl dem Großen Frieden schlossen, beauftragte dieser Willehad, zwischen Weser und Elbe tätig zu werden. Als sich nach zweijähriger Arbeit erste Erfolge einstellten, begann Widukind seinen Feldzug gegen die Franken und besonders die Christen. Willehad konnte nach Echternach fliehen. Nachdem Karl der Große 785 die Sachsen erneut unterworfen hatte, kehrte Willehad in sein Missionsgebiet zurück. 787 ernannte ihn Karl zum Bischof und kurz vor seinem Tode am 8.11.789 weihte Willehad seine Bischofskirche in Bremen.

St. Willehad
Bishop at Bremen, born in Northumberland before 745; died at Blecazze (Blexen) on the Weser, 8 Nov., 789. He was a friend of Alcuin, and probably received his education at York under St. Egbert. After his ordination, with the permission of King Alchred he was sent to Frisia between 765 and 774. He cannot, therefore, have been a disciple of St. Boniface, as Baronius states in the Roman Martyrology, for St. Boniface had left England in 718 and had died in 754 (755). Willehad came to Dockum, where St. Boniface had received the crown of martyrdom, and made many conversions. He crossed the Lauwers, but met with little success at Hugmarke (now Humsterland in the Diocese of Münster). He was obliged to leave and went to Trianthe (Drenthe in the Diocese of Utrecht). At first all seemed favourable, but later he made little progress. In 780 he was sent by Charlemagne to Wigmodia near the North Sea, between the Weser and the Elbe. There God's blessing accompanied his labours, and he built many churches. The insurrection of the Saxons under Widukind in 782 put an end to his work, many of his companions were killed and his churches destroyed. Willehad escaped and went to Rome, where he was received by Adrian I. He then retired to the Abbey of Echternach, and applied himself to the task of copying books, among others he transcribed the Epistles of St. Paul. When the insurrection had been suppressed by Charlemagne Willehad returned to Wigmodia and continued his labours. He was consecrated bishop at Worms on 13 July, 787, and fixed his residence at Bremen, where he built a cathedral, dedicated on Sunday 1 Nov., 789, in honour of St. Peter. A few days later, while on a missionary tour, he was attacked with a fever and died. His body, buried at the place of his death, was transferred by his successor St. Willericus to the stone church built by him and placed in a chapel. A feast on 13 July commemorates the date of his consecration. During the Reformation his relics were lost. His feast was neglected and then forgotten; by permission, however, of the Sacred Congregation of Rites it was reintroduced in 1901 in the Dioceses of Munser, Osnabrück, and Paderborn to be observed on a vacant day after 8 November. His life was written by a cleric of Bremen after 838, but perhaps before 860. The account of his miracles was written by St. Ansgar.

St. Willehad Benedictine missionary and bishop native of Northumbria England
In vico Blexen, ad Visúrgim flúvium, in Germánia, sancti Willehádi, qui primus éxstitit Breménsis civitátis Epíscopus; atque, una cum sancto Bonifátio, cujus discípulus fuit, in Frísia et Saxónia Evangélium propagávit.
In the village of Plexem, on the Weser River in Germany, St. Willehad, first bishop of Bremen, who, together with St. Boniface, whose disciple he was, spread the Gospel in Friesland and Saxony.
he studied at York, was a friend of Blessed Alcuin, and became a monk in York or Ripon. About 766, he embarked upon a journey to preach among the Frisians of the Netherlands. He preached at Dokkum and Overyssel, but was forced to flee with his companions because of the violent pagan reaction. In 780, at the request of Charlemagne (r. 768-814), he became a missionary among the Saxons, but again he was forced to flee, owing to the Saxon uprising against the Franks.

He went to Rome to make a report of his activities to Pope Adrian I (r. 772-795) and spent two years at Echternach monastery in Luxembourg. Wufrid gathered together missionary resources, and after Charlemagne's reconquest of Saxony, he received an appointrnent as bishop of Worms, Germany, in 787, with his seat at Bremen and ruissionary authority over the Saxons. He died at Bremen a few days after dedicating the cathedral of St. Peter.

Willehad of Bremen, OSB B (RM) Died November 8, c. 790. Willehad, like Saint Willibrord a generation before him, was born in Northumbria. He was probably educated in York, became a friend of Blessed Alcuin, and was ordained.

In 766, he went to Friesland, preached at Dokkum and Overyssel, barely escaped with his life from Humsterland, where pagans wanted to put him to death. He then returned to the area around Utrecht, where his life again was spared when he and his comrades were attacked by a group of pagans whose temples they had destroyed. In 780, Charlemagne sent him as a missionary to the Saxons between the lower Weser and the Elbe Rivers. Two years later when the Saxons rose against their Frankish conquerors, he fled to Friesland.

After reporting on his missionary work to Pope Adrian I, he lived for two years at Willibrord's monastery at Echternach, Luxembourg, where he reassembled his force of missionaries. Thereafter, he returned to the Weser-Elbe area, where Charlemagne had just finished ruthlessly suppressing the Saxons' revolt.

In 787 Willehad was ordained bishop of the Saxons with his see at newly created Bremen. He founded numerous churches in his see, built a cathedral at Bremen, where he died (Attwater, Delaney, Encyclopedia).

In art, Willehad is portrayed overturning idols. He is still venerated at Echternach, Luxembourg (Roeder).

St. Wiomad 790 Abbot bishop accompanied Charlemagne.

also listed as Wiomagus and Weomadus. He served as abbot of Mettlach and bishop ofTrier, Germany, from about 750. Wiomad accompanied Charlemagne (r. 768-814).
Wiomad of Trèves, OSB B (AC) (also known as Weomadus, Wiomagus). Monk of Saint Maximinus at Trèves (Trier, Germany), Wiomad became abbot of Mettlach and finally bishop of Trèves (c. 750-790) (Benedictines).

9th v. St. Moroc Scottish bishop of Dunblane
who originally served as abbot of Dunkeld. He was venerated especially in the old Scottish rite, and several churches bear his name.
Moroc of Scotland B (AC) 9th century. Abbot Moroc of Dunkeld, later became the bishop of Dunblane. He appears to have left his name to several churches, and was venerated with a solemn office in the old Scottish rite (Benedictines).

934 Saint Gervadius of Elgin providential arrival of wood for his church by a flooding river (AC).
(also known as Garnard, Gerardin, Gernard, Gernardius, Garnet, Garnat). The Irish Gervadius crossed over to Moray and afterwards became a recluse at Holyman Head near Elgin. His cave, which is mentioned in Elgin charters, survived until the 19th century. The legend of Saint Gervadius includes some exchange with the English soldiers sent be King Athelstan in 934, besides the providential arrival of wood for his church by a flooding river (Benedictines, Farmer).

996 Gregory of Einsiedeln abbot. His rule coincided with the period of the greatest monastic splendor of the abbey OSB Abbot (AC)

An Anglo-Saxon by birth, who on a pilgrimage to Rome received the Benedictine habit on the Caelian Hill in Rome. On his way home he stayed at the Swiss abbey of Einsiedeln, and joined the community in 949. He was elected abbot. His rule coincided with the period of the greatest monastic splendor of the abbey (Benedictines).

1115 Godfrey of Amiens a zealous reformer, unrelentingly fought simony enforcing celibacy His tomb was illustrated by many miracles OSB B (RM)
Suessíone, in Gálliis, sancti Godefrídi, Ambianénsis Epíscopi, magnæ sanctitátis viri.
    At Soissons in France, St. Godfrey, bishop of Amiens, a man of great sanctity.
(also known as Geoffrey, Gottfried) Born near Soissons, France, c. 1066; died near Soissons.

   1115 ST GODFREY, BISHOP OF AMIENS
     AT the age of five Godfrey was entrusted to the care of the abbot of Mont-Saint-Quentin and, having in due course decided to become a monk, he was ordained priest. He was chosen abbot of Nogent, in Champagne, a house whose community was reduced to half a dozen monks, whose discipline was, like their buildings, neglected and dilapidated. Under his direction this house began again to flourish; but when in consequence of this the archbishop of Rheims and his council pressed the saint to take upon him the government of the great abbey of Saint-Remi, he started up in the assembly and alleged contrary canons with vehemence, adding, “God forbid I should ever desert a poor bride by preferring a rich one!” Nevertheless, in 1104 he was appointed bishop of Amiens. His residence was truly the house of a disciple of Christ, for he never allowed himself to forget that he was a monk. He lived in the simplest fashion, and when he thought the cook was treating him too well he took the best food from the kitchen and gave it away to the poor and sick.
But in his episcopal capacity St Godfrey was unbending, severe, and inflexibly just. One Christmas when singing Mass before the count of Artois at Saint-Omer he refused to accept the offerings of the court until the nobles had modified the ostentation of their dress and deportment; the abbess of St Michael’s at Doullens had to go on foot to Amiens and back to receive a rebuke and warning for her ill-treatment of a nun (she is said to have been kept there all day looking for the missing nun, whom the bishop had concealed in his house); and the claim of his see to jurisdiction over the abbey of Saint-Valery was vigorously pursued. The refusal of the monks to allow him to bless altar-linen for their church was the occasion of a long dispute. St Godfrey had a bitter struggle in his own diocese against simony and for the celibacy of the clergy, in the course of which it is said an attempt was made on his life by a disgruntled woman. His rigid discipline made him very unpopular among the less worthy, and he became so discouraged that he wanted to resign and join the Carthusians. St Godfrey’s severity seems in some things to have been excessive, e.g. he forbade the eating of meat on Sundays in Lent. He set out in November 1115 to discuss affairs with his metropolitan and died on the way at Soissons, where he was buried.

What Guibert of Nogent in his autobiography tells us concerning Godfrey is our most reliable source of information. The Latin life by Nicholas, a monk of Soissons, is much more detailed and in many respects valuable, but it is written in a tone of undiscriminating panegyric, and certain statements made in it are demonstrably incorrect. It was compiled about 1138, and it is printed, with the relevant passages of Guibert and an illuminating introduction, by A. Poncelet in the Acta Sanctorum, November, vol. iii. See also A. de Calonne, Histoire de la vile d’Amiens (1899), vol. i, pp. 123—142; C. Brunel in Le moyen âge, vol. xxii (1909), pp. 576—596 ; and J. Corblet, Hagiographie d’Amiens (1870), vol. ii, pp. 373—445..

When he was 5 years old, Godfrey was placed in the care of the abbot of Mont-Saint-Quentin. He became a monk and was eventually ordained a priest.
In 1096 he became the abbot of the decayed Nogent-sous-Coucy in Champagne, where the brethren had dwindled to six and the buildings and discipline were similarly dilapidated. Under his rule the monastery prospered, and as a result, he came to the notice of the archbishop of Rheims who asked him to take over the famous Abbey of Saint-Remi at Rheims. Godfrey refused. He made a disturbance and vehemently added during an assembly, “God forbid I should ever desert a poor bride by preferring a rich one!”
Despite his strong feelings, he was appointed bishop of Amiens in 1104, but he insisted upon continuing to live very simply. When he thought the cook was treating him too well, he took the best food from the kitchen and gave it away to the poor and the sick.
He was a zealous reformer, unrelentingly fought simony enforcing celibacy, and supported the organization of communes. But, because he was an excessively stern ruler, his life was threatened more than once, including by a disgruntled woman.
His scrupulousness caused great resentment among the laxer clergy. He became disheartened by their behavior and withdrew to the Carthusian monastery at Grande-Chartreuse. A council ordered him to return to his diocese--his people refused to allow him to retire. But on his way to visit his metropolitan, he died the following year at Saint Crispin's abbey in Soissons, where he was buried. His name was not found in calendars before the 16th century (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Walsh, White).
In art Saint Gottfried is a bishop with a dead hound at his feet. Sometimes he is shown serving the sick or embracing a leper (Roeder).

SAINT GODFREY or GEOFFROY Bishop of Amiens (ca. 1066-1115)
Saint Godfrey was born about 1066 at Molincourt in France of a distinguished Christian family. He arrived late in the lives of his parents, who had begged the prayers of the holy abbot of Mount Saint Quentin, desiring to have a child they could consecrate to God. Their prayers and those of the religious of the monastery of Mount Saint Quentin were answered in the same year. The child was baptized by the Abbot and later confided to him to be educated. Eventually Godfrey’s father entered a monastery of Our Lady which he had enriched by his alms; and his mother spent her declining years in various good works.

Godfrey was given the charge of taking care of the sick, and exercised it with such great charity that he was also named hospitaller, to receive the poor at the gate. For assistance in that second duty he had his older brother Odon, who after many years in the military career had come to join him in the religious life. His brother would later die a holy death in the same abbey of Mount Saint Quentin.

When Saint Godfrey was 25 years old his abbot told him to prepare for the priesthood. He received the Sacrament of Holy Orders from the bishop of Noyon, in which diocese the abbey of Mount Saint Quentin is situated. Not long afterwards, the abbey of Our Lady of Nogent, whose abbot was incapacitated by illness, voted to obtain Godfrey in that office, and the abbot of Mount Saint Quentin consented to the sacrifice of his dear spiritual son for that purpose. The pleas of the disciple based on his youth and inexperience were not heeded, and in 1095 he became Abbot of Nogent, where the buildings were crumbling and only six monks and two young novices remained. He renovated the edifices and built a hostelry for pilgrims and the sick poor; and in this hostelry he himself continued to labor on their behalf. Soon the monastery filled up with vocations, drawing even two illustrious abbots from elsewhere, who desired to serve under this master.

When a severe drought was devastating the fields and flocks of the region, the bishop of Soissons, Hugh de Pierrefonds, went to Godfrey to ask his counsel; the holy abbot prescribed a fast in the manner of Ninevah — even the animals were to participate. On the first day of the fast, when the abbot rose to preach in the vast Church of Saint Steven, before the assembled people, the sky suddenly darkened, and so heavy a rain fell that the people were not a little inconvenienced on returning home.

When the aged bishop of Amiens died soon afterwards, its residents chose Godfrey to be their bishop, and went to a legate of the Holy See to ask him to intercede with the abbot to obtain his consent. When this decision was related to Godfrey he would have fled, but the order of the legate prevented his flight. Moreover, he had already had a vision of Saint Firmin, first Bishop of Amiens and martyr, advising him of this forthcoming new responsibility. He therefore submitted to the clear designs of Providence. After Saint Godfrey obtained a beautiful new reliquary for the relics of Amiens’ first bishop, the confidence of the people in their patron Saint, Saint Firmin, redoubled. A prayer to him by Saint Godfrey, asking for sunshine on the day of the translation of the relics, was the occasion; a fog so heavy one could scarcely see, lifted, and the sun at once shone brilliantly in the sanctuary.

As bishop he did not cease to take care of the poor and the sick. When some lepers came to him he commanded his cook to prepare food for them; four hours later nothing had yet been done, and he himself went to the kitchen and found a large, prepared salmon which he took to the famished lepers. The cook remonstrated with him, and the Saint told him that it was injustice to allow the poor to die of hunger while unworthy bishops enjoyed food that was too succulent.

When troubles occasioned by the contemporary quarrel over investitures devastated the city of Amiens, the holy bishop thought it well to resign his office and retire to the Grand Chartreuse, and did so. The archbishop of Rheims, however, could not approve such an action, and reproached the residents of Amiens when they brought up the question of a successor. The affair was referred to a Council to be held at Soissons in January of 1115. A letter was sent by the Council to the religious of Saint Bruno, begging them not to retain the bishop of Amiens, but to send him back to his see; and Godfrey with tears resigned himself to obeying the orders of the king and the Council. His declining years were not exempt from sufferings; the city of Amiens was decimated by a fire which spared only the church of Saint Firmin, the episcopal palace and a few houses of the poor. The people had not listened to the exhortations of their bishop when their prevarications enkindled the wrath of God. He died on November 8, 1115, in perfect serenity, having given his farewell blessing to the religious of the monastery of Soissons, where he had been taken, after falling ill during a journey there.

His tomb was illustrated by many miracles.

Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 13.

1308 Blessed John Duns Scotus one of the most influential Franciscans through the centuries.
(c. 1266-1308)

A humble man, John Duns Scotus has been one of the most influential Franciscans through the centuries.
Born at Duns in the county of Berwick, Scotland, John was descended from a wealthy farming family. In later years he was identified as John Duns Scotus to indicate the land of his birth; Scotia is the Latin name for Scotland.
John received the habit of the Friars Minor at Dumfries, where his uncle Elias Duns was superior. After novitiate John studied at Oxford and Paris and was ordained in 1291. More studies in Paris followed until 1297, when he returned to lecture at Oxford and Cambridge. Four years later he returned to Paris to teach and complete the requirements for the doctorate.
In an age when many people adopted whole systems of thought without qualification, John pointed out the richness of the Augustinian-Franciscan tradition, appreciated the wisdom of Aquinas, Aristotle and the Muslim philosophers—and still managed to be an independent thinker. That quality was proven in 1303 when King Philip the Fair tried to enlist the University of Paris on his side in a dispute with Pope Boniface VIII. John Duns Scotus dissented and was given three days to leave France.

In Scotus’s time, some philosophers held that people are basically determined by forces outside themselves. Free will is an illusion, they argued. An ever practical man, Scotus said that if he started beating someone who denied free will, the person would immediately tell him to stop. But if Scotus didn’t really have a free will, how could he stop? John had a knack for finding illustrations his students could remember!

After a short stay in Oxford he returned to Paris, where he received the doctorate in 1305. He continued teaching there and in 1307 so ably defended the Immaculate Conception of Mary that the university officially adopted his position. That same year the minister general assigned him to the Franciscan school in Cologne where John died in 1308. He is buried in the Franciscan church near the famous Cologne cathedral.

Drawing on the work of John Duns Scotus, Pope Pius IX solemnly defined the Immaculate Conception of Mary in 1854. John Duns Scotus, the "Subtle Doctor," was beatified in 1993.

Comment: Father Charles Balic, O.F.M., the foremost 20th-century authority on Scotus, has written: "The whole of Scotus's theology is dominated by the notion of love. The characteristic note of this love is its absolute freedom. As love becomes more perfect and intense, freedom becomes more noble and integral both in God and in man" (New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 1105).
Quote: Intelligence hardly guarantees holiness. But John Duns Scotus was not only brilliant, he was also humble and prayerful—the exact combination St. Francis wanted in any friar who studied. In a day when French nationalism threatened the rights of the pope, Scotus sided with the papacy and paid the price. He also defended human freedom against those who would compromise it by determinism.

Ideas are important. John Duns Scotus placed his best thinking at the service of the human family and of the Church.

DUNS SCOTUS: CANTOR OF THE INCARNATE WORD

VATICAN CITY, 7 JUL 2010 (VIS) - Before his general audience this morning, Benedict XVI blessed a marble statue of St. Annibale Maria di Francia (1851-1927), founder of the Congregation of the Rogationist Fathers of the Heart of Jesus and of the Daughters of Divine Generosity. The statue is positioned in an external niche of the Vatican Basilica near the Arch of the Bells.
In his audience, celebrated in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope dedicated his catechesis to Blessed Duns Scotus, who was born around the year 1266 in the Scottish village of Duns, entered the Friars Minor and was ordained a priest in 1291. "His intelligence earned him the traditional tile of 'Doctor subtilis'", said the Holy Father noting how he taught theology at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Paris. However, his faithfulness to Pope Boniface VIII in the latter's conflict with Philip IV the Fair led to him leaving France. He returned to Paris in 1305 to teach theology then moved on to Cologne where he died in 1308.
"Because of his fame of sanctity, his cult soon spread within the Franciscan Order, and Venerable John Paul II chose to confirm him as a blessed on 20 March 1993, describing him as a 'cantor of the incarnate Word and defender of the Immaculate Conception'. In this expression he summarised Duns Scotus' great contribution to the history of theology", said Pope Benedict.
He then went on to explain that, "though aware that because of original sin Christ redeemed us with His Passion, Death and Resurrection", Duns Scotus "makes it clear that the Incarnation is the greatest and must sublime work of the history of salvation, and that it is not conditioned by any contingent circumstance.
"Faithful disciple of St. Francis, Duns Scotus loved to contemplate and preach on the Mystery of the salvific Passion of Christ, expression of the immense love of God", the Pope added. This love "is revealed not only on Calvary but also in the Blessed Eucharist to which Duns Scotus was profoundly devoted", he said.
"This strongly 'Christocentric' theological vision opens us to contemplation, to wonder and gratitude: Christ is the centre of history and the cosmos, it is He Who gives meaning, dignity and value to our lives".
Referring then to the Scottish blessed's view on the Virgin, the Pope explained how, in contrast with most theologians of his time who opposed "the doctrine according to which Holy Mary was free from original sin from the first moment of her conception", Scotus espoused the argument of "preventive Redemption". This held that "the Immaculate Conception represents the masterwork of Christ's Redemption, precisely because the power of His love and His mediation ensured that the Mother was preserved from original sin. The Franciscans enthusiastically accepted and spread this doctrine, and other theologians - often with a solemn vow - undertook to defend and improve it".
The Pope recalled that Duns Scotus had also tackled "the subject of freedom and its relationship with the will and the intellect". In this context he noted how "an idea of innate and absolute freedom (as developed after Scotus' time) located in the will which precedes the intellect, both in God and in man, risks leading to the idea of a God Who is not even connected to truth and goodness".
"Freedom", the Pope explained, "is authentic and helps in the construction of a truly human civilisation only when reconciled with truth. If disconnected from truth, freedom tragically becomes the principle that destroys the inner harmony of human beings, a source of abuse for the strong and the violent, a cause of suffering and mourning. Freedom ... grows and is perfected, said Duns Scotus, when man opens himself to God. ... When we listen to the divine Revelation, to the Word of God, in order to accept it, then we receive a message which fills our lives with light and hope, and we are truly free".
Benedict concluded the catechesis - his last until 4 August - by highlighting how "Blessed Duns Scotus teaches us that the essential thing in our lives is to believe that God is close to us and loves us in Jesus Christ; to cultivate, then, a profound love for Him and His Church. We are the witnesses of that love on this earth". AG/ VIS 20100707 (730)

1229 Blessed Columbus Dominican prior of Toulouse OP (PC).
Columbus was the Dominican prior of Toulouse and Montpellier, France. He died while preaching at Fréjus, where his relics are now housed in the cathedral (Benedictines).

1840 St. Paul Ngan Vietnamese martyr native priest.
Paul was converted to the Catholic faith and became a priest. Seized by enemies of the faith, he was beheaded with four other martyrs. He was canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.

St. Martin Tinh 80 and Martin Tho Martyrs of Vietnam.
Martin Tinh was an eighty-year-old Vietnamese priest at the time of his death. His companion, Martin Tho, was a tax collector. They were canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.
1840 St. John Baptist Con Martyr of Vietnam
He was beheaded after torture by authorities and canonized in 1998 by Pope John Paul II.
1840 St. Joseph Nghi native Martyr of Vietnam
He was a native priest of the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris, serving until he was beheaded.
Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1988.
Blessed Joseph Nghi, Martin Tinh & Martin Tho MM (AC)
Born in Tonkin; died 1840; beatified in 1900. Joseph Nghi was a native priest of Tonkin, attached to the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris. He was beheaded. Martin Tinh was also a priestly native of Tonkin, who was martyred at the age of 80 with his companion (or servant) Martin Tho, also a native of Tonkin (Benedictines).

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

THE PSALTER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY PSALM 118

The heavens declare thy glory: and the fragrance of thine unguents is spread abroad among the nations.

Sigh ye unto her, ye lost sinners: and she will lead you to the harbor of pardon.

In hymns and canticles knock at her heart: and she will rain down upon you the grace of her sweetness.

Glorify her, ye just, before the throne of God: for by the fruit of her womb you have worked justice.

Praise ye her, ye heaven of heavens: and the whole earth will glorify her name.

For thy spirit is kind: thy grace fills the whole world.

Thunder, ye heavens, from above, and give praise to her: glorify her, ye earth, with all the dwellers therein.

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

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

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

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

The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.

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

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

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

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

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Saint Frances Xavier Seelos Practical Guide to Holiness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aramaic dialect of Edessa, now known as Syriac

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meeting of the Saints walis (saints of Allah)

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

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

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

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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

Index to Part I and Part II 1932

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

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

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

Member -- St. Paul Seminary faculty.

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

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

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

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

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

THE BLESSED MOTHER AND ISLAM By Father John Corapi.

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

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

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

By Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

Father Corapi's Biography

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

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

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

About Father John Corapi.

Father Corapi is a Catholic priest .

The pillars of father's preaching are basically:

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

God Bless you on your journey Father John Corapi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LINKS:
Marian Apparitions (over 2000) India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East   Lourdes Feb 11- July 16, Loreto, Italy 1858
China Marian shrines May 23, 1995 Zarvintisya Ukraine Lourdes Kenya national Marian shrine    Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related Marian Websites Angels and Archangels
Doctors_of_the_Church   Acts_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates, 118 2022